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Background information for teachers
From the Developing Rights online resource
About poverty and basic rights
Basic rights facts
Summary of universal declaration
of human rights
Summary of the United Nations
convention on the rights of the child
About poverty and basic rights
The world has sufficient resources to eradicate poverty. It is
the unjust distribution of the world’s resources at international
and local level which determines who is poor and who is not.
The top 20 per cent of the world’s population own 75 per cent
of the world’s wealth.
The bottom 20 per cent own only 2 per cent.
The eradication of poverty is a principal aim of many international
agencies and community groups around the world. Poverty is not easy
to define. It is not just a lack of the material resources needed
to sustain life. People’s experience of poverty also has to
do with the undermining of their self-esteem, their human worth,
and their power to determine the course of their own lives. Lack
of status, respect, and rights within society must also be taken
into account when looking at poverty.
To end poverty it is necessary to tackle its root causes, rather
than simply deal with its effects. Dealing with individuals’
or communities’ lack of power is a key factor in this. Powerlessness
affects people’s ability to tackle the injustice which they
face. Over many years, the moral concept of natural rights has been
one way in which the powerless have been encouraged to claim their
rights.
The concept of natural rights – rights which belong to all
people by virtue of their humanity – is a very old one. Despite
wide differences in culture and in ideas about the individual, it
has developed in some form throughout all human societies.
However, the recognition of natural or moral rights does not mean
that these rights are automatic or secure for everyone. Throughout
history, people have had to struggle to claim their rights. Action
for justice has united people in some of the world’s most memorable
movements against tyranny and oppression. These include the fight
for rights such as freedom from slavery; the right to vote and take
political action; the right to follow one’s own religion without
persecution, and many more.
Movements have struggled to ensure that moral rights are safeguarded
legally, through national or international law. There have been
many codes and laws which attempt to define and protect rights.
These have developed to suit the moral and political climate of
the time, and have often excluded the weakest groups in society:
slaves or landless labourers, women, and children.
In the twentieth century, international and regional codes of Human
Rights which aim to secure certain basic rights for everyone have
been developed and are endorsed by almost every government in existence.
These include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948);
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989); the African Charter
on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1981) and the European Convention
on Human Rights (1950). These laws act as guidelines for national
governments, many of which include them, or similar codes, in their
constitutions. Conventions can also be enforced through international
agencies such as the European Court of Human Rights.
Yet despite the power of these codes in law, in practice there
are still major violations of people’s rights in many parts
of the world. Today one in four of the world’s people lives
in a state of absolute want, unable to afford the most basic shelter,
or the minimum food requirements for leading an active, productive
life. Despite the fact that we are all born with rights, these are
denied on a massive scale to tens of millions of people around the
world.
Oxfam's Global Charter for Basic Rights
Basic rights facts
Every day 35,000 children die because they are poor. They lack
the food they need to stay healthy and their parents cannot
afford basic health care for them. 130 million children do not go to primary school because their
parents cannot afford to send them and their governments cannot
afford to provide free education. Over 70 per cent of these
children are girls. A 1993 survey found that one woman in ten in the UK had experienced
domestic violence. At least one in seven schoolchildren is involved in bullying,
either as a victim or as a bully, at any one time. Every day 25,000 people – the equivalent of the population
of Durham – die from illnesses that are carried in dirty
water. Worldwide, women are paid on average 30-40 per cent less than
men for the same jobs. Despite economic growth in the UK, since 1977 the number of
people living below the poverty line has risen from 5 million
to nearly 14 million.
A summary of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights
1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms listed in
the Declaration, regardless of race, colour, sex or religion.
3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security.
4. No one shall be held in slavery.
5. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment.
6. Everyone has the right to recognition before the law.
7. Everyone is equal before the law.
8. Everyone has the right to an effective remedy for violation
of their legal rights.
9. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or
exile.
10. Everyone is entitled to a fair hearing.
11. Everyone is innocent until proved guilty
12. No one shall suffer arbitrary interference.
13. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement.
14. Everyone has the right to seek asylum.
15. Everyone has the right to nationality.
16. Everyone has the right to marry.
17. Everyone has the right to own property.
18. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought.
19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
20. Everyone has the right to freedom of assembly and association.
21. Everyone has the right to take part in government.
22. Everyone has the right to full security in society.
23. Everyone has the right to work.
24. Everyone has the right to rest and leisure.
25. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for
health and well-being.
26. Everyone has the right to education.
27. Everyone has the right to participate freely in the cultural
life of the community.
28. Everyone has the right to a social and international order
in which these rights and freedoms can be fully realised.
29. Everyone has duties to the community and a duty to respect
the rights and freedoms of others.
30. Nothing in the Declaration may be interpreted as giving a right
to destroy any of the rights and freedoms set out
in it.
A summary of the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child
A convention is an agreement between countries to obey the same
law. When a government ratifies a convention, it agrees to obey
the law written down in that convention. The UK government ratified
this convention in 1991. These rights apply to all people under
18.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child contains 54 statements
called Articles. These are summarised below.
The main principles
There are three main rights which the Convention says must be considered
whenever a decision is made about children or action is taken which
affects them. These are:
Non-discrimination. All rights apply to all
children regardless of race, sex, religion, language, disability,
or family background. Best interests. When decisions are made about
children, they should always consider the best interests of the
particular child. The child’s opinion. Children have a right
to say what they think about anything which affects them. They
should be listened to carefully and have their views taken into
account.
Other rights
These can be divided into three categories:
1. Self
These are Articles to do with children being respected as people.
All children have the right to:
A name and nationality. Express their thoughts, conscience and religion. Join organisations and to take part in meetings. Privacy. Access to information, including information
about themselves.
2. Services
These are Articles to do with the child’s right to care. Some
of these should be provided by the parents or carers, but the State
should help them too. All children have the right to:
Physical and health care. Education. An adequate standard of living. A clean, safe, healthy environment. A range of leisure activities. Disabled children must be helped to live a full
and active life, and to be as independent as possible.
3. Protection
These Articles are the responsibility of the State, which has a
duty to protect children. All children have the right to:
Protection from abuse or neglect. Protection from dangerous drugs. Protection from sexual exploitation or being
sold, abducted or trafficked. Protection from work which could be dangerous,
harmful or inappropriate to their age. Defend themselves if accused of committing a
crime. They should be treated with respect and, if detained, should
be treated appropriately for their age. Protection in times of war. Children should
not be recruited into the armed forces if they are under 15.
Knowing your rights
Article 42 says that all adults and children should know about
the UN Convention. The British government is committed to supporting
the Convention and making it known to the public. It has to report
to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child every five years
on how it is putting the Convention into practice.
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