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Penalization of people living in poverty 2011, para. 82h
- Paragraph text
- [In this context, the Special Rapporteur wishes to present the following recommendations:] The design and implementation of social benefit systems must comply with human rights norms, including the rights of persons living in poverty to privacy and family life and to take part in the decisions that affect them. Surveillance policies, conditionalities and other requirements must be reviewed to ensure that they do not violate human rights obligations by imposing a disproportionate burden on those living in poverty. When collecting and processing information pertaining to beneficiaries, States shall ensure that they observe internationally accepted standards of privacy and confidentiality, and shall not disseminate such information to other authorities or use it for other purposes without the consent of the beneficiary;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Human rights treaties apply to all members of society and as such older persons are clearly entitled to the full range of rights established by them. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights mentions the particular vulnerability of older persons in article 25, which stipulates that "everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including … medical care and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Older persons
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Penalization of people living in poverty 2011, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- Another condition that is increasingly being adopted by States is the requirement that those who receive unemployment, single parent or disability benefits participate in employment or training programmes. While transferring skills and knowledge required for reintegration into the workforce may be an important objective, often these programmes are implemented in the absence of enabling conditions, such as the provision of childcare facilities, or without consideration of structural barriers such as the realities of the current labour market, characterized by high unemployment and rapidly modernizing industries. Programmes place a heavy emphasis on "graduation" from benefits to employment, without giving due consideration to the actual needs of the beneficiaries and often without providing them with the assistance they need to obtain sustainable, productive and decent work.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Many States with high rates of HIV/AIDS rely on home-based care undertaken by family or community members, essentially shifting the responsibility for care from public institutions to women living in poverty. The long-term social and economic costs of this strategy have been greatly underestimated. Women may have to give up or lose their jobs involuntarily and are likely to find it difficult to return to work, while women who are self-employed may lose earning opportunities. Eighty per cent of family caregivers in South Africa have reported reduced income levels. States' failure to provide meaningful support or alternatives to home-based care impedes greater gender equality, intensifies the poverty and insecurity of whole households, and also threatens the rights, health and well-being of those requiring care.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Undoubtedly, women cannot enjoy this right equally if they have a disproportionate share of (unpaid) work at home. Gendered distribution of, and stereotypical assumptions about, family and caring responsibilities are at the root of much of the discrimination and limitations women experience in the labour market: barriers to entering employment, fewer opportunities for advancement, lower wages and higher levels of informal and insecure work. Moreover, women's right to decent work is consistently perceived as inferior to that of men. Simultaneously, discrimination against men who seek to perform a greater share of caring and family responsibilities further entrenches gender stereotypes and disadvantages women.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 84
- Paragraph text
- Evidence shows that participatory strategies are often not meaningful as they are often reduced to mere consultation that does not allow for real input from participants into decision-making. Frequently, participation processes are incorporated to social programmes without serious thought being given to the factors that limit older persons' possibilities to take part in public life and influence decisions affecting them, such as physical impairments and sensory losses, local power structures and family relations. Relying on family members or community leaders as the only communication channel with older persons limits their ability to voice personal views and can reinforce their dependency on others.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Older persons
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- States' actions or inactions define who has access to quality care and who bears the costs of its provision. For example, where public services are unavailable, of low quality or not sufficiently adapted to the needs of carers - for example, school hours that do not correspond with parents' working hours - the unpaid care work of families and communities is intensified. When the State fails to adequately regulate, fund or provide care, the burden shifts to families who have to make their own arrangements. Owing to gender stereotypes related to family and work, such as "male breadwinners", "women as carers/nurturers", this generally means that women assume the bulk of the work, to the detriment of their human rights enjoyment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The right to participation of people living in poverty 2013, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- The international human rights framework affirms the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs and the right of those affected by key decisions to participate in the relevant decision-making processes. The right to participation is enshrined in numerous international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (arts. 21 and 27), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (art. 25), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (arts. 13.1 and 15.1), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (arts. 7, 8, 13(c) and 14.2), the International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (art. 5(e)(vi)), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (arts. 12 and 31), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (arts. 3(c), 4.3, 9, 29 and 30), the International Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (arts. 41 and 42.2), the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development (arts. 1.1, 2 and 8.2) and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (arts. 5, 18, 19 and 41).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Economic inequalities not only impair civil and political rights but also negatively affect the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. A good example is the right to health. According to the World Bank, "infants from poorer families and children from rural areas are more likely to die than their peers from richer families and urban areas" and the poor are "considerably less likely than the non-poor to have access to high-impact health services, such as skilled delivery care, antenatal care, and complementary feeding." The Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission found that "people from lower occupational classes who have less education and income tend to die at younger ages and to suffer, within their shorter lifetimes, a higher prevalence of various health problems" and that "these differences in health conditions do not merely reflect worse outcomes for people at the very bottom of the socio-economic scale but extend to people throughout the socio-economic hierarchy, i.e. they display a 'social gradient'". The World Health Assembly, in its resolution WHA62.14, has also affirmed the recommendation of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health on the need "to tackle the inequitable distribution of power, money and resources".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Infants
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- The economic and social costs of detention and incarceration can be devastating for persons living in poverty. Detention and incarceration can lead to loss of income and employment and often temporary or permanent withdrawal of social benefits. Their families, particularly their children, are also directly affected. Therefore, criminal justice systems predicated on detention and incarceration, even for minor non-violent crimes, can themselves represent a significant obstacle to access to justice for persons living in poverty. Those who are poor and vulnerable are likely to leave detention disproportionately financially, physically and personally disadvantaged.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- As for similarities, some existing non-contributory programmes in developed countries are already close to the concept of basic income. Many European countries, for example, have universal child-benefit systems that transfer cash to parents with few, if any, conditions attached and that are paid from public funds to all parents with children of a certain age, even if benefit levels might vary according to the number of children or the income of the parents. The main difference between basic income and such programmes appears to be that the latter restrict payments to specific groups such as children or the elderly.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- For the purposes of the present report, "social protection" refers to policies and programmes aimed at enabling people to respond to various circumstances and manage levels of risk or deprivation deemed unacceptable by society. The objectives of these schemes are to offset deprivation and ensure protection from, inter alia, the absence or substantial reduction of income from work; insufficient support for families with children or adult dependents; lack of access to health care; general poverty; and social exclusion.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- Integrating ageing populations in policymaking is not just a question of financing welfare policies. It requires a change of vision of the relations between generations and the roles of different age groups. States should not rely on the traditional vision that families will take care of older persons that have become dependent, especially as traditional family care structures are under increased pressure as a result of, inter alia, migration and urbanization. States have a duty towards older persons that must not be reduced to a question of affordability.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Older persons
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- The international human rights framework is further complemented by labour standards, in particular International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions such as Convention No. 156 on workers with family responsibilities, Convention No. 183 on maternity protection, and Convention No. 189 concerning decent work for domestic workers. Compliance with all these obligations is essential in removing gender inequalities and discrimination and recognizing and redistributing unpaid care work.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- Social protection programmes must respect and acknowledge the role played by women as providers of care, without reinforcing patterns of discrimination and negative stereotyping. Measures must be taken to promote the value of care and to combine societal and State responsibilities for care work, encouraging men to participate more actively in supporting and caring for family members.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Penalization of people living in poverty 2011, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- Those who are poor and vulnerable are therefore likely to leave detention disproportionately disadvantaged financially, physically and personally. After their release they will have depleted assets, reduced employment opportunities, limited access to social benefits and severed community ties and family relationships, and will be subject to added social stigmatization and exclusion, diminishing even further their prospects of escaping poverty.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The implementation of the right to social protection through the adoption of social protection floors 2014, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- It must also be acknowledged that even within the United Nations family, there are significant differences in approach. A recent report on social protection floors by the United Nations Development Group explicitly acknowledged such differences and sought to downplay the consequences. It began by acknowledging that social protection occupies different positions within United Nations organizations' mandates and agendas, resulting in "different working definitions and components" being used. But it went on to note, reassuringly and in terms similar to those used by the World Bank, that United Nations organizations nevertheless "have much in common in terms of the desired objectives, principles, and approaches to social protection".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Compliance with those principles is particularly important in the implementation of social protection systems. This stems from the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, which prohibits any form of discrimination in the fulfilment of all economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to social security, and ensures the equal rights of men and women. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, inter alia, obliges States parties to eliminate or amend policies and practices resulting in unequal access for women to public services such as health care and family benefits. It also highlights the unique challenges faced by working women during pregnancy and maternity and it encourages States to ensure that women have access to various social services that support them as they balance their work and family obligations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- Similarly, while social protection interventions such as cash transfers free up financial resources that families can use to improve their health, such gains risk becoming meaningless in the absence of measures to guarantee universal enjoyment of the right to health, such as ensuring the adequacy of health-care infrastructure. The positive interaction among social protection, human rights and the Millennium Development Goals is strongest when it forms part of a supporting network of social policies (for example, quality standards for teachers and health-care professionals, infrastructure development and public awareness campaigns related to health and education).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Penalization of people living in poverty 2011, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- These laws are being implemented in a context in which the economic and financial crises have resulted in an unprecedented increase in foreclosures and evictions, forcing a growing number of families to live on the streets. Instead of using public funds to assist these families, States are instead carrying out costly operations to penalize them for their behaviour. Where there is insufficient public infrastructure and services to provide families with alternative places to perform such behaviours, persons living in poverty and homelessness are left with no viable place to sleep, sit, eat or drink. These measures can thus have serious adverse physical and psychological effects on persons living in poverty, undermining their right to an adequate standard of physical and mental health and even amounting to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- In order to create an enabling legal framework, States must ensure comprehensive equality and non-discrimination legislation. This should include explicit prohibition of discrimination on the basis of maternity and family or carer responsibilities in all areas of public life, and the right to equal pay for equal work. These laws and regulations must cover part-time, atypical and informal workers. Similarly, the legal framework must include reproductive rights, prohibit child marriage and remove any remaining family laws in place, including those relating to divorce, inheritance and division of marital property.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- International labour standards also address equal opportunities and equal treatment for men and women workers with family responsibilities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- States must take all appropriate measures to ensure that women can enjoy the same access to, quality of and opportunities in education and training as men. The prohibition against discrimination in relation to the right to education applies fully and immediately to all aspects of education; therefore States must ensure that girls and women can enjoy their right to all types and levels of education on an equal basis with boys and men. This may require the adoption of concrete measures to ensure that unpaid care work in the home does not interfere with their schooling, for example, providing accessible public services and adequate infrastructure to support the unpaid care work in households and communities and reduce its time burden. According to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, States' obligations in regard to the right to education encompass ensuring that communities and families are not dependent on child labour and that third parties, including parents and employers, do not stop girls from going to school.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- In principle, economic inequalities that begin at birth can be corrected during one's lifetime. But research has shown that starting life at an economic disadvantage makes it much more likely that one also ends life at an economic disadvantage. A study based on data from a subset of OECD countries found that intergenerational mobility differs strikingly between countries: In countries like Finland, Norway, and Denmark the tie between parental economic status and the adult earnings of children is weakest: less than one fifth of any economic advantage or disadvantage that a father may have had in his time is passed on to a son in adulthood. In Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States roughly 50 percent of any advantage or disadvantage is passed on. The implications of this phenomenon for a country with relatively low levels of intergenerational mobility, such as the United States, was explained in intuitive terms in 2012 by a leading economist: "The chance of a person who was born to a family in the bottom 10 percent of the income distribution rising to the top 10 percent as an adult is about the same as the chance that a dad who is 5'6" tall having a son who grows up to be over 6'1" tall. It happens, but not often."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- It is difficult to accept that a State that has no basic social protection floor in place, whether so called or not, is meeting its most basic obligations in relation to the economic, social and cultural rights of its citizens and others. Social protection schemes can have a dramatic impact on reducing inequalities. In Brazil, for example, two programmes, the Continuous Benefit Programme and the Family Allowance, jointly contributed to a significant fall in Gini inequality between 1995 and 2004. The Human Rights Council should thus insist on explicit recognition by key actors that there is a human right to social protection. At present, the right to social security and the right to an adequate standard of living, proclaimed so proudly in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequently often reaffirmed in binding treaty obligations, are ignored or even challenged by the policies advocated by many of the key actors involved in addressing the plight of the hundreds of millions of persons living in extreme poverty. Many leading international organizations and financial institutions still avoid recognizing those rights in their policies and programmes (see A/69/297, para. 51).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Penalization of people living in poverty 2011, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Support for these measures is not based on strong evidence of their effectiveness and economic efficiency, but rather on discriminatory stigmas and stereotypes, perpetuated by the media, that portray recipients of social benefits as lazy, dishonest and untrustworthy. Requirements and conditions are often underpinned by strong paternalistic attitudes; policymakers believe that they are acting in the best interests of persons living in poverty, who cannot be trusted to make decisions for themselves and their families.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Families
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Penalization of people living in poverty 2011, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- In some of these programmes, non-compliance with conditionalities results in the immediate cancellation of benefits, without first assessing the reasons for non compliance. Often, this also means that the family cannot reapply to the programme, notwithstanding its needs and the reasons behind its failure to comply.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
27 shown of 27 entities