“We are human beings and amonghuman beings we can dialogue anddiscuss things. We are all differentbut in matters of intelligence, we areequals. It is true that we are poorbut we have the same capacities andthe same rights as everyone else. Wemustn’t accept the fact that we areleft out.”Walter Tunqui,grassroots member of ATDFourth World, Peru.

The 1948 Universal Declarationof Human Rights states, “theadvent of a world in which humanbeings shall enjoy freedom of speechand belief and freedom from fearand want has been proclaimed asthe highest aspiration of thecommon people.” The linkbetween human rights andextreme poverty was raised at theUnited Nations at the request ofJoseph Wresinksi in 1980s. Itwas subsequently recognised in areport by the UN Special

Rapporteur on Extreme Povertyand Human Rights, LeandroDespouy, to the UN Sub-commisison for human rights in1996 as a definition of extremepoverty, as originally proposed byWresinski in his report to theFrench Economic and SocialCouncil:

“The lack of basic security connotesthe absence of one or more factorsenabling individuals and families toassume basic responsibilities and toenjoy fundamental rights. Thesituation may become widespreadand result in more serious andpermanent consequences. The lackof basic security leads to chronicpoverty when it simultaneouslyaffects several aspects of people’slives, when it is prolonged and whenit severely compromises people’schances of regaining their rights andof reassuming their responsibilities inthe foreseeable future.”

ATD Fourth World advocatesthis definition which linksextreme poverty and humanrights, highlighting poverty’smulti-dimensional nature, as wellas both the similarity and thedifference between situations ofpoverty and extreme poverty. Itmakes it possible to think notonly in terms of statistics orincome indicators, but alsoqualitative criteria illustratinghow people live in the mostdifficult conditions. It engendersan approach based on equalityand participation in the fightagainst extreme poverty.

Through its work in this area,ATD Fourth World demonstrateshow people living in extremepoverty are not only victims ofhuman rights violations butdefenders of human rights, andsupports them to find solutionsand seek redress.

Sheet 2 Human Rights and Poverty

Developing a Culture of Human Rights

The Draft Guiding Principles(DGP) “Extreme poverty andhuman rights” is the firstinternational document whichsets out clearly the implicationsof existing international laws inrelation to the human rights ofpeople living in extreme poverty.

The DPGs add value to theexisting international humanrights framework by, amongother things, reinforcing existinginstruments.

The draft guiding principles werewritten by a working group ofthe UN Sub-commission forHuman Rights and adopted bythe Sub-commission in August2006. In 2007, at the request ofthe Human Rights Council, theOffice of the High Commissionerfor Human Rights carried out abroad consultation on the draftto obtain the views of allstakeholders, including non-governmental organisations,especially those in which peoplein situations of extreme povertyexpress their views.

To this end, over the course of2007, ATD Fourth World broughttogether people living in extremepoverty to enable their expertise tobe included in the drafting processin: Lille (France), Cusco (Peru),Kielce (Poland), Dakar (Senegal)and Bangkok (Thailand).

Exchanges with other members ofATD Fourth World also occurred,particularly in Geneva(Switzerland), and with theorganizations that are membersof the Permanent Forum AgainstExtreme Poverty in the World.The fruit of this consultation waspublished in 2008 in thedocument: “Dignity in the Faceof Extreme Poverty:Consultations with people inextreme poverty on the draftguiding principles” (availablefrom ATD Fourth World’swebsite).

The DGP process has enabledseveral hundred grassrootsmembers of ATD Fourth Worldliving in extreme poverty fromacross four continents to be

involved from the initial localconsultation process through tothe concluding consultation inGeneva. As Doña Silvia Velasco,grassroots member from Cusco,Peru, explained at the concludingconsultation seminar in January2009, organized by the Office of

the High Commissioner forHuman Rights, “The conclusionsare a significant moment because wehave planted a seed in the earth sothat in the future our children willnot live in the same poverty as us, sothey can reap the fruit of this seedbecause they are the world’s future.”

These conclusions pave the wayfor the Principles to be adoptedin 2010 by the Human RightsCouncil.

Draft Guiding Principles on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights

Honourable Mention

UNESCO/Bilbao Prize

On 10 December 2008, theInternational Movement ATDFourth World received anhonourable mention in the awardof the UNESCO/Bilbao Prize forthe Promotion of a Culture ofHuman Rights. The prizerewards the efforts of

institutions, organizations andindividuals that have made aparticularly importantcontribution to the promotion ofhuman rights through educationand research, and through effortsto raise the awareness ofdecision-makers and the generalpublic.

Reinforce fundamental ties to

access human rights

To overcome extreme poverty,people or groups need toreinforce fundamental ties, withtheir family or their community,which will allow them to accesstheir rights, whether they be civil,political, economic, social orcultural. Without suchreinforcement of ties to thefamily or community, access to

rights becomes impossible, suchas access to healthcare shelter,education or decent employment.Everywhere, it is necessary toimprove relations amongdisadvantaged people and otheractors, often characterised byincomprehension and mutualdistrust. With people who areoften undocumented and

scarcely politically represented, itis vital to promote new forms ofparticipatory democracy, at alocal and national level, and toencourage States and publicopinion to strongly commit tothe fight against extreme poverty.

Below are two examples of suchan approach in practice:

1. Collective Complaint lodged

against France

In January 2006, the InternationalMovement ATD Fourth Worldlodged a collective complaintagainst the French Governmentfor breaches of the right to beprotected against poverty andsocial exclusion and to housingfor people living in extremepoverty, contrary to the revised

European Social Charter, ratifiedby France.

This situation is not uncommonin France and one particularexample came from theexperience of a group ofsedentary travellers in Herblay,outside Paris, who lived inunsanitary and indecent housing

conditions and had beensupported by ATD FourthWorld’s local team for more than20 years. In April 2004 thesefamilies had received evictionorders, subject to appeal, leadingto many of them fleeing fromplace to place, resulting in,among other things, theimpossibility of their children toenrol in school.

In December 2007, the EuropeanCommittee of Social Rightsfound that France had violatedArticle 31, which enshrines theright to housing and article Ewhich protects Roma people andtravellers from discrimination.The Committee also recorded aviolation of Article 30 (the rightto protection against poverty and

social exclusion), due to a lack ofa coordinated approach topromote effective access tohousing for people who are orcould find themselves in asituation of social exclusion orpoverty.

The lodging of the complaintembodies ATD Fourth World’sapproach of viewing poverty andsocial exclusion in terms ofrights. People living in extremepoverty are not passive objects ofpublic policy but citizens whoserights are denied. They are notasking for handouts but forlegitimate access to their rightsand to exercise theirresponsibilities. This led ATDFourth World to involve thosewho were vulnerably housedthroughout the campaign,particularly sedentary travellerpeople, from the initial expulsionhearing at the local court, rightup to the hearing at the Councilof Europe in September 2007.

“This is the first time anyone’s

ever said I was right!” 

Grassroots member fromAlsace, France, after thehearing at the Council ofEurope.

2. Adult Forums in Manila:

citizenship and access to

rights

Adult Forums in Manilacurrently take place twice amonth at the ATD Fourth Worldoffice. The majority ofparticipants come fromcommunities where hundreds offamilies live in crampedconditions on backstreets andalleys alongside the highway andcanal, as well as those residinginside a cemetery. In 2006, thesemeetings were a vital tool insupporting and organising

families facing another wave ofdemolitions. Families livingalongside the nearby railwayswere being relocated en-masseand those living under a nearbybridge hoped to benefit fromsimilar relocation packages.

A major challenge for one of thecommunities was the fact thatthey did not have the support ofa local barangay (a local level ofgovernment in the Philippines)official. They also faced a lack ofco-ordination betweenauthorities at all levels and thefact that no-one had overallresponsibility for their situation.All of this became evident duringthe Adult Forum meetings whereparticipants were able to decidetogether the best course of actionand receive advice and supportfrom each other and the ATDFourth World team about theirrights and the responsibilities ofthe different agencies involved.

The insecurity of their situationand the efforts being made bythe community to overcome itwere the basis for a testimonyread at the Manila Rizal Parkcommemoration on 17 October2006 in the presence of theNational Anti-PovertyCommission Lead Convenor,City of Manila Deputy Mayorand UN Resident Co-ordinator.Whilst each of these high-levelofficials heard what the

community had to say, it is a farcry from the ongoing dialogueneeded to satisfactorily resolvetheir situation and that ofmillions like them in MetroManila alone. Nevertheless, thecommunity continues its effortsto be heard despite the regularobstacles and disappointmentsthat they must face.

In 2007, the subject of citizenshipand accessing the rights that gowith it, was presented at theUnited Nations in New York by aManila cemetery resident withboth Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and General AssemblyPresident Kerim. At asubsequent press briefing, he wasable to outline in detail howimportant it was to gain thisofficial barangay recognition,“Things are now easier becausewe have access to support fromthe barangay official. Before, wehad no identity in the cemetery.Being a citizen means havingrights (…) to vote and thechildren can go easily to school.For this you need help andsupport from the localauthorities, such as the barangay,and need to be recognised asbelonging to a community. Thehelp and support you can thenreceive includes barangayclearance, voting permit, schoolplaces for the children, medicalassistance and to be treated as acitizen of Manila.”