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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 added
- Aug 19, 2019
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 added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- Under a basic income system, regular payments would be made to recipients, for example on a monthly basis. Predictability and continuity ensure that redistributive and poverty-reducing goals are met, whereas one-time only payments or lump sums do not ensure a consistent floor.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- The present report is submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 26/3 and is the third report submitted to the Council by Philip Alston in his capacity as Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to participation of people living in poverty 2013, para. 86a (i)
- 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:] Legal and institutional framework: Adopt a legal framework that includes the explicit right of individuals and groups to participate in the design, implementation and evaluation of any policy, programme or strategy that affects their rights, at the local, national and international levels. This should include: a. Putting in place operational guidelines, policies and capacity-strengthening measures to enable public officials to apply these laws, and ensuring that these are adaptable to different contexts and allow innovation based on feedback from the ground. b. Requiring the establishment of inclusive participatory mechanisms at the local and national levels. c. Explicitly including the duty of policymakers and public officials to actively seek and support the meaningful participation of people living in poverty. d. Setting and enforcing minimum standards for participatory processes, including thresholds for participation of people living in poverty and disadvantaged groups such as women, minorities and persons with disabilities.
- 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
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- However, the demands of unpaid care work often force women into precarious and informal jobs not covered by social insurance schemes linked to employment, such as paid parental leave, unemployment insurance or pensions. This further contributes to their poverty and economic dependency on men.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Not only do women living in poverty perform the lion's share of unpaid care work, they also stay poor because they do so. Dedication to unpaid care work and resulting scarcity of time have significant financial and opportunity costs that perpetuate poverty among women.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Continue to extend and expand equal access to the formal justice system for persons living in poverty, even in areas where non-State legal orders operate
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Ensure that cases where the rights of persons living in poverty are at stake are not subject to long delays which might exacerbate their situation
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Ensure that lawyers and paralegals have access to people living in poverty who require their services in police stations, pretrial detention and prison facilities
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Review and reform detention and incarceration systems to ensure that they do not have a disproportionately harsh impact on those living in poverty
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Provide training and education programmes for judicial officers, judges, lawyers, prosecutors and the police focusing on the rights and particular needs of the poor
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Review or abolish legislation that directly or indirectly discriminates against the rights, interests and livelihoods of persons living in poverty
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Take positive measures to raise the capacity of poor and disadvantaged groups to ensure that they have full understanding of their rights and the means through which they can enforce them
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 93
- Paragraph text
- The principle of the indivisibility and interdependence of human rights requires States to address a range of intersecting and mutually reinforcing deprivations and obstacles which prevent access to justice for the poorest.
- 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
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- While many people find it difficult to understand legal or judicial terminology, the complexities increase for many persons living in poverty in multilingual and multi ethnic societies where legal proceedings are often conducted in a language that they do not understand.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Persons living in poverty are not only denied access to justice when they are unable to meet the cost of bribes or of engaging in other corrupt activities, but they are also deterred from accessing the justice system when they perceive the system to be corrupt.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- In addition to formal administrative fees, persons living in poverty encounter other collateral costs in accessing justice. The cost of transportation to courts and of accommodation, together with the loss of income while away from employment or subsistence activities, may be impossible for the poor.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- Access to justice is crucial for tackling the root causes of poverty, exclusion and vulnerability, for several reasons. First, owing to their vulnerability, persons living in poverty are more likely to fall victim to criminal or illegal acts, including sexual or economic exploitation, violence, torture and murder. Crime and illegality are also likely to have a great impact on their lives as it is hard for them to obtain redress and as a result they may fall further into poverty. Second, access to justice is important because justice systems can be tools to overcome deprivation, for example, by developing jurisprudence on social and economic rights. Third, when vulnerable persons cannot access justice systems, they are sometimes forced to take justice into their own hands through illegal or violent means, or to accept unjust settlements. Thus, fair and effective justice systems are an important way to tackle impunity and reduce violence and conflict. Fourth, the inability of the poor to pursue justice remedies through existing systems increases their vulnerability to poverty and violations of their rights. In turn, their increased vulnerability and exclusion further hamper their ability to use justice systems. This vicious circle impairs the enjoyment of several human rights.
- 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
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Penalization of people living in poverty 2011, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- These policies not only severely impact the inclusiveness and diversity of cities, and increase the segregation and social exclusion of those living in poverty, but also represent serious obstacles to the enjoyment of rights to adequate housing, to work, to an adequate standard of living and to take part in cultural life.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Establishing or extending social security systems is more than a policy option or a means for reducing poverty; it is first and foremost a duty of States stemming directly from human rights norms and standards, in particular the right to social security and the right to an adequate standard of living.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Taxation and human rightss 2014, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Low levels of revenue collection have a disproportionate impact on the poorest segments of the population and constitute a major obstacle to the capacity of the State to finance public services and social programmes. A lack of access to quality services is a constituent element of poverty, and people living in poverty are particularly dependent on public services, being unable to pay for private alternatives. In addition, their specific needs and characteristics make it more likely they will have to interact with State-funded institutions and services on a regular basis. This is particularly the case for people who experience multiple forms of discrimination and disadvantage; for example, persons with disabilities are more likely to come into regular contact with health and social services, while women are more likely to be directly dependent on social protection and health systems for at least some period of their lives because of their sexual and reproductive health and maternity-related needs. Women also serve as unpaid alternative care providers when public services are not adequately funded, increasing their time burden and limiting their opportunities to engage in paid work, education, training or leisure, while also negatively affecting their enjoyment of rights such as health, education, participation and social security.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Taxation and human rightss 2014, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Certainly, poverty reduction is more effective and sustainable when combined with investments in areas such as education, health and food security. These areas are also critical for ensuring the realization of rights in the present and future and for overcoming the intergenerational transmission of poverty.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The implementation of the right to social protection through the adoption of social protection floors 2014, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Future advocacy for social protection floors needs to acknowledge the lessons that are to be learned from past experience. First, the reality is that in many states the political will to eliminate poverty is lacking and, in the absence of a major change in priorities, the situation will at best improve only incrementally. Far from being a tragedy about which nothing can be done because of financial constraints, the persistence of extreme poverty is the result of a series of deliberate and conscious decisions by key actors who have chosen to prioritize other goals. Those living in poverty have been largely disempowered and their economic position reflects their political marginality. Extreme poverty remains a scourge which the international community has lamented at great length and with a collective gnashing of teeth, but that same community has all too often refused to take the measures required to eliminate the problem. Embracing the Social Protection Floor Initiative would constitute a compelling change of course and mark a genuinely new beginning in the struggle against extreme poverty.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The implementation of the right to social protection through the adoption of social protection floors 2014, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- This reading is reinforced by the fact that the earlier provisions of Goal 1 seek to resolve the competition between the two ways of measuring poverty by endorsing both, but in very different terms. Target 1.1 follows the World Bank by calling for the eradication, by 2030, of "extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day". Given that this is a very low standard, the aspiration is a limited one. But when it comes to "men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions", the aim in target 1.2 is only to "reduce at least by half the proportion" by 2030. In other words, that target implies acceptance that as many as half of those currently living in extreme poverty, as measured by the multidimensional approach described above, will continue to do so beyond 2030. For a planet with immense wealth and one that is able to mobilize vast resources very rapidly for projects that further the interests of the elites, that is a shameful goal and one that is clearly inconsistent with the recognition that all persons are entitled to at least the minimum core of economic and social rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- However, the negative income tax option would be problematic for 18- to 29-year-olds and for senior women. The Canadian examples demonstrate the potentially positive effects of negative income tax, but warn that a basic income model that replaces existing social support mechanisms could have seriously negative effects on the poor.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Unconditional cash transfers, although without strings attached, differ from basic income schemes in several respects. First, they are generally paid to households and may vary accordingly. Second, unconditional cash transfers often target the poor or other categories such as children or the elderly. Third, the amount of the unconditional cash transfers often differs, depending on the recipient’s situation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Marginality of economic and social rights 2016, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- Economic and social rights are also of central importance to efforts to tackle extreme inequality and its consequences. The thoroughly documented increases in global wealth and income inequality threaten to undermine the social fabric, to turn civil and political rights into a tool that will be used predominantly to protect the rights and interests of the wealthy and to entrench forms of economic and political liberalism that ignore the needs and deny the rights of those living in poverty. In many respects, the approach currently taken by the international human rights system all but ensures the worst of all possible outcomes. On the one hand, the correct approach insists that economic and social rights are indivisible from, and of equal importance to, civil and political rights, thus suggesting that they can provide a meaningful response to extreme poverty, extreme inequality and other forms of rampant social injustice. On the other hand, the international human rights system systematically marginalizes those rights in many respects, and tolerates a situation in which the majority of States avoid the recognition, institutionalization and accountability that alone can establish solid foundations upon which to build respect for economic and social rights as full-fledged human rights and thus provide powerful and principled arguments to reduce levels of inequality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- It is clear therefore that the most impoverished suffer the most extreme effects of inequality for a variety of reasons. In part, this is because their influence and capacity to exercise rights is diminished relatively, even if not absolutely, as others become wealthier and gain greater political and economic power, and in part because they are more vulnerable to the harms associated with social unrest, crime and violence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The World Bank and human rights 2015, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Fourth, the Bank needs to bring its operational policies into line with mainstream development theory, especially its own. In 1999, Amartya Sen published a landmark study entitled Development as Freedom, based on lectures given at the Bank. Sen made a powerful case that freedom and the enjoyment of a range of rights were integral to achieving meaningful development. More recently, William Easterly has argued that "the cause of poverty is the absence of political and economic rights, the absence of a free political and economic system that would find the technical solutions to the poor's problems". He dismissed policies that seek to artificially separate human rights from development as technocratic illusions. The Bank itself has often paid lip service to the consensus that has emerged since the end of the cold war that recognizes that "democracy, development and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent and mutually reinforcing," as proclaimed in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by consensus by 171 States in 1993. By staunchly maintaining the technocratic illusion, not in its conceptual work, but in its operations where it really matters, the Bank has not only placed itself firmly outside mainstream development thinking and policies formally endorsed by all States, but perhaps more problematically has sent the message that rights and development can, and in its own case must, be kept separate. The flow-on effect of that negative example cannot be underestimated;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph