PHM-Exch> The Unheard Truth: Poverty and Human Rights (2)

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Shulamith Koenig pdhre at igc.org


We whole heartedly welcome Irene Kahn's book which has been long awaited
for. It is a very important step, for Amnesty and for humanity, to
understand poverty as a human rights violation.
.
In the mid 90s, UNDP's Human Development Report devoted a small box at the
edge of one of the pages,  prepared by Professor Asbjorn Eide, that spoke of
poverty as a human rights violation; there he sited the Covenant of
Economic, Social and Cultural human rights... (--still then and now not on
par with the Political and Civil  Human Rights Covenant for too many human
rights organizations around the world).

At the time, several of us welcomed this assertion in a public meting of
UNDP, celebrating its articulation ..-- but most did not even notice it and
still do not..

In introducing the MDGs at the United Nations, Kofi Annan spoke very clearly
about these Goals as a road we must take to achieve  human  rights...-- yet
since these important assertions were made, very few speak of the MDGs
including the indivisible , interconnected and interrelated Human Rights
framework to become a powerful tool in the hands of the poor if they will
know about and apply human rights as a way of life.

Of course, it is better late than never; but we need to remind ourselves
with some remorse: When Voltaire was asked: *What should we do about human
rights*? --he answered:  *let the people know them.*

Now, as urgencies topple new urgencies and poverty claims more and more
victims, this book,  even though many years too late,  underlines the need *to
move from charity to dignity* in the process of ending poverty around the
world.

This essential move can take place if women and men *learn*, know and own
human rights...-- accepting it *as a way of life* that speaks to their
hopes, expectations and holds a promise for a viable future...--
acknowledging that we have no other option,  but to be guided by the
holistic and very practical human rights framework .

And most importantly, we must always be aware that no one human rights can
violate another and all conflicts must be solved within the comprehensive
human rights  framework... this is the first step in using this powerful
tool.

For this to be realized, *all people must know human rights as a way of life
means and entails* -- as long as it may take! -- there is no  way around it
if we do not want those that are poor see human rights as a new
neo-colonial activity.

Learning at the community level about human rights as a way of life, as a
recent resolution at the UN calls for, must be integrated into all economic
and social justice activities to effect a viable and
sustained eradication of poverty process, with and  for the people.  Let us
congratulate Irene Khan for her book, but also request that they do
not tackle poverty through activities "for them", but *with them*, adding
into this vision the learning that leads to action at the  community lelvel
about a new vision of human rights as a way of life.

PDHRE
People's Movement for Human Rights Learning
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://phm.phmovement.org/pipermail/phm-exchange-phmovement.org/attachments/20091102/80e61e7a/attachment-0001.html>