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Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Increased prices of housing and real estate assets have become key drivers in the creation of greater wealth inequality. Those who own property in prime urban locations have become richer, while lower-income households confronting the escalating costs of housing become poorer. Surveys of ultra-high-net-worth individuals show that more than half have increased the proportion of their investments allocated to residential properties, with the most common reasons being in order to sell at a later date and to provide a safe haven for wealth. The "economics of inequality", in fact, may be explained in large part by the inequalities of wealth generated by housing and real estate investments. Buying a home with a mortgage becomes a speculative investment depending on volatile financial markets, which may generate considerable wealth on leveraged equity or, alternatively, deprive households of a lifetime of savings.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 8d
- Paragraph text
- [The present report is premised on the view that the human rights movement needs to address and respond to the fundamental changes that are taking place in economic and social structures at the national and global levels. These include, among others:] The rapid and seemingly unstoppable growth in inequality across the globe, captured by Oxfam’s statistic that the richest 1 per cent of humanity already controls as much wealth as the remaining 99 per cent, and by the detailed national-level economic analyses of Thomas Piketty and others;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 66a
- Paragraph text
- [One of the biggest challenges in relation to basic income is to move beyond its chameleon-like character. There are many versions of it, and each is supported by a diverse array of actors, precisely because they see different attractions in the concept. To assess the utility and acceptability of basic income from a human rights perspective, it is helpful to identify the main categories of motivation.] Discouraging laziness and incentivizing work;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- But these contrasting views accurately reflect the conclusion that emerges from a comprehensive survey of the many different utopias the world has known, which is that “utopias are essential but potentially dangerous”. In this case, the danger is that the single-minded pursuit of basic income as a magic bullet, capable of resolving many deeply troubling challenges, will distract attention from the deeper underlying complexities and values. But the utopian vision may also provide the much-needed impetus to rethink the optimal shape of social protection explicitly designed to achieve universal realization of the human right to an adequate standard of living in the twenty-first century. At a comparable watershed moment, Lord Beveridge introduced his 1943 report that laid the groundwork for the British welfare state by insisting that a “revolutionary moment in the world’s history is a time for revolutions, not for patching”.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- Similarly, an ILO report entitled Decent Work in Global Supply Chains responded to the “negative implications for working conditions” of “the dynamics of production and employment relations within the global economy” by proposing a series of steps such as promoting international labour standards, closing governance gaps and promoting inclusive and effective social dialogue. Unsurprisingly, after lengthy debate on the report, the 2016 International Labour Conference expressed its “concern that current ILO standards may not be fit for purpose to achieve decent work in global supply chains”.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Strengthening voluntary standards for businesses on preventing and combating trafficking in persons and labour exploitation, especially in supply chains 2017, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- The above issues, along with the absence of good practices related to remedy for aggrieved workers, were raised throughout the consultation with multi-stakeholder initiatives and industry coalitions as areas for further engagement across supply chain initiatives.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Broader political support is suggested by former United States Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, who suggests that basic income could possibly be financed out of the profits coming from labour-replacing innovations, or perhaps even from a revenue stream generated by the underlying intellectual property. And a book by the former President of the Service Employees International Union, Andy Stern, also calls for a universal basic income to address a new economy characterized by high unemployment, stagnant wages, declining trade union power, and decreasing job security.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- The most committed proponents of basic income proclaim their approach to be utopian, not in the sense of being unrealistic or unachievable, but as providing a highly ambitious, sweeping, and progressive vision. Critics or sceptics who raise objections based on unaffordability, the unacceptability of unconditionality or the unrealistic change in mentality required will often be dismissed as unimaginative defenders of an obviously unsatisfactory status quo.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Strengthening voluntary standards for businesses on preventing and combating trafficking in persons and labour exploitation, especially in supply chains 2017, para. 66q
- Paragraph text
- [Criteria and indicators should be strengthened in accordance with the benchmarks and indicators for ensuring trafficking-free supply chains proposed by the Special Rapporteur (A/HRC/23/48/Add.4, appendix I) and should include at a minimum the following indicators:] Workers, irrespective of their nationality and residence status, have the right to join trade unions and bargain collectively.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Strengthening voluntary standards for businesses on preventing and combating trafficking in persons and labour exploitation, especially in supply chains 2017, para. 66l
- Paragraph text
- [Criteria and indicators should be strengthened in accordance with the benchmarks and indicators for ensuring trafficking-free supply chains proposed by the Special Rapporteur (A/HRC/23/48/Add.4, appendix I) and should include at a minimum the following indicators:] Workers retain full and complete control over their earnings and are free to spend such earnings at their discretion;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Three major obstacles which reinforce each other are identified in the following sections.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- It does not follow from the gap between theory and practice that labour rights should be compromised, let alone abandoned, but it does highlight the fact that traditional approaches might not have much traction in the face of the systematic weakening of labour market institutions, the dramatic increase in more flexible working conditions, and the greatly increased insecurity, including the loss of non-wage benefits, for those who remain employed.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- While defining witchcraft as an element of crime raises issues, witchcraft accusations could be objectively defined without defining witchcraft. Therefore, to suppress witchcraft accusations, they could be proscribed with legislation, enforceable with relative ease.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- In comparing basic income schemes with the welfare state, it is important to note that some of the proposed forms of basic income are intended to replace the welfare state, while others complement it or only partly replace it. Charles Murray proposes a radical form of basic income designed to replace the welfare state, and to eliminate “programmes that are unambiguously transfers — Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, welfare programmes, social service programmes, agricultural subsidies, and corporate welfare”, but that would keep in place State-funded education. But others have argued that “a basic income should not be understood as being, by definition, a full substitute for all existing transfers, much less a substitute for the public funding of quality education, quality health care, and other services”. This approach is supported by commentators for whom basic income schemes “would not necessarily replace contributory benefits”. A Canadian study proposes that a new basic income should come on top of 33 existing income support programmes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 66e
- Paragraph text
- [One of the biggest challenges in relation to basic income is to move beyond its chameleon-like character. There are many versions of it, and each is supported by a diverse array of actors, precisely because they see different attractions in the concept. To assess the utility and acceptability of basic income from a human rights perspective, it is helpful to identify the main categories of motivation.] Freedom, in the sense of the ability to make career and related choices, or the ability to exercise political rights because of a degree of economic security;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Strengthening voluntary standards for businesses on preventing and combating trafficking in persons and labour exploitation, especially in supply chains 2017, para. 66f
- Paragraph text
- [Criteria and indicators should be strengthened in accordance with the benchmarks and indicators for ensuring trafficking-free supply chains proposed by the Special Rapporteur (A/HRC/23/48/Add.4, appendix I) and should include at a minimum the following indicators:] Contract substitution and changes that diminish originally agreed wages, benefits or other conditions of work are prohibited;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Strengthening voluntary standards for businesses on preventing and combating trafficking in persons and labour exploitation, especially in supply chains 2017, para. 66h
- Paragraph text
- [Criteria and indicators should be strengthened in accordance with the benchmarks and indicators for ensuring trafficking-free supply chains proposed by the Special Rapporteur (A/HRC/23/48/Add.4, appendix I) and should include at a minimum the following indicators:] Workers that earn wages calculated on a performance-related basis do not earn less than the legally mandated minimum wage;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Negative income taxes, inspired by the work of Milton Friedman, ensure that individuals who earn below a certain threshold receive payments from the government, rather than having to pay taxes. It is similar to basic income in that every citizen is automatically and unconditionally eligible, but it differs from the full basic income in that benefits phase out as incomes rise. Amounts may also be adjusted for households.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- Fifth, proponents of a basic income need to ensure that particular schemes to implement the concept are not narrowly linked to citizenship at the expense of all others who are part of the community.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 89
- Paragraph text
- There are already promising initiatives in place throughout the world, including in low- and middle-income countries, which challenge the status quo. Creating the space, through strong political leadership and resources, to enable those practices to take shape in communities is a powerful means to promote and advance the changes needed.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Strengthening voluntary standards for businesses on preventing and combating trafficking in persons and labour exploitation, especially in supply chains 2017, para. 66j
- Paragraph text
- [Criteria and indicators should be strengthened in accordance with the benchmarks and indicators for ensuring trafficking-free supply chains proposed by the Special Rapporteur (A/HRC/23/48/Add.4, appendix I) and should include at a minimum the following indicators:] Deductions made from workers’ wages are lawful;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- In certain countries, organizations of traditional healers have established oversight systems to control the practice of their members. This is the case in Mozambique, where oversight takes the form of voluntary registration in the association of traditional healers.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 96e
- Paragraph text
- [At the national level] [At the national level] [Specifically in respect of intercountry adoptions:] Official fees must be sufficient to cover costs and full details must be made available for public consultation;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 8a
- Paragraph text
- [The present report is premised on the view that the human rights movement needs to address and respond to the fundamental changes that are taking place in economic and social structures at the national and global levels. These include, among others:] The increasingly precarious nature of employment in the age of Uber, Airbnb, outsourcing, subcontracting, zero-hours contracts and the like;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- The concept of a basic income on a global scale has attracted little scholarly attention, but at least two organizations, the Global Basic Income Foundation and World Basic Income, are promoting it. According to the latter, a global basic income would be a “global scheme that gathers and redistributes money, in amounts ranging from a few dollars to over $2,000 per month, depending on circumstances”. The long-term goal is redistribution of wealth and natural resources through “collective shareholdings in global companies, international taxes such as a carbon tax or financial transaction tax, royalties on goods like intellectual property or the extraction of natural resources, or fees for the use of shared goods, such as charging airlines a fee for using our shared airspace”. The present report does not seek to examine the feasibility or otherwise of such an approach.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Strong support has also come from technology entrepreneurs. According to media reports, the venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, the web guru Tim O’Reilly, and “a cadre of other Silicon Valley denizens have expressed support for” basic income, calling it the “social vaccine of the twenty-first century”. Sam Altman, the president of Y Combinator, the largest start-up “accelerator” in Silicon Valley, is funding a basic income pilot scheme in Oakland, California. He believes that “people should be as free as possible to get ‘as rich as they … want’, so long as the people at the very bottom still have all their basic needs met”. GiveDirectly, funded in part by Google, also seeks to finance basic income experiments in East Africa. Comments made by many of these entrepreneurs suggest that basic income is seen as a way to sustain and legitimize a world in which employment opportunities will be drastically reduced and to reinforce consumer demand which would be greatly weakened without a broad-based minimum redistribution of income.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Basic income proponents have devoted relatively little attention to the biggest question of all, which concerns affordability.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Strengthening voluntary standards for businesses on preventing and combating trafficking in persons and labour exploitation, especially in supply chains 2017, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- Companies should review and modify purchasing practices that could have a negative impact on the workplace conditions of their suppliers, including the setting of delivery deadlines that will expose workers to non-voluntary overtime or force suppliers to hire workers for peak periods under worse working conditions or through employment agencies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- In the United Kingdom, basic income proposals were prominent in the period after both world wars. In 1918, Bertrand Russell called for an income for all, sufficient to pay for “necessaries” in post-First World War Britain. And when the Beveridge plan was being debated in 1943, Juliet Rhys-Williams proposed a basic income approach instead of Beveridge’s contributory welfare state plan.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 66f
- Paragraph text
- [One of the biggest challenges in relation to basic income is to move beyond its chameleon-like character. There are many versions of it, and each is supported by a diverse array of actors, precisely because they see different attractions in the concept. To assess the utility and acceptability of basic income from a human rights perspective, it is helpful to identify the main categories of motivation.] Fairness and social justice.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph