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Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- How then should human rights actors and institutions respond to the crisis of economic insecurity and the phenomena associated with it? And where might a campaign to achieve a basic income fit into the overall equation?
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 14
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- Starting on 8 October 2010, a contingent of Nepalese peacekeepers, who had completed their training in Kathmandu at the time of a cholera outbreak there, arrived at the MINUSTAH Annapurna Camp in Mirebalais, Haiti. Within days, a few villagers living in Mèyé who drew their water from a stream close to the camp toilets were infected. By way of explanation, later investigations revealed that on 16 or 17 October a sanitation company under contract to MINUSTAH emptied the camp's waste tanks. Because the septic pit into which the waste should have been deposited was full, "the driver dumped the contents and a large amount of fecal waste entered the local stream and flowed on to the Artibonite River. By the next morning, many in downstream communities were infected".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- Remedies. The provision of remedies for wrongdoing is an essential dimension of the law relating to immunity, of human rights law, of the rule of law and of the principle of accountability. The High Commissioner for Human Rights regularly and rightly admonishes States that refuse to provide a remedy to those whose human rights have been violated, yet in the Haiti case the United Nations has refused even to contemplate a range of remedies which could reasonably and feasibly be provided. Similarly, in the transitional justice context, the United Nations consistently calls upon States to acknowledge wrongdoing, to ensure meaningful processes for the vindication of claims and to provide victims with redress. Yet in the Haiti case the victims are told that a handful of broadly focused development projects should provide sufficient redress. Even in the context of armed conflicts, various United Nations bodies have urged States to provide forms of compensation, whether ex gratia or otherwise, to the killed or injured even though the legal obligation to provide such compensation is not uncontested.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- Third, various precedents exist for the United Nations to make one-time lump-sum payments for damages caused by peacekeeping operations. An agreement reached with Belgium in 1965 involved acceptance of "financial liability where the damage is the result of action taken by agents of the United Nations in violation of the laws of war and the rules of international law", but was stated to be "without prejudice to the privileges and immunities which the United Nations enjoys". Similar agreements were also entered into with Luxembourg in 1966 and Italy in 1967.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Peacekeeping. This is an increasingly crucial part of the role of the United Nations in many parts of the world. The potential for success depends on various factors, but pre-eminent among them are legitimacy, credibility and responsiveness. In Haiti, the reputation of MINUSTAH has been gravely tarnished by the cholera episode. And the message that the Organization is unprepared to accept responsibility for negligent conduct which gives rise to dire consequences, despite the fact that it has been definitively found guilty both in the scientific world and in the court of public opinion, will not have escaped other States that are contemplating agreeing to host or participate in peacekeeping operations. While there is a big difference between sexual abuse and negligent conduct, there is an important message for the United Nations in the Haiti context to be learned from the independent review on sexual abuse in the Central African Republic. The review panel warned that "when the international community fails to care for the victims or to hold the perpetrators to account", it amounts to a betrayal of trust.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Scholars have criticized the Organization's "shabby formalistic maneuvers to avoid the very principles of the Rule of Law that they urge on the rest of the world", its "preposterous" failure to provide a remedy, its pursuit of "peacekeeping without accountability", its compounding of a public health disaster with a public relations disaster, its dangerous "legalism" which "effectively insulate[s] the organization from accountability", and its "repeated failures … to provide adequate due process to those affected by its decision-making [which] has had a detrimental effect on the Organization and its activities".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- Third, as noted above, the United Nations accepts in principle that it is liable to third parties for damages occurring in the course of its peacekeeping operations (see A/C.5/49/65).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Claims of a "private law character" are also referred to in the MINUSTAH status-of-forces agreement, which defines them as "[t]hird-party claims for property loss or damage and for personal injury, illness or death arising from or directly attributed to MINUSTAH". In elaborating on this category, the Secretary-General has stated that claims received in the past include "claims for compensation submitted by third parties for personal injury or death and/or property loss or damage incurred as a result of acts committed by members of a United Nations peacekeeping operation within the 'mission area' concerned" (A/C.5/49/65, para. 15). Such claims are distinguished from those "based on political or policy-related grievances against the United Nations, usually related to actions or decisions taken by the Security Council or the General Assembly" and which often "consist of rambling statements denouncing the policies of the Organization" and claiming that financial losses resulted therefrom (ibid., para. 23).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- In contrast, special procedures mandate holders have been consistently critical of the refusal to take responsibility. In particular, successive Independent Experts on the human rights situation in Haiti have warned since 2012 of the costs of silence and denial on this issue. In 2016 the Independent Expert called for the urgent creation of a commission "to quantify the harm done, establish compensation, identify responsible parties, halt the epidemic and take other measures" (A/HRC/31/77, para. 102).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- In summary, what is at stake is the Organization's overall credibility in many different areas. Its existing position on cholera in Haiti is at odds with the positions that it espouses so strongly in other key policy areas. It has a huge amount to gain by rethinking its position and a great deal to lose by stubbornly maintaining its current approach.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- Various observers have suggested that recognition of liability in a case such as cholera in Haiti would deter troop-contributing countries from participating in future missions. But there are several problems with this analysis. First, the reputational damage caused to troop-contributing countries by the Organization's rejection of legitimate claims is surely even greater than that flowing from a just settlement. A festering sore is much worse than a wound that is healed. Second, those States that are generally keen to contribute troops will be less likely to be asked if their contingents remain under the shadow of unresolved allegations. Third, in line with the 1995 General Assembly resolution on third-party liability, the principal burden of financial settlements that are reached in response to legitimate claims should fall upon the Organization itself and not upon the individual State. Thus, the most effective way to address the fears of troop-contributing countries is to ensure that an insurance scheme is in place, whether set up internally or with an external insurer.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Fears have been expressed that the success of the current litigation could "bankrupt" the United Nations itself, or at least its peacekeeping operations. These fears reflect calculations based on the amounts claimed by the litigants before the United States courts: $100,000 for deceased victims and $50,000 for each victim who suffered illness or injury. Multiplied by the current official figures of 9,145 dead and 779,212 infected, potential liability, excluding claims for those certain to die and be infected in the years ahead, would amount to $39,875,100,000, or almost $40 billion. Since this is almost five times the total annual budget for peacekeeping worldwide, it is a figure that is understandably seen as prohibitive and unrealistic. At a time of widespread budgetary austerity, shrinking support for multilateral development and humanitarian funding and the prioritization of funding for the refugee crisis, it is perhaps not surprising that both the United Nations and Member States have in effect put the Haiti cholera case into the "too hard basket" and opted to do nothing.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Fourth, the Haiti case is clearly distinguishable from the Rwanda and Srebrenica claims, both of which alleged a failure by peacekeepers to fulfil the essence of their mandate and raised issues of operational judgment as opposed to a failure to avoid spreading a highly infectious and lethal disease. The Kosovo case is closer to the Haitian case, but might arguably be distinguished by the facts that UNMIK operated as an interim administration in Kosovo and that the United Nations should not be held responsible for contamination which pre-dated its arrival. It is noteworthy that the non-receivability classification did not prevent the Human Rights Advisory Panel established by the United Nations to examine cases of alleged human rights violations in Kosovo from holding in 2016 that "UNMIK was responsible for compromising irreversibly the life, health and development potential" of the child complainants.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 89
- Paragraph text
- Going forward, the role of Member States will be absolutely crucial. Although more lives have been lost in Haiti to cholera than were lost in the entire Ebola epidemic in Africa, too many States have so far wrongly assumed that the case of Haiti is too hard to resolve. States that provide substantial support to the peacekeeping budget, particularly the United States, which is the principal contributor, should actively champion a resolution to this ongoing crisis that respects the rights of the victims and best serves the reputational and other interests of the United Nations. A failure to do so will cause irreparable harm to the Organization and the esteem in which it is held around the world.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- The opinion of the Office of Legal Affairs has provided a convenient justification for States to avoid engagement on the responsibility of the United Nations for the cholera epidemic in Haiti. Although the Security Council authorized the deployment of peacekeepers to Haiti and regularly reviews the status of the mission, it has notably failed to address the issue of the Organization's responsibility for the introduction of cholera. In June 2016 a bipartisan group of 158 members of the United States Congress stated that "each day that passes without an appropriate U.N. response is a tragedy for Haitian cholera victims and a stain on the U.N.'s reputation", and called upon the United States Secretary of State to pressure the United Nations to compensate the victims. Leading newspapers, including the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Boston Globe, endorsed this call to focus on the misdeeds of the United Nations. Yet there is much to be said for the view that without the acquiescence, if not the active support, of the United States and other Security Council members, the abdication approach would not have been adopted by the United Nations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- In the more than five years since the independent panel of experts submitted its report, there have been many scientific studies that have evaluated the evidence and have added new elements to what was known at that time. It is beyond the scope of the present report to recount the analyses and conclusions of the various studies, but this task has been undertaken systematically in a book published in June 2016. Its author, Ralph R. Frerichs, is professor emeritus of epidemiology at the University of California at Los Angeles and the book provides a painstaking and even-handed assessment of the scientific debates that have taken place. For present purposes, it must suffice to note that the book concludes that the peacekeepers were responsible for bringing cholera. In doing so, it systematically vindicates the conclusions reached by one of the first international experts on cholera to investigate the outbreak in Haiti, Dr. Renaud Piarroux. It also deplores what it describes as a "misinformation campaign to protect the United Nations and the peacekeeping program".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- While the brevity of the present report precludes a detailed legal analysis, the basic principles are clear. The United Nations has long accepted that, as an attribute of its international legal personality, it can incur obligations and liabilities of a private law nature. It also recognizes its international responsibility for damages caused by the activities of United Nations forces within this framework. In its resolution 52/247 (1998) on third-party liability the General Assembly set up a special regime to deal with third-party claims in the context of peacekeeping missions, although it set temporal, financial and other limitations to that liability.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- Prior to finalizing the present report, a draft was submitted to the Secretary-General and other relevant officials for comment. To the Special Rapporteur's surprise, that draft was leaked to the press and appeared in full in the New York Times. Subsequently, the Deputy Secretary-General replied to the Special Rapporteur on 19 August 2016. The reply contained several elements that are novel and very welcome. In particular, the United Nations committed to the adoption of a "new approach" which "will address many of the concerns raised in [the present] report". That approach will include, as "a central focus", a package to provide "material assistance and support" to the victims and their families, over and above existing programmes. The support package and delivery mechanism will be elaborated through "a transparent process" involving consultation with the Haitian authorities, Member States and victims. The Organization also committed to intensify its efforts in response to the epidemic. Each of these undertakings is important. The implications are that there will be an approach which goes well beyond the existing one, will be transparent, will mobilize additional resources and will compensate victims.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- On 3 November 2011, a petition was lodged with MINUSTAH on behalf of some 5,000 cholera victims claiming (a) a fair and impartial hearing; (b) monetary compensation; (c) preventive action by the United Nations; and (d) a public acknowledgement of United Nations responsibility and a public apology. Sixteen months later the Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs replied, noting that "the United Nations is extremely saddened by the catastrophic outbreak of cholera, and the Secretary-General has expressed his profound sympathy for the terrible suffering caused by the cholera outbreak". The Under-Secretary-General went on to make what seems to be an indirect reference to the theory that the earthquake that had occurred nine months earlier was the real culprit: "The cholera outbreak was not only an enormous national disaster, but was also a painful reminder of Haiti's vulnerability in the event of a national emergency." After recalling the independent panel's "confluence of circumstances" and no fault findings, the Under-Secretary-General deemed the claims "not receivable pursuant to Section 29 of the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations". That provision requires the United Nations to provide for appropriate modes of settlement of disputes of a private law character to which it is a party, but the Under-Secretary-General considered the claims not to be of a "private law character" because their consideration "would necessarily include a review of political and policy matters".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- The global media has been systematically critical of the United Nations. For example, the Economist has accused the United Nations of dodging its responsibility, the New York Times argues that it has "failed to face up to its role in [Haiti's] continuing tragedy", Business Insider has referred to the cholera outbreak as "the UN's Watergate", the Washington Post has commented that "by refusing to acknowledge responsibility, the United Nations jeopardizes its standing and moral authority".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- Human rights. One of the most impressive human rights achievements of the United Nations in recent years emerged from a similar time of crisis within the Organization as a result of its role in the final months of the civil war in Sri Lanka in 2010. In response to concerted criticism, the Secretary-General first commissioned an internal review panel to explore whether the United Nations had met its responsibilities to prevent and respond to serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law. He then followed up by announcing his Human Rights Up Front initiative, which "aims to help the United Nations act more coherently across the pillars of the Organization's work - peace and security, development, and human rights". As the Deputy Secretary-General has noted: "Human Rights Up Front is about improving how the United Nations system functions and how staff members are to perform." Yet the refusal to address the human rights violations that have occurred in Haiti as a result of the cholera epidemic stands in stark contrast to the excellent intentions of that initiative. Unless action is taken, the message is that a double standard applies according to which the United Nations can insist that Member States respect human rights, while rejecting any such responsibility for itself even in a particularly egregious situation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Second, it is agreed that United Nations actions should comply with human rights standards. The Organization specifically claims "to ensure that its peacekeeping operations and their personnel operate within the normative framework of international human rights law and are held accountable for alleged violations".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Even some of the Organization's traditional supporters have argued that its "peacekeeping brand has been stained indelibly by three major sins", which are sexual misconduct, the negligence involved in bringing cholera to Haiti and "the abject failure of the United Nations to own up to these lapses, and to respond to them in an effective, principled way".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Claims received in the context of peacekeeping operations are often solved amicably, but the United Nations keeps all such matters confidential. A former official responsible for such claims over a 10-year period identified only one other case of non-receivability on these grounds, which related to Kosovo. That case was also referred to in the 2014 letter to the special procedures mandate holders. It involved a claim for damages resulting from lead contamination in camps established by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). The claims were rejected by the United Nations on the grounds that they amounted to a review of the performance of the mission's mandate. Two other cases in which the United Nations had rejected claims were noted in the 2014 letter. One was against the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda for failing to protect victims of the 1994 genocide and the other was against the United Nations Protection Force for failing to protect the inhabitants of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- The Haitian authorities, including the present interim Government, needs to overcome the reluctance of previous Governments to press the international community to ensure that the human rights of its citizens are upheld.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The World Bank and human rights 2015, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- There are, however, some Bank studies which enter into detail on the issue of human rights, such as those in its annual flagship publication, the World Development Report dealing with issues such as equity, gender equality, conflict resolution, HIV/AIDS and disability. In 2006 the World Development Report urged that equity should be a central concern in the design and implementation of development policy. It noted that the "international human rights regime testifies to the shared belief that all should have equal rights and be spared extreme deprivation," and acknowledged various other links between human rights and equity. In 2011, the World Development Report focused on conflict, security and development. The message of the report was that strengthening legitimate institutions and governance to provide security, justice and jobs for citizens is crucial to breaking cycles of violence in fragile countries. Building confidence is a major challenge and one that requires the protection of human rights. Detailed suggestions are explored for achieving that goal.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Democracy and civil and political rights are closely linked to the equal division of economic and other factors that are crucial for well-being. Amartya Sen famously argued that democracy and the upholding of related civil and political rights, such as freedom of the press and the right to vote, are connected to the non-occurrence of famines. He suggested that "India's success in eradicating famine is not matched by a similar success in … relieving inequalities in gender relations". According to Mr. Sen, deprivations such as gender inequality "call for deeper analysis, and for a greater and more effective use of mass communication and political participation - in sum, for a fuller practice of democracy". The existence of a democracy and the right to participate in the political process do not guarantee equal opportunity and more equal outcomes. As other authors have argued, the correlative human rights obligations necessary to "constitute democracy and ensure that it functions properly" include more than just the right to vote: the State "may need to take positive steps to protect individuals against other individuals' interference with the right."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
The World Bank and human rights 2015, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- The Bank should have a due diligence policy that spells out some of the circumstances under which it would be unable to continue providing support for a given project. The United Nations due diligence policy in relation to peacekeeping is of direct relevance here. There is reason to believe that in many cases that subsequently became controversial, the Bank could have promoted relatively minor changes to make some of the projects much less vulnerable to criticism on human rights grounds. As the old aphorism says, a stitch in time saves nine.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
The right to participation of people living in poverty 2013, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Participation has been associated with a range of positive effects in development cooperation, humanitarian aid and poverty reduction programmes, such as better assessment of needs and capacities, and improvements in implementation and sustainability. However, the degree of positive impact that participation can have on poverty reduction is debated, and depends on what type of participation is being studied and in what arena. Nevertheless, evidence shows that in many cases participatory processes have shown positive outcomes in terms of tackling poverty and social exclusion, particularly in building organization and capacity, strengthening social cohesion and democratic governance and creating better development outcomes (such as improved services). Participation in processes like budget formulation or service monitoring has brought tangible benefits to persons living in poverty in specific cases. However, participation on its own is not a silver bullet for poverty reduction, and must be combined with other inputs such as improvements in public services, education and accountability mechanisms to achieve this end.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The right to participation of people living in poverty 2013, para. 86b (ii)
- Paragraph text
- [In order to comply with their human rights obligations regarding the right to participation, the Special Rapporteur recommends States undertake the following actions:] Resources: Improve official capacity to facilitate public participation and access to information, including through adequate staff, equipment and training.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph