Frequently Asked Questions on Human Rights-Based Approach

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housing, food and so forth, the State has a duty to showthat all its available resources—including through requestsfor international assistance, as needed—are being calledupon to fulfil these rights.For socio-economic rights, the following obligations are ofimmediate effect:The obligation nottodiscriminate between differentgroups of people in the realization of the rights inquestion;The obligation to take steps (including devisingspecific strategies and programmes) targeted deliberatelytowards the full realization of the rights inquestion; andThe obligation to monitor progress in the realizationof human rights. Accessible mechanisms of redressshould be available where rights are violated.Taking the right to health as an example, it is not permissiblefor available resources to be devoted exclusively tofirst-rate services for only half the population or only thoseliving in urban areas. Available resources should be dedicatedto ensuring that the standard of health of the entirepopulation is progressively improved, with immediate planningtowards that objective, and effective mechanisms formonitoring progress and, as necessary, redress.Human rights treaties also set certain limits on humanrights obligations:The enjoyment of some international human rightscan be limited in line with legitimate requirements ofnational security, “public order” (although this doesnot offer a carte blanche to abrogate human rights)or public health. Examples include the right of peacefulassembly and freedom of movement under theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.Quite a number of human rights can lawfully bederogated from, or suppressed, in times of publicemergencies, such as a security crisis. Examplesinclude freedom of expression and freedom of association,although not rights basic to immediatehuman survival. To be lawful, derogations must beissued according to pre-established constitutionalprocedures, be publicly notified, and be strictly necessaryand in proportion to the severity of the crisis.At the time of ratifying or acceding to a human rightstreaty, States may also submit what is known as areservation, limiting or modifying the treaty’s effect,provided the reservation is consistent with the treaty’soverall object and purpose.4 Do individuals, as well as States,have obligations?Yes. Human rights obligations can also attach to privateindividuals, international organizations and other non-Stateactors. 5 Parents, for example, have explicit obligations underthe Convention on the Rights of the Child and States areobliged to cooperate with each other to eliminate obstacles5The substantive content of economic, socialand cultural rights obligationsHuman rights (including economic and social rights) standardsare becoming more clearly defined both internationally andnationally. Courts in a wide range of countries and legal systems—such as Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Finland, India, Latvia,Nigeria and South Africa—have been giving meaning to obligationsassociated with economic, social and cultural rights, includingin connection with workers’ rights and the rights to food, socialsecurity, adequate housing, health and education.For example, in 2002 the Constitutional Court of South Africadeclared that the Government had breached its human rightsobligations by failing to take reasonable measures (at affordablecost) to make wider provision of anti-retroviral medication toprevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. This decision andthe grass-roots campaign surrounding it have saved many lives.Decisions of the Supreme Court of India, including in 2002concerning the right to food in the context of a preventablefamine in Rajasthan, have likewise had a significant beneficialimpact in a number of States in that country. The successfuloutcomes in these cases are to a great extent attributable to thefact that litigation strategies were integrated within wider socialmobilization processes.See International Council on Human Rights Policy, Taking Duties Seriously:Individual Duties in International Human Rights Law (1999), available atwww.ichrp.org.3
to development. 6 Moreover, individuals have general responsibilitiestowards the community at large and, at a minimum,must respect the human rights of others.However, the State remains the primary duty-bearer underinternational law, and cannot abrogate its duty to set inplace and enforce an appropriate regulatory environment forprivate sector activities and responsibilities. National legislationand policies must detail how the State’s human rightsobligations will be discharged at national, provincial and locallevels, and the extent to which individuals, companies,local government units, NGOs or other organs of society willdirectly shoulder responsibility for implementation.benefit goes disproportionately to the privileged groups ofsociety. Some interventions important for human rights,such as tackling corruption, in fact save public money.In other cases it will be impossible to realize human rightswithout more funding. This is true for all human rights—economic,civil, social, cultural or political. Depending on thestarting point, working towards an accessible and effectivejustice system may be just as costly as realizing certainsocio-economic rights such as safeguarding against forcedevictions or guaranteeing the right to form trade unions.Setting in place the systems needed for free and fair electionscan be a major draw on the public purse.5 Is it possible to realize human rightswhen resources are limited?6 Are there differences betweenindividual rights and collective rights?Yes. Sometimes the equal worth and dignity of all can beassured only through the recognition and protection of individuals’rights as members of a group. The term collectiverights or group rights refers to the rights of such peoplesand groups, including ethnic and religious minorities andindigenous peoples, where the individual is defined by hisor her ethnic, cultural or religious community.Yes. In many situations the obligations to respect a givenright (non-interference) may require more in the way of politicalwill than financial resources. Even for obligations requiringpositive action by the State, rapid progress may bepossible by using the available funds more efficiently—forexample, by scaling down expenditures on unproductiveactivities and by reducing spending on activities whose6Article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides: “Everyoneis entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedomsset forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.” The 1986 Declaration on theRight to Development contains an even more explicit recognition: “States havethe duty to cooperate with each other in ensuring development and eliminatingobstacles to development” (art. 3, para. 3). The Millennium Declaration (2000)repeatedly affirms the twin principles of global equity and shared responsibility,resolving “to create an environment—at the national and global levels alike—which is conducive to development and to the elimination of poverty” (para. 12).See International Council on Human Rights Policy, Duties sans frontières: Humanrights and global social justice (2003), available at http://www.ichrp.org.Human rights claims are generally made most effectivelyby people acting together as a group. For instance, whilewe are all entitled as individuals to the right to freedomof association, it is only when that right is asserted collectivelythat it can meaningfully be realized. But in certainspecific cases the right in question protects a commoninterest which the group—rather than any specific individual—isentitled to claim. For instance, the rights of indigenouspeoples to traditional lands are recognized in ILOConvention No. 169, minority rights are recognized in article27 of the International Covenant on Civil and PoliticalRights, and the right to self-determination is granted to allpeoples in article 1 of both the International Covenant onCivil and Political Rights and the International Covenant onEconomic, Social and Cultural Rights. Collective rights arereflected strongly in some regional human rights regimes.The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, for example,defines “peoples’ rights” to embrace the right to4
Page 1: OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONSHIGH CO
Page 4 and 5: FOREWORDAt the dawn of the new mill
Page 6 and 7: CONTENTSForeword ..................
Page 8 and 9: IHUMAN RIGHTS1 What are human right
Page 12 and 13: existence and self-determination, t
Page 14 and 15: IIHUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT8 Wha
Page 16 and 17: 10 What is the relationship between
Page 18 and 19: 13 Does the realization of humanrig
Page 20 and 21: Increasing transparency and social
Page 22 and 23: IIIA HUMAN RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH- D
Page 24 and 25: 4. Participatory process. Accountab
Page 26 and 27: systems, a human rights-based appro
Page 28: “Political” challenges in devel
Page 31 and 32: the grounds of race, colour, sex, e
Page 33 and 34: Ensure that programming processes a
Page 35 and 36: Development agencies may need to mo
Page 37 and 38: oosting empowerment, building socia
Page 40 and 41: ANNEX ITHE SEVEN “CORE” UNITED
Page 42 and 43: ANNEX IITHE HUMAN RIGHTS-BASED APPR
Page 44: 3. Programmes of development cooper
Page 47: 15. OHCHR, “Draft guidelines: a h

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