Frequently Asked Questions on Human Rights-Based Approach

More documents

Recommendations

Info

10 What is the relationship betweenhuman rights and poverty reduction?It is now generally understood that poverty is a result ofdisempowerment and exclusion. Poverty is not only a lackof material goods and opportunities, such as employment,ownership of productive assets and savings, but the lackof physical and social goods, such as health, physical integrity,freedom from fear and violence, social belonging,cultural identity, organizational capacity, the ability to exertpolitical influence, and the ability to live a life with respectand dignity. 13 Human rights violations are both a causeand a consequence of poverty.Human rights reinforce the demand that poverty reductionbe the primary goal of development policymaking. Humanrights require the process of formulating a poverty reductionstrategy to include the following elements and principles:Identifying and prioritizing action to improve thesituation of the poorest;Analysing the underlying power relations and theroot causes of discrimination;Ensuring that both the process and the concretepoverty reduction targets are consistent with internationalhuman rights standards;Ensuring close links between macroeconomicdesign, sectoral initiatives, and “governance” componentsand principles such as transparency andaccountability;Ensuring a basic standard of civil and political rightsguarantees for active, free and meaningful participation,including freedom of information and freedomof association; andIdentifying indicators and setting benchmarks sothat the progressive realization of economic andsocial rights can clearly be monitored.Further reading:OHCHR, Human Rights and Poverty Reduction: A ConceptualFramework (New York and Geneva, United Nations, 2004), http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/poverty/docs/povertyE.pdf.OHCHR, Draft Guidelines: A Human Rights Approach to PovertyReduction Strategies, http://www.unhchr.ch/development/povertyfinal.html.World Health Organization (WHO), “Human Rights, Healthand Poverty Reduction Strategies”, Health and HumanRights Publications Series, No. 5 (April 2005), http://www.who.int/hhr/news/HHR_PRS_19_12_05.pdf.13The World Bank’s Voices of the Poor studies were based on extensive fieldresearch and interviews of 60,000 people worldwide. D. Narayan and others,eds., VoicesofthePoor:CanAnyoneHearUs? (2000); D. Narayan and others,eds., Voices of the Poor: Crying Out for Change (2000); and D. Narayanand P. Petesch, eds., Voices of the Poor: From Many Lands (2002).9
11 What is the relationshipbetween human rights and goodgovernance?Governance refers to mechanisms, institutions and processesthrough which authority is exercised in the conductof public affairs. The concept of good governance emergedin the late 1980s to address failures in development policiesdue to governance concerns, including failure to respecthuman rights. The concepts of good governance andhuman rights are mutually reinforcing, both being basedon core principles of participation, accountability, transparencyand State responsibility.Human rights require a conducive and enabling environment,in particular appropriate regulations, institutions andprocedures framing the actions of the State. Human rightsprovide a set of performance standards against whichGovernments and other actors can be held accountable. Atthe same time, good governance policies should empowerindividuals to live with dignity and freedom. Although humanrights empower people, they cannot be respected andprotected in a sustainable manner without good governance.In addition to relevant laws, political, managerialand administrative processes and institutions are neededto respond to the rights and needs of populations. Thereis no single model for good governance. Institutions andprocesses evolve over time.Human rights strengthen good governance frameworks.They require: going beyond the ratification of human rightstreaties, integrating human rights effectively in legislationand State policy and practice; establishing the promotionof justice as the aim of the rule of law; understanding thatthe credibility of democracy depends on the effectivenessof its response to people’s political, social and economicdemands; promoting checks and balances between formaland informal institutions of governance; effecting necessarysocial changes, particularly regarding gender equalityand cultural diversity; generating political will and publicparticipation and awareness; and responding to key challengesfor human rights and good governance, such ascorruption and violent conflict.12 What is the relationship betweenhuman rights and economic growth?Economic growth is a means, not the goal, of development.It can also be instrumental for the realization of humanrights. However, economic growth must be achieved in amanner consistent with human rights principles.Certain economic, social and cultural rights may be realizedonly progressively, over time, due to legitimate resourceconstraints (see question 3). States are under an obligationto take measures to realize these rights as expeditiously aspossible. Since resources are needed to realize these particularrights, their speedy realization depends on softening theresource constraint, which in turn requires economic growth.A faster rate of growth can also help ease the pain of makingunavoidable trade-offs, by increasing available resources.It must be understood, however, that ensuring faster growth isone thing and harnessing its potential for the cause of humanrights is another. For economic growth to lead to the realizationof human rights, any growth strategy must be part of a comprehensiveset of policies and institutions consciously designed toconvert resources into rights. This comprehensive frameworkhas both international and national dimensions, the particularsof which vary from case to case, a process guided by theconditions outlined in question 14 below. A key role of UnitedNations agencies is to help ensure that economic growth istranslated into the wider enjoyment of human rights for all. 1414Economic growth alone is not enoughGrowth alone is not enough. Growth without equity, without socialinclusion, will not reduce poverty. “Equity has an instrumentallogic (redistribution can make growth easier and poverty reductionfaster) but also has intrinsic value in a fair global society.”Source: Simon Maxwell, “The Washington Consensus is dead! Long live themeta-narrative!”, ODI working paper 243 (London, Overseas DevelopmentInstitute, January 2005), p. 6, http://www.odi.org.uk/publications/working_papers/wp243.pdf.“Study on policies for development in a globalizing world: What can thehuman rights approach contribute?” by Professor S. R. Osmani (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2004/18), paras. 21-28.10
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 10 and 11: housing, food and so forth, the Sta
Page 12 and 13: existence and self-determination, t
Page 14 and 15: IIHUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT8 Wha
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

Frequently Asked Questions on Human Rights-Based Approach

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?