Poverty

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Poverty: the human rights approach
UNESCO's ethical and intellectual mandate and its role in standard setting and policy promotion, places it in a key position to contribute to achieving the first of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), that of eradicating poverty, especially extreme poverty and hunger.

"...poverty may be defined as a human condition characterized 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"
(United Nations Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights, 2001)

The United Nations human rights system's mounting commitment and growing efforts to isolate poverty and to examine its relationship and impact on the protection of the basic human rights represents an awakening to the decisive and devastating impact of poverty on human rights.

The world has never been as rich as it is today, yet over one billion people suffer from extreme poverty. UNESCO is committed to raising awareness to the fact that freedom from poverty is a fundamental human right.

Interview with Sylvie Kayitesi Zaïnabo: ‘Poverty is a denial of human rights.’

SHSviews 20

The fight against extreme poverty – an intersectoral challenge for UNESCO (PDF)
Interview with Monique Ilboudo, Burkina Faso’s Minister for the Promotion of Human Rights: "poverty is disregard for human rights"

SHSviews 14

Infosheet on Eradication of Poverty (PDF)

Photo: 2/3 of the children deprived of primary education are girls (Source: UNICEF) © UNESCO

News

UNESCO Small Grants Programme on Poverty Eradication in Sub-Saharan Africa: the deadline for submission of proposals deferred to 31 May 2009 2008-12-18 10:00 am UNESCO
In the framework of UNESCO’s programme for poverty eradication, the Social and Human Sciences Sector calls for project proposals for small grants for an amount of US $10,000. These research proposals must contribute to write, revise, re-read and amend strategy documents of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), through the normative human rights framework. The projects must concern Portuguese speaking countries of Africa (3 fellowships are available), Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal or Togo. Submission of applications is extended until 31 May 2009 at midnight.

Message from Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, 17 October 2008 2008-10-16 3:00 pm UNESCO

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, 17 October 2008: "Human Rights and Dignity of People Living in Poverty" 2008-10-16 2:35 pm UNESCO
To mark International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on 17 October 2008, UNESCO supported the initiative of the collective "L’Arche et la Dalle"*. A large gathering took place in the business district of La Défense, near Paris. The International Day was organized under the banner of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This year's main theme was "Human Rights and Dignity of People Living in Poverty".

Fight against poverty: Publication of the results of 39 research projects 2008-07-04 9:00 am UNESCO

The fight against poverty hits the headlines of SHSviews No. 20 2008-06-03 3:00 pm SHS e-News 27 / June 2008
Covering the period April-June 2008, No. 20 of the quarterly magazine SHSviews from the Social and Human Science Sector of UNESCO has just been published in English and French and will soon be available in Spanish and Russian.

To leave half of humanity living in poverty is expensive and will be more and more as time passes 2008-03-25 7:00 am UNESCO
A seminar held in Kingston (Jamaica), in March 2008, has led outstanding Latin American researchers to review the multiple costs of poverty in the Caribbean, and more especially to present options available to the international community to cope with a phenomenon that affects nearly one in two people around the world.



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