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Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- The background and daily experience of justice sector staff, especially judges, are often very different from those of persons living in poverty, and this often means that, without proper training and sensitization, they do not understand and value their views, choices, behaviours or problems. Persons living in poverty may be denied access to impartial justice owing to negative stigma and stereotyping from judges, prosecutors and police.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
Taxation and human rightss 2014, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Transferring and redistributing wealth through taxation has the potential to redress systemic discrimination (based on, inter alia, gender, race, age, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status) and to spur progress towards substantive equality. These are fundamental human rights goals and are conducive to sustainable poverty reduction. Tax structures must, however, be carefully designed if a more equitable distribution of incomes is to be achieved.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2014
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 88
- Paragraph text
- Considering limited fiscal resources, in some countries, it could be possible to begin with a universal pension offered at an advanced age (providing adequate level of benefits) and from there slowly extend the programme to include persons of a less advanced age. However, this should be carefully examined. While a high age requirement could reduce costs and help the programme to be implemented immediately and later scaled up, if the age requirement is too high it may be regressive, as it could predominantly benefit the better-off in society.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Year
- 2010
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Persons living in poverty are often deprived from a young age of the opportunity to acquire the tools, social capital and basic legal knowledge necessary to engage with the justice system. They are unaware of the existence and contents of their legal rights and entitlements, of the State's obligations and duties towards them, and of how to secure the assistance they need. This is especially the case for those who experience discrimination in accessing education on grounds such as ethnicity, gender or disability.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
Penalization of people living in poverty 2011, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- The introduction of biometrics to social benefits systems means that in some States, beneficiaries must submit to facial recognition technology, finger imaging and iris scans. These mechanisms give States extensive power and discretion to monitor and interfere in the lives of beneficiaries. The information obtained is frequently made accessible to other authorities for purposes other than those for which it was given, without beneficiaries' consent. Such practices seriously threaten the protection of personal data and the right to access and control one's personal information.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- The income is “basic” in the sense that it is designed to guarantee a “floor” on which every recipient can stand. Because people’s needs are highly individualized and context-dependent, the amount that any specific individual requires will depend on factors such as local housing and living costs, the person’s health status, and whether there is any form of support network in place. But in its pure form, basic income would generally be assumed to be a uniform amount, which does not reflect those differentials. There are, however, different versions of the concept that envisage adjusting the amount over time, providing less money for children and more for the elderly, or adjusting for geography. The basis on which the floor is calculated and the amount to be paid will, of course, vary greatly from one country to another. Thus, while a national referendum on basic income in Switzerland proposed a payment of SwF 2,500 per month per adult, a South African initiative envisages a grant of US$15 per person per month, indexed to inflation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Year
- 2017
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- When analysing inequalities, there are many other dimensions of well-being that can be taken into account apart from income and wealth. Economic inequalities can be distinguished from what can be termed "social inequalities". Social inequalities may refer to the distribution of, for instance, political power, health, education or housing among individuals in a society. In theory, a society may have health equality, for instance, when every individual has access to the same quality and quantity of health care. Social inequalities and economic inequalities may, and often do, interact with, and reinforce, one another, for instance when individuals with higher incomes or their family members have more political power or access to better education than those with lower incomes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
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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
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
The right to participation of people living in poverty 2013, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- The principle of equality and non-discrimination requires affirmative action to ensure that everyone has equal opportunities to participate. This means that the barriers that prevent vulnerable and disadvantaged groups from participating must be identified and actively tackled to ensure substantive equality. A human rights approach requires focusing on power asymmetries at the community level and on the removal of physical, economic, legal, cultural and political obstacles that prevent marginalized groups from enjoying their right to participation. Participatory processes should not only avoid perpetuating asymmetries of power in the communities, but should actively seek to enable the most disadvantaged and excluded members of the community to participate as a matter of priority.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Year
- 2013
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
The right to participation of people living in poverty 2013, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The right to participation is strongly linked with empowerment, which is a key human rights goal and principle. Effective participation can build capacity and rights awareness. It allows those living in poverty to see themselves as full members of society and autonomous agents rather than subjects of decisions taken by others who see them as objects of assistance or mere statistics. As stated by a Peruvian activist, "[f]or us, participating means leaving our isolation, breaking our silence and overcoming our fear… Before I was afraid, but now I'm strong, not humbled". It can also provide people living in poverty with the chance to speak out against and challenge injustice, discrimination and stigma. It can give them confidence in dealing with government officials and bureaucracy. Indeed, exercising their right to participation can be a springboard to fully claiming other rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Year
- 2013
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
The right to participation of people living in poverty 2013, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- The format and level of formality of the meeting must not be alienating or difficult to negotiate for people living in poverty. Organizers must allow sufficient time for participants to debate and seek consensus or common positions from which to develop representative and legitimate messages. The methodology of the process must not rely wholly on written materials, as this would exclude those who are illiterate or have poor reading skills. Instead, more inclusive and accessible methodologies should be used, including different media such as pictograms or theatre. Accessibility and adaptability requires that meetings should be conducted in the minority language appropriate to the community where necessary; if this is not possible, well-trained interpreters must be provided.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Year
- 2013
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- A wide range of laws and legislation are relevant to addressing unpaid care work. These include employment law, anti-discrimination law, family law, and legislation focused specifically on carer's rights. States must go beyond gender-neutral responses and ensure that laws and policies in all these areas actively alleviate the disadvantages that unpaid caregivers experience. To this end, States should develop mechanisms to ensure that laws and policies do not have unintended adverse effects on unpaid caregivers and do not enforce or perpetuate gender stereotypes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Year
- 2013
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- The difficulties, intensity and gendered distribution of unpaid care work create and perpetuate unequal rights enjoyment and gender inequality, and cause human rights violations. States therefore have concrete obligations in this regard. Various international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities establish legally binding obligations that ought to compel States to address the issue of unpaid care.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Year
- 2013
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- In addition, narrow rules relating to legal standing prevent civil society organizations from taking a more direct role in litigation, or engaging in judicial proceedings on behalf or in support of persons living in poverty and other vulnerable groups (with their permission), who may lack the resources or capacity to do so themselves. For example, in 10 European Union member States, the domestic rules on legal standing are considered overly restrictive and therefore represent a major obstacle to the right to access justice. In those States, individuals cannot bring a claim to court unless they have full legal capacity (which often excludes those with certain disabilities) and are directly concerned in the matter.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
Penalization of people living in poverty 2011, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- To ensure that beneficiaries comply with conditions and requirements, States often subject them to intensive examinations and intrusive investigations. Social benefit administrators are empowered to interrogate beneficiaries about a wide range of personal issues and to search their homes for evidence of fraudulent activity. Beneficiaries are required to report regularly and disclose excessive amounts of information whenever it is demanded of them. In some countries, they must even submit to mandatory screening for drug use. They must also give their consent to authorities to scrutinize every aspect of their lives and to question their friends, colleagues and acquaintances. Beneficiaries are encouraged to watch each other and report abuses to programme administrators through anonymous channels. These intrusive measures undermine beneficiaries' personal independence, seriously interfere in their right to privacy and family life, make them vulnerable to abuse and harassment, and weaken community solidarity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Violence
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
Penalization of people living in poverty 2011, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- In several countries, the negative impact of these regulations is further exacerbated by laws which make illegal actions to assist those living in the street. In several States, specific legislation limits the actions of civil society organizations or bans the provision of assistance in certain circumstances. For example, in some municipalities, it is illegal to share food with groups of people in downtown parks without a permit, creating a barrier for charities and other organizations that provide food to homeless persons. The criminalization of advocates, activists and civil society organizations violates several human rights such as the freedom of association, expression and assembly, and undermines social cohesion.
- 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
- Year
- 2011
- Date modified
- Sep 21, 2020
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- The fundamental values of the international human rights system are under attack in new and diverse ways in 2017. While competing explanations have been proffered, one that is included in most lists is that there is a rapidly growing sense of economic insecurity afflicting large segments of many societies. There is an increasing feeling of being exposed, vulnerable, overwhelmed and helpless, and of being systematically marginalized, both economically and socially. This situation, which previously seemed to be a fate reserved only for those living in low-income countries or in extreme poverty in high- and middle-income countries, now afflicts not just the unemployed and the underemployed, but also the precariously employed and those likely to be rendered unemployed in the foreseeable future as a result of various developments. Many of these individuals previously enjoyed a modicum of security and respect and felt that they had a stake in the overall system of government. As the new insecurity has ballooned and affected ever-greater numbers, many mainstream political parties have either remained oblivious, or have offered solutions that have only exacerbated the problems, further undermining faith in electoral democracy.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2017
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Often, police officers, court staff and other justice sector personnel reflect the discriminatory attitudes of the wider society and are not adequately trained to perform their roles without discrimination or bias against persons living in poverty.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Ensure that, in linguistically plural societies, court processes operate in languages used by the poorest communities where necessary and can adapt to intercultural communication
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
The right to participation of people living in poverty 2013, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Ultimately, the enjoyment of the right to participation can benefit society as a whole, building trust and solidarity, creating better social cohesion and contributing to more inclusive and pluralistic societies, and bringing new issues and voices into the public arena.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
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 modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 106
- Paragraph text
- In order to uphold their right to participation, tackle gender stereotypes and create an enabling environment for the more equal sharing of unpaid care work, States must take concerted action to meaningfully empower unpaid caregivers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
The World Bank and human rights 2015, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- However, the use of a human rights framework and discourse actually makes an enormous difference, which is of course precisely why the Bank is so resistant to using it and so attached to the never-ending search for surrogate language that enables it to get at the same concerns. Human rights provides a context and a detailed and balanced framework; it invokes the specific legal obligations that States have agreed upon in the various human rights treaties; it emphasizes that certain values are non-negotiable; it brings a degree of normative certainty; and it brings into the discussion the carefully negotiated elaborations of the meaning of specific rights that have emerged from decades of reflection, discussion and adjudication. Even more importantly, the language of rights recognizes the dignity and agency of all individuals (regardless of race, gender, social status, age, disability or any other distinguishing factor) and it is intentionally empowering. Whether in the home, the village, school or workplace, or in the political marketplace of ideas, it makes a difference if one is calling for the realization of agreed human rights to equality or to water, rather than merely making a general request or demand, and human rights are inseparable from the notion of accountability. Where rights are ignored or violated, there must be accountability.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
The right to participation of people living in poverty 2013, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- In the context of participation, availability means that channels of participation, access to information and accountability mechanisms must be made available in sufficient quantity (and be of sufficient quality) to meet the needs of the community in question.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
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 modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- Although one of the Open Working Group's proposed goals is aimed at reducing inequalities, the Special Rapporteur has observed that human rights norms are almost absent from the proposal (see A/69/297, paras. 45-49). In his synthesis report the Secretary-General attributed far greater importance to them, although he did not explicitly discuss the relationship between inequalities and human rights. The link was however acknowledged in statements calling for a future free from poverty and built on human rights, equality and sustainability, a post-2015 agenda built on the principles of human rights and the rule of law, equality and sustainability, and again in the linking of the challenges of reinforcing human rights, equality and sustainability (see A/69/700, paras. 18, 49 and 82). More generally, the Secretary-General underscored the need to continue to remedy the policy incoherence between current modes of international governance in matters of trade, finance and investment on the one hand, and the norms and standards for labour, the environment, human rights, equality and sustainability on the other (ibid., para. 95). He also acknowledged an indirect link between human rights and inequality by juxtaposing the value of dignity with deepening inequality, thus implying that inequality undermined human dignity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
The right to participation of people living in poverty 2013, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- Mechanisms, processes and channels should be adaptable to the local context, taking into account the specific needs of communities or individuals in different social and cultural settings, and also adaptable to changing local, national and international contexts and standards.
- 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
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Ensure that courts extend legal standing without discrimination to all persons regardless of, inter alia, their gender, ethnicity, legal status or lack of formal legal registration
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- For the purposes of this report, unpaid care work includes domestic work (meal preparation, cleaning, washing clothes, water and fuel collection) and direct care of persons (including children, older persons and persons with disabilities, as well as able-bodied adults) carried out in homes and communities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2013
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 82
- Paragraph text
- The present report is not the appropriate context in which to spell out in detail what remains to be done to right the wrongs that have occurred. But it is possible to sketch in broad outline the principal steps that are required.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date modified
- Feb 14, 2020
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