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Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- However, in reading the jurisprudence generated by most of the treaty bodies, it is difficult to escape certain conclusions. First, article 3 of the International Covenants on Human Rights, which asserts equal rights for men and women, has perhaps not been given its fullest reading, especially in terms of access to resources. Second, for all of the attention given to affirmative obligations to eliminate discrimination, much of the work of the treaty bodies seems unduly confined to a focus on specific violations of non-discrimination. Linked to this is a reluctance to develop notions of distributive equality, which has been much debated in the literature, and would give an important added dimension to the effort to combat extreme inequality. Third, the right to equality needs to be given greater attention so that it is able to add substantively to the jurisprudence of international human rights bodies in ways that it has not, thus far. Finally, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has to date done all too little in practice, as opposed to its analysis in general comments, to explore what might be involved in the prohibitions in article 2 (2) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights against discrimination based on social origin, property or birth.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- In line with the human rights approach, all policies must be participatory in their design and implementation, provide for accountability and redress mechanisms and be based on the objective to meaningfully empower women socially, politically and economically.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The implementation of the right to social protection through the adoption of social protection floors 2014, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- This reading is reinforced by the fact that the earlier provisions of Goal 1 seek to resolve the competition between the two ways of measuring poverty by endorsing both, but in very different terms. Target 1.1 follows the World Bank by calling for the eradication, by 2030, of "extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day". Given that this is a very low standard, the aspiration is a limited one. But when it comes to "men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions", the aim in target 1.2 is only to "reduce at least by half the proportion" by 2030. In other words, that target implies acceptance that as many as half of those currently living in extreme poverty, as measured by the multidimensional approach described above, will continue to do so beyond 2030. For a planet with immense wealth and one that is able to mobilize vast resources very rapidly for projects that further the interests of the elites, that is a shameful goal and one that is clearly inconsistent with the recognition that all persons are entitled to at least the minimum core of economic and social rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The World Bank and human rights 2015, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur analysed 13 projects on gender-based violence that are part of a major Bank initiative on the issue and were approved between January 2012 and June 2015. None of the relevant project documents engages substantively with the human rights dimensions of gender-based violence. Passing references can be found to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but no analysis of the relevant rights and obligations is provided and the provisions are not linked to the project at hand. In fact, even the generic terms "human rights" and "rights" are rarely used and when they are, no elaboration is provided. The intended project beneficiaries are presented not as rights holders, but as clients or service recipients. The borrowing State bears contractual responsibilities towards the Bank, but no reference is made to its international or domestic human rights obligations. No reference is made to responsibility for gender-based violence by State actors, such as police or health-care workers, despite the frequency of such problems, and no reliance is ever placed upon the detailed human rights-based frameworks for tackling gender-based violence drawn up by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and various other international human rights actors, despite the fact that the Convention has been almost universally ratified.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Lack of women's perspective in policymaking on agriculture, water and food management, despite their being key actors in these areas, results in misinformed decision-making and jeopardizes women's rights further. Similarly, policy discussions at all levels suffer from an inherent bias because women and men with intensive caring responsibilities are not present, contributing to the invisibility and inattention to care work in public policy.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 95
- Paragraph text
- Given the great diversity of social contexts, there is no "one size fits all" solution for ensuring access to justice for persons living in poverty. Differing national and local contexts create a variety of challenges and opportunities for reform that must be taken into account. Success in all contexts, however, will share the features of a human rights-based approach. Solutions require tackling not only legal obstacles but also a range of extralegal factors: social, economic, cultural, linguistic, etc. Solutions must be sought at local levels, designed and implemented with the active participation of the communities affected. Therefore, policymakers and legal authorities should have a specific contextual understanding of local legal institutions and the variety of obstacles on the ground that impede access to justice by persons living in poverty, and implement multidimensional solutions that can strengthen their agency and ensure their enjoyment of their rights. Special attention must be paid to women and groups that are particularly excluded, such as indigenous peoples, older persons and migrants. With this in mind, States must take immediate and effective action to ensure that persons living in poverty are not denied enjoyment of their human rights because of insurmountable obstacles which prevent them from accessing the justice system. To this end, the Special Rapporteur wishes to present the following recommendations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- In practice, however, restrictions on legal standing in many States directly and indirectly exclude persons living in poverty from accessing judicial and adjudicatory mechanisms. For example, in some States, legislatures and judicial systems limit standing for certain groups, such as women and children. Discriminatory laws deprive women of legal competency and require that they be under male guardianship before instituting a claim or giving evidence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- Social pensions are also important for addressing the particular vulnerabilities of women. Contributory systems tend to exacerbate gender inequalities: in many countries coverage rates for elderly men are twice those for their female counterparts. Even in countries with broader protection in contributory systems, older women are more likely to receive a lower pension due to a lower level of contributions (see sect. II C).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The implementation of the right to social protection through the adoption of social protection floors 2014, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- A good example of this is the approach adopted in the Human Development Report 2014. While the report focuses on the need to reduce vulnerability and build resilience, much of its thrust is to support universal social protection. Thus, it explicitly "calls for universal access to basic social services … stronger social protection … and a commitment to full employment …". But while the Social Protection Floor Initiative is mentioned a couple of times, it is by no means central to the analysis. Even more significantly, the report avoids, to the extent possible, the use of the term "human rights". The first mention of the phrase is a quote from Pope Francis on page 14; the next is on page 74 in a reference to "women's human rights". Rather than using language that links in any way to specific human rights, or to obligations assumed by States, the report makes extensive use of generic terms that give the illusion of referring to human rights but are not in fact grounded in any particular content. Thus, there are references to "needs and rights", "rights and services", "interests and rights", "rights and choices", "basic rights", and "intrinsic rights". It is only in a final discussion, towards the end of the report, on "elements of a global social contract", that reference is made to various human rights treaties.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The implementation of the right to social protection through the adoption of social protection floors 2014, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Ownership of the concept was subsequently expanded when the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination endorsed it as one of its responses to the financial crisis in 2008 and in 2010 the Social Protection Floor Advisory Group brought ILO together with the World Health Organization (WHO), with Michelle Bachelet, then Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, as Chair. The resulting report in 2011 (commonly known as the Bachelet report) did not add a great deal to earlier ILO iterations of the content, but was very important in broadening both the constituency and political support for the concept, thus facilitating its formal endorsement by the Summit of the Group of 20 in Cannes, France, in the same year. At the same time, the various regional groupings rallied around the concept, as illustrated by its embrace by the African Union in the Khartoum Declaration on Social Policy Action towards Social Inclusion (2010), and a range of more specialist statements, such as the recommendations of the African Union expert consultation on children and social protection systems to the fourth session of the Conference of Ministers of Social Development in May 2014. It is noteworthy that, despite reports addressing social protection floors by various special procedures mandate holders, the Human Rights Council did not formally address or endorse the concept until 2014.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- First, those States that have not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women should do so urgently. All States should remove any reservations to the Convention and ensure its full and effective implementation, and also ratify the Optional Protocol. They should also ratify ILO Conventions Nos. 156, 183 and 189 and ensure that national legislation is brought fully into conformity with these and their corresponding Recommendations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- When States do not adequately provide, fund, value and regulate care, women inevitably take on a greater share of its provision, to the detriment of their enjoyment of human rights. States must therefore adopt all necessary policy measures in order to achieve the recognition, reduction and redistribution of unpaid care work. The international human rights framework, which rests strongly on the principles of non-discrimination and equality, and the obligations and accountability of States, must be an important source of guidance in this regard.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- Customary and traditional justice systems can also threaten women's access to fair and equal justice. Informal justice systems based on custom, tradition or ethnic or religious identity often contain unequal provisions for women and men, do not have sanctions against gender-based violence or other abuses which take place in the domestic sphere, and are sometimes procedurally biased against women. This is especially problematic as it is family laws and property laws that are most often subject to the jurisdiction of such legal systems.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- When judicial systems receive inadequate financial and human resource allocations from State budgets, police stations, prosecution corps and courthouses are understaffed and poorly equipped, and benches are deprived of adequate numbers of judges. The result is serious neglect and even mistreatment of those seeking justice, which is more pronounced for the most disadvantaged, whose cases are usually underprioritized. Again, this frequently has an especially harsh impact on women, as often the criminal justice and legal system lacks capacity to ensure a swift, fair and gender-sensitive approach.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Penalization of people living in poverty 2011, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- In this respect, women are particularly vulnerable to penalization measures. Due to structural discrimination, women have less representation in structures of power and therefore are disproportionately disadvantaged in their dealings with State authorities and less able to claim their rights. Often penalization measures have a much more onerous impact on women than men, given that women are overrepresented among the poor, have less access to education, employment and economic resources, and assume the principal burden of care and domestic work.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- In addition to avoiding policies that exacerbate gender inequalities, social protection systems should actively promote gender equality and empower women. Policymakers must design, implement, monitor and evaluate social protection initiatives through a gender lens. Programmes should address asymmetries of power and structural inequalities, and enhance the realization of women's rights. They must take into account the multiple forms of discrimination that women experience, and ensure that women's specific needs are addressed throughout their lives: during adolescence, adulthood and old age.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Marginality of economic and social rights 2016, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- In support of the view that specific recognition is not required, it might be argued that if a treaty envisages such recognition, it would say so explicitly. Thus treaties dealing with torture, genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity call not just for legislative recognition of the norm, but also for explicit criminalization of particular conduct. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women unequivocally requires States parties "to embody the principle of the equality of men and women in their national constitutions or other appropriate legislation" (art. 2 (a)). It further obliges them "to ensure, through law and other appropriate means, the practical realization of this principle."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- At present, there is no explicitly stated right to equality, as such, under international human rights law. In order to ground equality as an organizing theme in this area of law, human rights bodies and commentators have relied on provisions such as those in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that proclaim the equal rights of men and women (preamble), that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights (art. 1) and that all are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law" (art. 7). These provisions have been paired with those dealing with non-discrimination, which is also considered to be one of the central and foundational principles of international human rights law. Virtually all of the core human rights treaties contain explicit provisions on non-discrimination. Also, for the most part, human rights bodies have been careful to emphasize that the norms of equality and non-discrimination require substantive and not just formal equality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Mr. Eide attached considerable importance to the policies of international financial institutions and was critical of IMF for adopting the position that it should not concern itself with income distribution. As noted earlier, the position of IMF today differs significantly. Mr. Eide criticized the role played by international financial institutions in reducing the power of the State, which he considered to have an essential role to play in ensuring equity in income distribution. In reflecting on the obligations of States in relation to efforts to reduce income inequality, Mr. Eide called for, inter alia, policies to ensure access to land and other productive assets; the provision of public services and other benefits as well as equality of opportunity for all; guarantees of non-discrimination in employment; the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and the provision of a functioning system of taxation (ibid., paras. 82-83).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- A sizeable amount of literature sets out the relationship between deunionization and wage inequality. The authors of a World Bank study on the economic effect of adopting or enforcing the two core labour rights mentioned above reported "very robust" findings that unions compress wage inequality. In particular, they found that the wage differentials between skilled and unskilled workers were reduced when unions were present. This is consistent with another study, in relation to the United States, in which the authors concluded: When individual union membership is considered, union decline accounts for a fifth of the growth in men's earnings inequality. Adding normative and threat effects of unions on nonunion pay increases the effect of union decline on wage inequality from a fifth to a third. By this measure, the decline of the U.S. labor movement has added as much to men's wage inequality as has the relative increase in pay for college graduates. A 2013 study about Turkey shows that the fall of unionization in that country resulted in higher wage inequality during the period 1980-2008. Also relevant is the evidence that not only does deunionization affect wage inequality, but wage inequality also affects unionization.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to participation of people living in poverty 2013, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- A participatory process should be followed by concerted action and participatory evaluation. People living in poverty must have effective access to grievance mechanisms in order to hold decision-makers accountable if they feel the outcomes of the participatory process have not been adequately considered, or to seek remedy in case of any abuse. Similarly, there should be accessible accountability mechanisms in place to protest policies or programmes implemented with a lack of participation. Such mechanisms must be accessible and adaptable; for example, a variety of cost-free channels should be provided, as necessary, for the needs and constraints of people living in poverty. Complaint and grievance mechanisms must be sufficiently resourced, culturally appropriate and designed to facilitate the broadest participation possible by vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, in particular by women.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to participation of people living in poverty 2013, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- All human rights are interdependent and indivisible, and participation is no exception. Ensuring effective and meaningful participation of people living in poverty thus requires that a broad set of interlinked human rights are respected, protected and fulfilled by the State, especially freedom of expression (Universal Declaration of Human Rights art. 19, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 19), freedom of assembly (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, art. 20; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 21), freedom of association (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, art. 20; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 22; Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, art. 7(c); Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 15), the right to seek, receive and impart information (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, art. 19; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 19) and the right to education, including the right to human rights education (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 13.1; Universal Declaration of Human Rights, art. 26.2; Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 29.1; Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, art. 24(c)). All these rights are necessary preconditions to participation: in order to participate effectively, all members of the public must be able to organize, meet, express themselves without intimidation or censorship, know the relevant facts and arguments, be conscious of their rights and have the requisite skills and capacity. To ensure accountability and access to remedy and redress in cases where rights are violated, States parties should also ensure that all members of the public have effective access to justice, including the right to a fair trial (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, arts. 8 and 10; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 14) and the right to an effective remedy (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 3) (A/67/578).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 107
- Paragraph text
- Care users, caregivers and other stakeholders should be proactively supported to participate in the design, implementation and monitoring of care services and other relevant policies. States and other relevant branches of Government must build the capacity of unpaid caregivers to participate in decision-making processes, including by providing them with accessible, up-to-date information about their rights, and services and benefits available to them. Participatory mechanisms must be designed to be accessible to women living in poverty with unpaid care responsibilities, for example by providing on-site childcare at meetings.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- In order to ensure that women enjoy all their rights on equal terms with men, States must take all appropriate measures to ensure that care responsibilities are equally shared by men and women. The Convention expressly refers to the sharing of responsibility among men and women and wider society in regard to the upbringing of children (preamble). It notes that States parties must ensure "the recognition of the common responsibility of men and women in the upbringing and development of their children" (article 5). This provision requires States to combat patriarchal attitudes and stereotypes regarding the roles and responsibilities of women and men within the family and society at large, and to address discrimination in education and employment and the compatibility of work requirements and family needs. States must, inter alia, prohibit discrimination or dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy or maternity and ensure that men and women have equal opportunities to choose their profession or occupation (see for example articles 11.2 and 16).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Often, the criteria which govern access to State-funded legal assistance are arbitrary and overly restrictive, and rely heavily on means-testing to determine eligibility. Means-testing is often inaccurate and is unable to take account of the wealth distribution within a household, disadvantaging those who have restricted access to household wealth, such as women and older persons. Furthermore, it fails to realistically reflect the options faced by persons living in poverty; for example, it may disqualify individuals if they have the option of disposing of household assets, even if those assets are used to produce food and generate subsistence income for the household.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Certain groups that suffer from structural discrimination and exclusion and are disproportionately represented among the poor, particularly ethnic and racial minorities, migrants and indigenous peoples, encounter additional barriers to accessing justice. Those difficulties are multiplied for women living in poverty, who experience compounded discrimination and disempowerment, not to mention financial constraints. Therefore, across different contexts, women living in poverty experience particular difficulties in accessing justice mechanisms and winning judicial recognition, action and enforcement for crimes, discrimination and human rights violations they are disproportionately subject to. Children are often denied the due process guarantees that they are entitled to on the same basis as adults, as well as additional protections that are necessary, in particular when they are particularly deprived or marginalized.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human rights based approach to recovery from the global economic and financial crises, with a focus on those living in poverty 2011, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- While raising tax revenue can be an essential part of an effective policy response to the effects of the crises, States should, however, be cognizant of their obligations to implement policies in accordance with the principles of non-discrimination and equality. In this context, the introduction of or an increase in regressive sales taxes or value added taxes may have a disproportionate impact on those who are already experiencing financial difficulties. Regressive taxes may represent an unequal added burden for those living in poverty or experiencing economic hardship, as they constitute a larger percentage of income. The real income of women living in poverty is particularly affected by the introduction of regressive taxes, especially when the introduction of taxes is carried out in conjunction with reductions to expenditure on public services. States must be vigilant in balancing the need to increase taxation revenue with their responsibilities to protect the most vulnerable and prevent further inequality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- Wide and informed public participation in the development and implementation of social policies is an essential feature of policies grounded in human rights standards. Participation of the intended beneficiaries is not simply desirable in terms of ownership and sustainability, but is also part of their right to take part in public life which is a core component of human rights instruments. Owing to the asymmetry of power between the beneficiaries and the authorities that administer the programme, beneficiaries are often unable to realize their rights. Promoting meaningful public participation must thus be an essential feature of the design, implementation and evaluation of social pensions. Special attention must also be devoted to ensuring the effective participation of older women and other groups that may be marginalized.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights stipulates that "the aged and the disabled shall also have the right to special measures of protection in keeping with their physical or moral needs" (art. 18). The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) recognizes the particular vulnerability of older women and requests States to take a number of measures "commensurate with their physical, economic and social needs as well as their access to employment and professional training" and "ensure the right of elderly women to freedom from violence, including sexual abuse" (art. 22).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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Taxation and human rightss 2014, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Revenue collection is a critical tool for States in tackling and redressing systemic discrimination and ensuring equal access to economic, social and cultural rights. In order to redress structural inequalities, including gender inequalities, States should evaluate the differential impact of existing and proposed fiscal policies on different groups, in particular those who suffer from structural discrimination. For example, certain tax arrangements that directly or indirectly disincentivize women's participation in the labour force or promote the male bread-winner family model could threaten women's enjoyment of human rights. Meanwhile, a State with a very narrow tax base or that fails to tackle tax evasion may result in its inability to fund social protection or adequate and accessible public services, a situation that is likely to create or entrench inequalities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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