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Background Information on the Global Themes
> Poverty |
Poverty
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"We must not hand down to future
generations a selfish Europe which is blind and deaf to the needs
of others."
Vaclav Havel |
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Poverty is a worldwide problem
and it is increasing. We tend to connect it with places like Sub-Saharan
Africa, Asia and Latin America, but in Europe poverty affects
millions of people, too. Of the European Union's 400 million inhabitants,
60 million live below the poverty line (which is defined as 50%
of a country's average income), and 2.7 million are homeless.
In Spain, 20% of the population live under this poverty line and
4.5 % live in extreme poverty. In the United Kingdom, one third
of children grow up in poverty. |
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| Poverty in transition
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" (...) almost all the
former socialist countries have experienced an important
increase in poverty during the transition period. Nevertheless,
poverty is not an absolutely new phenomenon and it is not
due solely to the transition process; poverty existed before
in the Soviet Union and the region, although for political
and ideological reasons it was not recognised. One social
group that was not previously affected by poverty is public
sector workers, who have seen their salaries and living
standards decrease dramatically. Unemployment is one of
the main causes of poverty in the region." UNDP,
2001 |
| Poverty in the world
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"In rich countries, fewer
than one child in one hundred fails to reach its fifth birthday,
while in the poorest countries as many as a fifth of children
do not. Also, while in rich countries fewer than 5% of all
children under five are malnourished, in poor countries,
as many as 50% are." The World Bank, 2000 |
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"Economic
growth broadens the material base for satisfaction of human needs,
but the degree to which they are satisfied depends on the distribution
of resources among the people and the use and distribution of
opportunities, particularly employment."
Moreira
The Fourth World Youth Movement
is part of the Fourth World Movement,
an organisation dedicated to the fight against poverty.
www.atd-fourthworld.org
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Defining poverty
Absolute poverty is based on what is considered to be
a minimum requirement for survival. By this definition, it is
assumed that there are minimum standards below which people fall
into the category of "poor". One of the most frequently
used measurements is level of income: where the income of a person
or a family falls below a certain level, considered to be the
minimum required for a reasonable standard of living, then this
person or family is considered poor.
In relative poverty, the status of a specific group is
defined and measured in relation to others in the same environment,
community or country. Consequently, someone who is considered
poor in the developed world may actually have a higher income
than someone in a less developed country who is considered well-off.
The meaning of poverty depends on the customs, standards and values
of each country and region of the world. In this way, there is
also a cultural dimension in the perception of what constitutes
poverty.
Nowadays, many people recognise that poverty is not necessarily
reduced by a country's economic growth. In countries that have
experienced economic growth, poverty has not disappeared. Poland,
for example, has achieved significant success in the economic
sphere, but poverty has still increased.
It is widely accepted that "poverty is a multi-dimensional
phenomenon consisting of mental, political, communal and other
aspects", together with a material dimension (normally expressed
in terms of monetary value). The factors underpinning it may be
economic, social, political or environmental. Poverty has many
faces: it can be rural or urban, a permanent or temporary state
of affairs. Some people may be poor throughout their lifetime,
while others may move in and out of poverty. It is not a static
condition.
A further important dimension of poverty concerns what is often
called the "feminisation of poverty". This means that
is there is a prevalence of women among the poor, which is linked,
among other things, to gender-biased consequences of poverty.
Poverty and human rights
The Vienna Declaration and the Programme of Action adopted during
the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, Austria, (June
1993) states that "the existence of widespread extreme poverty
inhibits the full and effective enjoyment of human rights...especially
the economic, social and cultural rights." (Article 14).
It is important to realise that the denial of adequate health
care, education, equality, shelter, etc., which are some of the
consequences of poverty and social exclusion, impedes access to
civil and political rights, which in turn prevents people from
claiming their economic, social and cultural rights. This is a
clear example of the indivisibility and interdependence of human
rights. |
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| Amnesty International
and economic, social and cultural rights |
The International Council
Meeting of Amnesty International which took place in August
2001 agreed to expand the organisation's mandate to enable
it to work on a wide range of human rights. From now on,
the organisation will work not only against torture or for
prisoners of conscience, but also against all forms of discrimination,
whether they affect political and civil rights or economic,
social and cultural rights. |
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The Declaration on the Right
to Development, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 4 December
1986, is the first international instrument that refers exclusively
to the right to development. It is closely connected with the
second generation of human rights, as described in the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights. Development
is defined in Article 1 as "A global economic, social, cultural
and political process that tends to improve the well-being of
all the people and all the individuals based on their free, active
and significant participation in the development and the fair
distribution that derives from it". Article 2 of the same
declaration emphasises that "The human person is the main
subject of development and should be an active participant and
beneficiary of the right to development." |
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Do you think all the documents that have been agreed by governments
can make a difference to the fight against poverty throughout
the world?
At the 1995 World Summit for Social Development, known as the
Copenhagen Summit, 185 countries, through their representatives,
committed themselves to eradicating absolute poverty and adopted
concrete plans and proposals to that end. The heads of governments
and states adopted a declaration and a plan of action, known as
"Copenhagen + 6", but as of September 2001, none of
the stated objectives has been achieved completely.
The existing international and regional instruments have had
a limited impact on the fight against poverty. One reason is that
many of these instruments do not include mechanisms to enforce
these rights. Another is that, although progress has been made
over the last 50 years to develop a human rights framework and
the international community has accepted that sustainable human
development is not possible without respect for human rights,
there is still no express link being made between poverty and
human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
two International Covenants on Human Rights do refer in their
preambles to freedom from want, and the human rights treaties
do provide for the right to an adequate standard of living, including
sufficient food, clothing and housing |
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| The European Social Charter
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With a view to ensuring the
effective exercise of the right to protection against poverty
and social exclusion, the Parties undertake:
(a) to take measures within
the framework of an overall and co-ordinated approach to
promote the effective access of persons who live or risk
living in a situation of social exclusion or poverty, as
well as their families, to, in particular, employment, housing,
training, education, culture and social and medical assistance;
(b) to review these measures
with a view to their adaptation if necessary.
The revised European Social
Charter, Article 30 |
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Final considerations
One of the most common prejudices held about poor people is
that they find themselves in this situation because they want
to or because they do not work hard enough - implying that they
are lazy and irresponsible. This is a way of making the poor bear
sole responsibility for their situation; it suggests that society
should not be responsible for them and can do nothing about them.
This approach runs contrary to a culture of human rights, because
it denies those people who find themselves excluded the opportunity
to live with dignity and to be a subject of rights. In addition,
it conflates the consequences of poverty (altered patterns of
behaviour, drug abuse, refusal to work, use of alcohol, etc.)
with complex root causes.
To eradicate poverty we should be addressing its roots, not
just the immediate needs, and this will require a major political
effort especially from states and international organisations:
poverty thus has a strong political dimension.
"The fight against poverty is a deeply political issue.
Poverty in most societies is about disparities in the distribution
of power, wealth and opportunity." UNDP, 2001.
Do you agree with this statement? |
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| Examples of social indicators
associated with poverty: unemployment and youth in Eastern
Europe |
As in the West, young people
suffer higher unemployment rates than other adults. In 1999,
there were 65 million young people aged 15 to 24 in central
and east European countries and the Commonwealth of Independent
States (27 countries). Of the total youth population, 27%
(18 million) were neither in education nor in employment.
The average youth unemployment rate for 18 countries stood
at 30%, double the overall unemployment rate. Youth unemployment
is particularly high in south-eastern Europe (71% in "the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", 61% in the
former Yugoslavia, 35% in Bulgaria), in the Caucasus (46%
in Azerbaijan, 27% in Georgia), and in Central Asia (37%
in Kyrgyzstan, 33% in Tajikistan).42 |
| Example of a national
plan to combat poverty |
The plight of children in
Moldova is disturbing. In many families, the main source
of income is a modest child allowance. Recent years have
seen a deterioration of nutritional standards among children
from poor families, with adverse consequences for their
health and cognitive development. Consequently, the government
has decided to develop a special programme to combat child
poverty as part of the country's Short-Term Poverty Alleviation
Programme. This initiative offers a wide range of measures
aimed at instituting a social care system for orphaned and
disabled children as well as for children from poor families.43
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References
Endnotes
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