Poverty and

human rights
 Understanding poverty
• General definition: lack of basic necessities of life and opportunities
for human development.
• Manifests itself in the form of deprivation of well-being, lack of
respect and loss of dignity.
• It is the lack of basic capabilities to live in dignity.
• This multi-dimensional nature of poverty is the result of poverty
meaning different things to different people across different
geographical areas and generations.

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• CESCR: poverty is a human condition characterised by sustained or
chronic deprivation of the resources, capabilities, choices, security
and power necessary for the enjoyment of an adequate standard of
living, and other civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.
UN, Poverty and the ICESCR UN Doc. E/C.12/2001/10 (2001) para 8.
• International consensus: - poverty is a phenomenon that goes beyond
economic deprivation and extends to social, cultural and political
aspects of life.
• Has 4 dimensions: income poverty, human development poverty,
social exclusion and extreme poverty.

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Income poverty
• Relates to situations where a person is unable to meet basic needs
due to lack of an income or purchasing power.
• Is either absolute or relative.
• Absolute income poverty: - below a minimum daily amount of calorie
intake of food necessary for survival in a reasonably healthy
condition, and some minimum non-food items regarded as essential
for a decent social existence.
• Relative income poverty: - considers the social and cultural contexts
within which a country perceives capacity to meet basic needs.
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• Therefore, one may be considered poor where basic needs for a
decent living have been met, because his income does not
accommodate certain socio-cultural norms and expectations of his
society.
• Similarly, while one may be considered income poor in one country,
he might not so be considered in another.
• One may also be considered income poor depending on the income
percentile he falls in, if that percentile is considered in a particular
country, to fall within the meaning of income poverty. For example, if
one falls with the 10% globally who live below the IPL.

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Human development poverty
• Refers to the ability of people to live the lives that they value with the
freedom of being, and doing what they value.
• Human development means the expansion of peoples’ freedom and
capabilities to lead the lives that they value and have reason to value.
• These freedoms and capabilities are both processes and outcomes of
social arrangements on development. For example, high literacy levels
are an indication of freedom from ignorance/lack of education.
• Poverty arises where people lack essential freedoms and capabilities,
and as a result, have low income, inadequate education/poor health.
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Social exclusion
• Focuses more on social relations than on the individual.
• Is an essential component of the concept of deprivation of well-being.
• Affects income and human development poverty just as much as they
influence social exclusion.
• The fact that a person is income poor, or suffers human development
poverty is more likely to render him socially excluded.
• Social exclusion is likely to put a person in the position of income or
human development poverty.

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• Social exclusion occurs where the poor or other marginalised groups
are kept at the periphery of society due to their social status.
• This leads to their inability to participate in society, discrimination and
denial of their rights.
• Social exclusion results in the continued marginalisation of the poor,
and their discrimination making poverty and social exclusion mutually
reinforcing issues:
• People living in poverty are typically victims of discrimination on grounds such as birth,
property, national and social origin, race, colour, gender and religion. Patterns of
discrimination keep people in poverty which in turn serves to perpetuate discriminatory
attitudes and practices against them. In other words, discrimination causes poverty but
poverty also causes discrimination. UN, Human Rights & Extreme Poverty (2014) para 32.

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Extreme poverty
• Is a composite of income poverty, human development poverty and
social exclusion and encompasses the notions of lack of basic security
and capability deprivation over prolonged periods of time.
• Extreme poverty therefore relates to the most vulnerable section of
society because they suffer the three forms of poverty above.
• It illustrates the overlaps and interdependence between the three
conceptions of poverty, although analytically, they are distinct terms.
• Because of their distinct nature, the problems they raise are different
and require deployment of different levels of resources.
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• Because of the limited resources available for poverty eradication, the
concept of extreme becomes useful.
• It is a building block upon which resources are directed as a first step,
towards taking care of the most vulnerable in society, namely, those
who suffer all the three forms of poverty.
• This is a readily acceptable approach to dealing with the problem of
poverty.
• It enables States to easily accept the responsibility of adopting
measures to eradicate extreme poverty.

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• Sengupta: - by using the extreme poverty approach, the numbers of
people to be considered is much smaller than when each category is
taken into account.
• That way it is easier for society to identify with extreme poverty and
the need to concentrate limited resources on the most vulnerable in
society:
Following the Rawlsian principle of justice. Which emphasizes the need to concentrate on the
most vulnerable sections of society, it should be therefore possible to appeal to people’s sense
of justice and persuade them to accept the obligations associated with the elimination of
extreme poverty, which makes a small section of the population extremely vulnerable, suffering
from the loss of all liberties or freedom of action. UN, “Report of the independent expert on the
question of human rights and extreme poverty” UN Doc. A/HRC/1/15 (2008) para 36.

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• Extreme poverty is not just about the severe effects of poverty. It is also
about denial of basic human rights, which calls for adoption of govt
policy that addresses the problem of poverty with a view to eradicating
extreme poverty.
• Because poor people have no voice and are hardly seen in decision-
making processes, practical measures must be taken by the State to
ensure respect, protection and fulfilment of the rights of the poor.
• The practical measures envisaged include reaching out to the poor, and
due to their disadvantaged and vulnerable position in society,
empowering them through a human rights approach to poverty
alleviation.
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 Poverty as a human rights issue
• As early as 1944, the community of nations had realised that poverty
was a danger to humanity.
• At the General Conference of the ILO in that year, it was reaffirmed that
one of the fundamental principles on which the ILO was founded is that
“poverty anywhere is a danger to prosperity everywhere”. ILO
Declaration (1944) para 1(d).
• The same article recognises that “the war against want requires to be
carried out with unrelenting vigour within each nation, and by
continuous and concerted international effort…. free discussion and
democratic decision with a view to the promotion of common welfare.

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• The ILO Declaration therefore identifies a connection between
poverty and human rights (the RTD dimension of well-being), and the
need for consultation in addressing poverty related issues.
• In 1948, the UN gave a more direct affirmation that poverty was a
human rights issue. The preamble of the UDHR proclaims that a world
in which all human beings enjoy freedom from want is one of the
highest aspirations of people. UDHR preamble, para 2.
• The common para 3 to the preambles of the ICCPR and the ICESCR
also confirm that poverty is a human rights issue.
• Poverty therefore violates the rights that they proclaim and protect.
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• The ACHPR does not explicitly mention the issue of freedom from
want in its preamble or substantive text. However, it is implicit from
para 9 of its preamble which imports the human rights principles of
the declarations and conventions of the UN, that poverty is also a
concern of the ACHPR especially under the RTD provided for under
article 22.
• Due to their lack of voice and status in decision-making, poor people
are unable to access an adequate standard of living and all the rights
associated with such a standard of living.
• Their status of poverty therefore violates their human rights.

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• Since poverty is a violation of human rights, poverty eradication must
be addressed as a human rights issue and not an act of charity.
• Poverty eradication policies and programmes should be designed in
such a way as to respect, protect and promote the rights of poor
people.
• Economic growth should be pro-poor with national budgets
supporting human dignity concerns.
• All forms of discrimination should be eliminated and environmental
resources and social capital for poor communities protected.

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• Since poverty is a violation of human rights, it must be addressed as a
problem of society using a human rights paradigm. This is particularly
effective if the international human rights framework is adopted as a
core strategy.
• Approaching poverty from the dimension of human rights violations
elevates it from the status of a social problem to that of a moral issue.
• Poverty is a violation of the RTD and therefore there is a need to
develop legal remedies that empower the poor to claim their rights to
human dignity, equality, livelihood, and reasonable standards of well-
being.

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• The recognition of the relationship between poverty and the denial of
human rights is integral to the RTD, which emphasizes the indivisibility
and interdependence of human rights.
• As noted by UN independent expert on extreme poverty and human
rights, “long lasting advances in the eradication of extreme poverty can
only be achieved once measures recognise people living in extreme
poverty as subjects with rights and as potential agents of change.
• Priority must be given to protecting people living in poverty as
marginalised and disadvantaged persons and groups in society. The
approach of protecting them as a group facilitates the RTD.

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