Links between poverty and human rights

Right to life and to physical integrity

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 3;

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 6.

The lives and physical well-being of people living in extreme poverty are continuously threatened by lack of food, risk of disease, hazardous work and precarious living conditions. They experience violence of all types, including attacks, harassment, intimidation, severe discrimination and, in some cases, even death threats. Poor women are particularly vulnerable to domestic and other forms of gender-specific violence.

Right to recognition as a person before the law and to be registered

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 6;

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, articles 16 and 24.

Due to lack of legal domicile and the high direct and indirect costs of registration, people living in poverty are often not recognized before the law and face significant obstacles in registering their children. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that in 2003, the births of around 48 million children (36 per cent of total births worldwide that year) were unregistered.7 Not being registered,

i.e., not having a legal identity, makes it very difficult to enroll in school, to obtain employment, to benefit from social services, to exercise political rights, to prove parentage, to marry, to prove nationality, to travel freely and outside of national borders, to take proceedings before a court or even to avoid being imprisoned.

The recognition of this right is therefore a prerequisite for the realization of many other rights.

Right to justice

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, articles 10 and 11;

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, articles 14 and 15.

People living in poverty are particularly vulnerable to violations of their rights, but they often cannot avail themselves of the most effective tool to defend themselves against these abuses — court protection.

They are hindered from access to justice by financial constraints, illiteracy, lack of education and information, lack of self-confidence, the complexity of procedures, mistrust and fear stemming from their experience of the justice system and the slow pace of justice. This is of particular concern, as people living in poverty are more likely than others to be discriminated against and their fundamental human rights are often violated with impunity.

Right to take part in political affairs

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 21.

Due to lack of information and political power, people living in poverty cannot participate meaningfully in political decision making processes. Social discrimination and lack of housing, education and civil registration are additional obstacles to the exercise of political rights. Poor people are thus unable to influence policies to their benefit and their specific needs remain neglected. In addition, the very poor are also more exposed than others to unscrupulous manipulation of freedom of choice.

Right to participate in social and cultural life

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 22;

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, article 15.

As a unifying force of society, culture is an important ingredient in social integration and serves as protection against social exclusion. However, the cultures of minorities and indigenous groups are frequently not respected, and people living in poverty often lack the basic capability to participate actively in the social, cultural and political life of their communities.

Right to decent work

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 23;

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, articles 6, 7, 8 and 9.

Finding formal employment is often impossible for the poor due to social discrimination and lack of housing, education or training. They are therefore forced to find work in the informal economy. Such work tends to be low skilled, insecure, hazardous and too poorly paid to guarantee an adequate standard of living. Since their labour is often the only asset that people living in poverty own, securing the right to decent work is instrumental to the enjoyment of other rights such as food, health and housing.

Right to a decent standard of living

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 25.

People living in poverty are often malnourished and do not have adequate clothing, shelter, access to water and sanitation, medical care and social services. This adversely affects their ability to claim other rights they are entitled to, such as the right to education, health and work, thereby reinforcing the vicious circle of poverty.

Right to adequate food

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 25;

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 11.

Adequate food is needed for human survival and for a healthy life. Under nutrition handicaps people for life: hungry children cannot concentrate at school and hunger reduces workers’ productivity. Poverty may lead to under nutrition and under nutrition is likely to deepen poverty.

Right to housing

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, article 11;

Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 27;

Housing of the very poor, if they have any,  tends to be built with low-quality materials, often lacks running water, sanitation facilities and electricity and is often located in unhealthy environments far away from basic services. It is frequently insecure as a result of legal or arbitrary evictions and the inability of the poor to pay even a minimal rent regularly. Additionally, poor housing has a major impact on the exercise of other rights, such as the rights to health and employment. Precariousness of housing can also affect educational attainment by hindering regular school attendance and hampering children’s intellectual and physical development through lack of stability, lack of space, an unhealthy environment, overcrowding and noise.

Right to health

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 25;

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, article 12.

Ill health contributes to poverty by reducing worker productivity, lowering educational achievements and limiting opportunities. At the same time, ill health is often a consequence of poverty. Health services for poor people are often inaccessible, inadequate or ill-equipped. Mortality rates are much higher, life expectancy is considerably reduced and pregnancy and childbirth are particularly risky for the poor. Although they are the ones most exposed to disease, the poorest population groups are the least often covered by vaccination campaigns.

Right to education

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 26;

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, articles 13 and 14.

Education is one of the most effective ways of breaking the vicious cycle of poverty and is crucial for the realization of other rights, such as the rights to work, health and political participation. However, it often remains inaccessible to those who live in poverty.

When family income is insufficient, children are forced to join in the daily quest for family subsistence or work outside the home. This has a negative impact on their ability to learn and go to school. Poor children who are able to attend school are sometimes rejected or discriminated against at school owing to their social origins.

Who experiences Poverty?

Poverty is more than just a lack of income; it is also the lack of health care, education, access to political participation, decent work and security. All these factors are interdependent and must be addressed simultaneously if efforts to reduce poverty are to be effective. Although in many cases rapid progress in poverty reduction has been achieved without full respect for all civil and political rights, all human rights are mutually reinforcing and must therefore be protected simultaneously in order to empower and support people in their fight against poverty. The Declaration on the Right to Development and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action emphasize that it is necessary to respect economic, social and cultural rights on an equal footing with civil and political rights, and that the non-recognition of one type of rights can have consequences for other rights. For example, a person who is not registered at birth may be unable to have access to education and health services, even when these services are available free of charge.

In other instances, the fulfillment of civil and political rights has proven to help achieve economic, social and cultural rights by empowering citizens to demand more equitable development. The use of a multidimensional strategy that incorporates the defense of all human rights is therefore crucial to fighting poverty in all its many dimensions.

Human rights as a tool to eradicate poverty

The inclusion of human rights as an integral part of poverty eradication efforts offers several important advantages over the conventional development approach.

There is a rich literature that provides a comprehensive discussion of the value of a human rights approach to poverty eradication. The following discussion merely serves to highlight some of the most important ways in which human rights considerations can benefit efforts to eradicate poverty.

First, the norms and values enshrined in the human rights approach to poverty eradication have the potential to empower the poor. It is now widely recognized that effective poverty reduction is not possible without empowerment of the poor. The human rights approach to poverty reduction is essentially about such empowerment.

Second, the human rights approach to poverty eradication efforts obliges us to pay attention to the process of development as much as to its results. In general, the socio-economic development approach to poverty reduction tends to be focused on changes in the level of poverty — usually measured by the level of income — without considering the process to achieve the change. From the human rights perspective, the process is as important as the outcome, and the neglect of rights and non-fulfillment of minimum core obligations in the name of policy trade-offs and development is therefore seen as unjustifiable.

Third, a human rights approach to poverty eradication encourages us to monitor poverty reduction using a broader set of indicators, such as the nature of the progress towards poverty eradication and the instruments used to achieve it, and to consider whether such progress has been achieved through means compatible with human rights.

Fourth, a human rights approach to poverty eradication helps to establish who the claimants of rights are and who the duty-holders are, and makes duty-holders responsible and accountable for their actions. The latter group may include communities, Governments at all levels, the private sector, civil society and external development partners, both bilateral and multilateral. For instance, States are not only encouraged to provide free elementary education for all; when they recognize this as a right, they become responsible for taking the necessary steps to fulfill it. In sum, invoking duties reinforces accountability and responsibility.

Finally, the implementation of all human rights is an important tool to eradicate poverty since it ensures that those rights are properly secured and defended. When human rights are guaranteed by law, legal instruments can be used to make sure they are implemented, and the rights of people living in extreme poverty can be restored. In that sense, providing people living in poverty with information about their rights and civil duties, guaranteeing free legal advice, conducting justice in due time and providing translation services for people from minority groups who do not speak the official languages are not only ways to ensure the implementation of such rights, but will also contribute to the eradication of poverty.

The enforcement of policies that ensure the respect of all human rights for those most deprived should be an important part of any poverty reduction strategy.

Although not all human rights can be realized immediately, it is possible for States to work towards the progressive implementation of those rights, and Governments are accountable for the implementation of policies that help progress towards the full achievement of those rights.

Lack of resources is often cited as a constraint to poverty eradication and the progressive realization of human rights. In many parts of the world, additional resources are required, for example, to support free elementary education for all, to generalize access to basic health services or to create an efficient legal system.

Economic growth is an important means to achieve these objectives. However, an increase in economic resources does not automatically lead to the realization of rights or to a reduction in poverty. Countries with similar income per capita can present significant differences in their social indicators. Progress towards the realization of all human rights is also a question of political will and not merely a question of the allocation of resources, although the progressive realization of human rights often requires higher and more equitable budgetary allocations for basic social services.

A participatory and transparent policymaking process is an important requirement for the implementation of a human rights approach to poverty eradication. Often, people living in poverty do not have information about decisions made by Governments that have profound effects on their lives. They may not be able to express their views and to influence public decisions. It is thus the responsibility of the State to provide information, determine how its policy proposals and decisions may impact the lives of poor people and respond adequately to those concerns. Including people living in poverty in these processes is not easy because it goes beyond mere consultation. It often involves first identifying and seeking out the poorest in society, particularly those without a voice.