1. International Conference on Child Policies and Disparities
From Poverty Reduction to Disparity Reduction or from Basic Needs to Human Rights
International Conference on Child Policies and Disparities
Cairo, Egypt, January 2009
Urban Jonsson

2. OUTLINE
Basic Needs
Human Rights
A Human Rights-Based Approach to Development
Needs vs. Rights
Equality, Equity and Disparity
Conclusions

3. Basic Needs

4. BASIC NEEDS (UNRISD, 1970)
Nutrition
Shelter
Health
Education
Leisure
Security (personal and economic)
Environment (cultural, social and physical)

5. BASIC NEEDS APPROACHES TO DEVELOPMENT
UNRISD
ILO
The World Bank
UNICEF
Etc, etc

6. Human Rights

7. The Origin of Human Rights

8. THE MORAL FOUNDATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Moral codes have existed and do exist in all societies on what is right or wrong, permissible or not permissible, legitimate or not legitimate etc.

9. THE GOLDEN RULE - BUDDHISM
“Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful”

10. THE GOLDEN RULE - CHRISTIANITY
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”

11. THE GOLDEN RULE - HINDUISM
“Do naught to others, if done to thee, would cause thee pain: this is the sum of duty”

12. THE GOLDEN RULE - ISLAM
“No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself”

13. THE GOLDEN RULE - JUDAISM
“What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. That is the entire law; all the rest is commentary”

14. THE CHANGING WORLD 15the and 16th Century
India, China, Roman Christendom, and the Islamic world were the great civilizations
17th, 18th and 19th Century
A revolutionary change took place in Europe regarding human thought towards a secular and more egalitarian society and a universal morality

15. NATURAL RIGHTS
“All humans, beings created by God, possess equal natural rights (that is, in the state of nature they possess life, liberty, and property) that society must recognize if it is to be legitimate”
(John Locke, )

16. The Meaning of Human Rights

17. DEFINITION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
“ Rights are claim-rights, in that they entail correlative duties of other persons or groups to act or to refrain from acting in ways required for the right-holders”
(W.N. Hohfeld, 1919)

18. THE MEANING OF HUMAN RIGHTS
CORRELATIVE DUTY
VALID CLAIM
Claim (Right) Holder Duty Bearer
(Subject) (Object)
(content)
“A school-aged child has a valid claim (right) to education – others have duties (or obligations) to ensure that the right is realized.”

19. Human Rights Standards
Basic needs that are recognized as universal needs, i.e. codified in UN International Conventions

20. Human Rights Principles (OHCHR/UNDP)
Equality and Non-Discrimination
Participation and Inclusion
Accountability and Rule of Law

21. A Human Rights-Based Approach to Development

22. OUTCOME B D C A
Good
Bad
Bad
Good
PROCESS

23. HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS AND HUMAN RIGHTS PRINCIPLES RE-DEFINED
Human Rights Standards = the minimum acceptable level of a desirable outcome
Human Rights Principles = criteria for an acceptable process

24. OUTCOME PROCESS (Human Rights Standards) (Human Rights Principles)
Eradication of hunger and malnutrition
Universal primary education
Child protection
MDGs
“Results”
PROCESS
(Human Rights Principles)
Equality and Non-Discrimination
Participation and Inclusion
Accountability and Rule of Law

25. OUTCOME B D C A
Good
Bad
Bad
Good
PROCESS

26. The Millennium Declaration and the MDGs

27. THE MILLENNIUM DECLARATION’S GOALS
(MDGs)
There are eight (8) MDGs
They all come from the Millennium Declaration (2000)
Many people know the MDGs by heart, but very few people have actually read the Millennium Declaration

28. THE MILLENNIUM DECLARATION
“…,respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, respect for the equal rights of all…” (paragraph 4)

29. MDGs IN THE CONTEXT OF THE MILLENNIUM DECLARATION
“Kofi Annan had recently chided me and others for concentrating so much on the eight MDGs that we forget that they are part of the Millennium Declaration, which calls very strongly for democracy and human rights as the route to achieving the goals”
(Mark Malloch Brown, June 2004)

30. OUTCOME B D C A
Good
Bad
Bad
Good
PROCESS

31. Needs vs. Rights

32. NEEDS VS. RIGHTS Needs are met or satisfied Rights are realized
NEEDS RIGHTS
Needs are met or satisfied
Needs imply goals, incl. partial goals
Needs do not necessarily imply duties
Rights are realized
Rights imply goals, always 100 %
Rights always imply correlative duties
4 / 11

33. NEEDS VS. RIGHTS
NEEDS RIGHTS
Human rights can be realized only by attention to both outcome and process
Rights are always universal
Rights can only be met by duty-bearers meeting their obligations
Needs can be met by goal or outcome strategies
Needs are not necessarily universal
Needs can be met by charity and benevolence
4 / 11

34. NEEDS VS. RIGHTS Needs can be ranked a priori in a hierarchy
NEEDS RIGHTS
Needs can be ranked a priori in a hierarchy
Needs are often associated with promises
Child as an object
“To Have”
Rights cannot be ranked a priori in a hierarchy
Rights are always associated with obligations
Child as a subject
“To Be”
4 / 11

35. Equality

36. Christianity and people who are poor
“It is easier for a camel to pass the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Mark 10.25)
“Naked follow Naked Christ” (Thomas Aquinas)

37. Islam and people who are poor
Emphasizes basic economic and social rights
Religion must be accompanied by active services to people who are poor
Accumulating wealth without recognizing the rights of people who are poor should be punished in the hardest way

38. EQUALITY AS A HUMAN RIGHTS PRINCIPLE
“All persons within a society have a right to enjoy equal access to the available goods and services that are necessary to fulfill basic human needs” (UDHR)

39. (distributive justice)
EQUITY
A situation in which everyone is treated ‘fairly’ (not necessarily the same)
(distributive justice)

40. EQUITY: A process of fairness and justice (A concept of justice)
EQUALITY vs. EQUITY
EQUALITY: A process of dignity and non-discrimination (A human rights principle)
EQUITY: A process of fairness and justice (A concept of justice)

41. DIFFERENT ‘EQUALITIES’
There is an important difference between ‘equality of opportunity’ and ‘equality of result’

42. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES AND EQUAL RESULTS
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES: Everybody has the same chance
EQUAL RESULTS:
Everybody achieves the same level

43. The right to equal opportunities vs. the right to equal results
The right to equal access to health services vs. the right to be healthy
The right to equal access to education vs. the right to be equally educated (learning achievement)

44. Disparity

45. DISPARTY Disparity means In-Equality among: income groups
social classes
male and female (gender)
residence (urban/rural, countries, regions, communities etc)
racial and ethnic groups

46. POVERTY REDUCTION VS. DISPARITY REDUCTION
Poverty Reduction: Reduction of the number or percentage of people who are poor
TARGET: People who are poor
Disparity Reduction: Reduction in disparities between people who are poor and people who are rich
TARGET: People who are poor and people who are rich

47. HUMAN RIGHTS IN LIBERALISM AND IN SOCIAL DEMOCRACY
LIBERALISM SOCIAL DEMOCRACY
In addition to equal opportunities, emphasizes equal results
Equal priority on CPR and economic, social and cultural rights
Emphasizes equality of opportunities
Priority on civil and political rights
4 / 11

48. HUMAN RIGHTS IN LIBERALISM AND IN SOCIAL DEMOCRACY
LIBERALISM SOCIAL DEMOCRACY
The right to health means the right to be healthy
Emphasizes Disparity Reduction
The right to health means the right to health services
Emphasizes Poverty Reduction
4 / 11

49. Value Added by HRBA to Development

50. VALUE ADDED BY HRBA TO DEVELOPMENT
In a HRBA to Development, the individual is the subject of rights and has valid claims on others, who have correlative duties and obligations. This is different from ‘entitlement’ and ‘basic needs’ approaches where there is no ‘duty-bearer’.

51. VALUE ADDED BY HRBA TO DEVELOPMENT
2. A HRBA to Development requires attention to both outcome and process.
A HRBA gives more attention to exclusion, disparities and injustice and can be used to challenge power
4. A HRBA to Development promotes the rule of law (reduces impunity and corruption, and increases social access to justice)

52. VALUE ADDED BY HRBA TO DEVELOPMENT
5. Gives more attention to legal and institutional reforms and national policy review
6. Development assistance no longer means charity, but is an obligation of the international community

53. Conclusions

54. CONCLUSIONS
All UN support must be human rights based and contribute to the realization of human rights
2. In a HRBA the process is as important as the outcome. The blind focus on the MDGs should be avoided

55. 3. A HRBA emphasizes disparity reduction rather than poverty reduction
CONCLUSIONS
2. The choice of ‘equality of results’ or ‘equality of opportunities’ is a political choice
3. A HRBA emphasizes disparity reduction rather than poverty reduction

56. Thank You!