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The right to social security (Art. 9) 2007, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- Social security, through its redistributive character, plays an important role in poverty reduction and alleviation, preventing social exclusion and promoting social inclusion.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2007
- 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
Development cooperation in the water and sanitation sector 2016, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- Funders must face those challenges head-on to create proper arrangements to ensure that funding actually reaches its destination, thereby effectively generating benefit for the poor and realizing the human rights to water and sanitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Lack of access to water and sanitation is not simply a question of scarcity of technology, financial resources and infrastructure. It is a matter of setting priorities, a function of societal power relations and a problem of poverty and deeply entrenched inequalities. In order to increase sustainable access to water and sanitation, it is essential to address these underlying causes. Rights-based analyses in the water and sanitation sectors have revealed, for example, lack of secure land tenure as a key blockage, in particular in urban slums. Target 7.D aims to achieve, by 2020, a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers. The target date (five years later than the rest of the targets) and the scale of progress aimed for (around a tenth of the estimated 1 billion slum-dwellers) highlight the low ambition embodied in this target. The indicators used as a proxy to measure progress towards the target do not capture security of tenure, which would be crucial to improve living conditions and is one of the main components of the right to housing. If these underlying issues were addressed and the target on slums were set higher, it would contribute significantly to making progress towards universal access to water and sanitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- Perhaps the most frequently voiced concern about the Millennium Development Goals is that, taken on their face, they may facilitate aggregate human development progress at the expense of the most marginalized populations, thereby potentially exacerbating underlying inequalities. In fact, it would be possible for a country to be in full compliance with the Goals regarding access to water and sanitation without having extended access to any person belonging to the lowest wealth quintile. Whereas the Millennium Declaration refers explicitly in paragraph 23 to "equitable access", this concern for equity is not reflected in the Millennium Development Goals and, regrettably, principles of equality and non-discrimination are at present poorly reflected in most Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers. Non discrimination and equality are not only instrumentally important in the context of development; they are binding human rights principles reflected in international human rights treaties. Development strategies based on the Millennium Development Goals that pick only the "low-hanging fruit" risk perpetuating and even reinforcing existing inequalities, frustrating sustainable development objectives and violating international human rights standards.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Debt bondage as a key form of contemporary slavery 2016, para. B.
- Paragraph text
- [Recommendations to Member States:] In the context of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, continue and expand targeted poverty reduction programmes that reduce the vulnerability of the individual to debt bondage.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Child slavery in the artisanal mining and quarrying sector 2011, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- With the growth in rural poverty and lack of investment in rural livelihoods, communities are drawn to work in this sector as they know that they can gain immediate benefits from selling gold as opposed to cultivating land.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- 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
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 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
Health financing in the context of the right to health 2012, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- However, community-based health insurance programmes may be unable to achieve effective cross-subsidization owing to the size and constitution of community pools. In most cases, community-based pools are very small in size and comprise poor individuals at high risk for illness; financial and health risks therefore may not be effectively subsidized across pool members. Contributions to community-based health insurance have also been shown to be regressive in some instances, as contributions are made as flat amounts and income-rated contributions and exemptions for the poor have been difficult to implement owing to challenges in determining household incomes. Moreover, the costs associated with collecting contributions from populations in rural areas and informal urban areas are high relative to the revenue generated from contributions. Thus, while in some cases community-based insurance programmes may be used to increase access to health facilities, goods and services for vulnerable or marginalized groups and facilitate the participation of communities in health-related decision-making processes, they are not a substitute for larger, more centralized pooling mechanisms.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
- 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 contribution of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development to the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals 2009, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- Further calls upon Governments, in formulating and implementing national development plans, budgets and poverty eradication strategies, to prioritize actions to address challenges relating to the impact of population dynamics on poverty and sustainable development, keeping in mind that universal reproductive health-care services, commodities and supplies, as well as information, education, skill development, national capacity-building for population and development and transfer of appropriate technology and know-how to developing countries are essential for achieving the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Beijing Platform for Action and the Millennium Development Goals and can contribute to economic and social development and to poverty eradication;
- Body
- Commission on Population and Development
- Document type
- Resolution
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2009
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
European Social Charter (Revised) 1996, para. b
- Paragraph text
- With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion, the Parties undertake: b. to review these measures with a view to their adaptation if necessary.
- Body
- Council of Europe
- Document type
- Regional treaty
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 1996
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Service regulation and human rights to water and sanitation 2017, para. 90f
- Paragraph text
- [In addition, the Special Rapporteur recommends that regulatory actors:] Ensure that tariff-setting reconciles financial sustainability with affordability, while prioritizing and protecting the needs of those living in poverty;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2014, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- This situation can be changed this time around. As noted in its report, the High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda stated that "to fulfil our vision of promoting sustainable development, we must go beyond the Millennium Development Goals. They did not focus enough on reaching the very poorest and most excluded people. They were silent on the devastating effects of conflict and violence on development."
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 87g
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur offers the following recommendations. States should take the following measures:] Use public financing to support access for people living in poverty and those who are marginalized or discriminated against and eliminate inequalities in access to water and sanitation services;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- At a broader level, communities have used participatory wealth rankings as a way of assessing poverty to determine how to target measures within their communities. Determining relative poverty in a community allows for targeting on that basis. Such participatory processes can provide detailed insights on local poverty and often include access to water as an indicator in the analysis.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Affordability of water and sanitation services 2015, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- In different contexts, different mechanisms have been used with the aim of targeting financial support at those individuals and groups who rely on it to ensure the affordability of services. Subsidies could apply to low-income households, to areas populated predominantly by low-income communities, or to small-scale services likely to be used by those living in poverty or on a low-income.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation 2014, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur is encouraged to see advances in identifying, preventing and remedying violations of the human rights to water and sanitation. Nevertheless, the extent of continuing violations constitutes a major human rights crisis. It is imperative for States to implement review and adjudication procedures to identify violations, with the full participation of stakeholders, and to prioritize action to address violations. The Special Rapporteur has found that, while more attention needs to be paid to violations of the rights to water and sanitation in general, progress has not been equal across the full range of obligations or for all groups of rights holders. Access to justice for violations at a more structural or systemic level, particularly in relation to the obligation to progressively realize the rights to water and sanitation, to avoid retrogressive measures and to achieve substantive equality, has lagged behind in comparison with access to justice for violations linked to the obligations to respect and to protect. Violations related to inequalities experienced by certain groups, such as people living in poverty, informal settlements, or rural and remote communities, or homeless people, have remained largely unchallenged in courts, despite their severity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sustainability and non-retrogression in the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur is aware that resources available to States are limited, despite efforts to mobilize revenue. As noted in a previous report (A/66/255, para. 41 ff), this highlights the need for appropriate targeting of available resources. Human rights principles give clear guidance on this: States should initially direct resources and efforts towards meeting obligations with immediate effect, for example, targeting the realization of the core content of the human rights to water and sanitation without discrimination and protecting existing access. One of the challenges highlighted above demonstrates this need for targeting of resources: while potentially necessary for long-term sustainability of the sector, the introduction of metred service delivery at cost price can have discriminatory effects. Thus the pricing of services (as well as taxation) needs to be targeted and appropriately adjusted for the most disadvantaged and for people living in poverty. For example, scarcity pricing, penalties or higher pricing structures for non-essential use, well-designed increasing-block tariffs, subsidies for those in need, and institutional and distributive taxes, are all examples of approaches used to raise revenue and recover costs. These should be implemented in a fair manner that promotes sustainability and access for all to water and sanitation services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Sustainability and non-retrogression in the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Since the start of the global financial crisis, the majority of European countries have cut their aid budgets; for example, Ireland announced a cut of nearly €100 million (a 10.6 per cent decrease) in its 2009 budget and Spain cut its aid budget globally by approximately 75 per cent. For the poorest countries, sustainable and predictable flows of funds are therefore unlikely to be forthcoming at least until the recession is over.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Wastewater management in the realization of the rights to water and sanitation 2013, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Looking at households, some countries make it mandatory to connect to sewage lines, where they are available (see A/HRC/21/42/Add.2, para. 18). In countries with extensive sewerage networks, this may be a feasible measure, but it requires ensuring that connections are affordable even for people living in poverty, for instance, through the targeted use of subsidies. Often, challenges remain in that regard.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 63j
- Paragraph text
- [In line with these conclusions, the independent expert recommends the following:] Near-universal access to water and sanitation cannot be cause for complacency and States must not overlook persistent pockets of poverty, but instead continue to focus on addressing systematic discrimination and exclusion;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- The Millennium Development Goals have served a valuable function in galvanizing international support around a certain number of monitorable poverty reduction targets, including with respect to water and sanitation. The water and sanitation targets are vital human development ends, and they are also indispensable for the achievement of the other Millennium Development Goals.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The MDGs and the human rights to water and sanitation 2010, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Social protection policies can be expected to feature prominently in an intersectoral, rights-based analysis of the water and sanitation sectors. There have been strengthened calls for "social protection floors" and numerous cases of successful implementation with impressive poverty reduction impacts. While social policy priorities are of course country-specific, the "social protection floor" concept includes water and sanitation within the scope of essential services, along with a set of social transfers to provide a minimum income and livelihood security to ensure continuing access to essential services for the poorest. In practice, however, these minimum packages of affordable social protection guarantees do not frequently appear to have prioritized water or sanitation, as distinct from basic health, nutrition, education and income security objectives. The fundamental importance of water and sanitation, in their own right and also for the realization of health, food, education and other Millennium Development Goals and their corresponding human rights, establishes a strong case for increasing priority attention to water and sanitation. Such an integrated and intersectoral analysis within a broader social protection framework offers a compelling and potentially important means of addressing affordability constraints.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to participation of people living in poverty 2013, para. 86g (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:] Supporting the role of civil society: Grant financial and logistical assistance to civil society groups, giving preference to those that have long-term partnerships with people living in poverty, to facilitate participation and build capacity of public officials.
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph