Poverty as an issue of human rights

A perspective of GHRO Inc

 

The Grenada Human Rights Organisation Inc (GHRO Inc) has been following the discussions regarding the efforts to tackle the growing levels of poverty here in Grenada, the Caribbean and the wider international community. This presentation is intended to create public awareness as well as to engender our own policy makers to consider a human rights approach in the process of poverty eradication.

 

The recognition that poverty is a violation of human rights or that promoting human rights could alleviate poverty was a long time in coming. However, such an approach links poverty reduction to questions of obligation, rather than welfare or charity, and compels policymakers to seek out and identify the most vulnerable people and implement appropriate strategies to help them escape poverty and destitution.

 

Human rights are universal legal guarantees protecting individuals and groups against actions and omissions that interfere with fundamental freedoms, entitlements and human dignity. A human rights approach is grounded in the International Bill of Human Rights and the core human rights treaties that clearly define those rights.

 

Among the rights guaranteed to all human beings under these treaties are the right to life, liberty and security of person, the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the right to just and favourable working conditions, the right to adequate food, housing and social security, the right to education, the right to vote and take part in the conduct of public affairs and the right to participate in cultural life.

 

The fact that poverty persists in many parts of the world points not only to an inequitable distribution of economic, social and political opportunities, but also to a violation of human rights. Often the condition of living in poverty also affects the ability of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals, families and groups to defend their rights and responsibilities. The violation of human rights is thus both a cause and a consequence of poverty. People living in poverty are, by their condition, disempowered and excluded from society, and their capacity to secure their own rights is extremely limited by their situation. As a result, the eradication of poverty is not only a development goal, but also a central challenge for human rights, and the defence of all human rights is not only a concern of human rights activists and jurists, but also a central element of the poverty eradication process.

Poverty

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