A/HRC/23/36 9. In order to prepare the report, the Special Rapporteur addressed a questionnaire to States and other stakeholders requesting information on participatory mechanisms implemented at the domestic level. The responses are available on the mandate’s website. 2 The Special Rapporteur benefited from a review of many studies on participation, and from an expert meeting convened by her and organized by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on 28 and 29 January 2013. The Special Rapporteur also participated in a workshop convened by International Movement ATD Fourth World from 24 to 26 January 2013 in Pierrelaye, France, which brought together activists living in poverty, community workers, academics and representatives of NGOs and United Nations agencies to produce recommendations on participation at the conclusion of a 2 1/2 year evaluation of the Millennium Development Goals by people living in poverty in 11 countries. 10. The Special Rapporteur wishes to express her gratitude to all States and civil society organizations that submitted information, and to the experts, NGOs and United Nations agencies that supported this process and assisted in the preparation of the present report. The Special Rapporteur is particularly grateful for the support and guidance of International Movement ATD Fourth World. 11. The primary focus of the present report is on States’ role in participation, as States maintain the primary responsibility for human rights protection. However, other actors also have an important role to play in facilitating and organizing participation; thus, the human rights-based framework presented is not exclusive to State-managed processes. The final section gives recommendations to States on concrete actions they can take to respect, protect and fulfil the right to participation. III. Participation, power and poverty 12. Lack of power is a universal and basic characteristic of poverty. Poverty is not solely a lack of income, but rather is characterized by a vicious cycle of powerlessness, stigmatization, discrimination, exclusion and material deprivation, which all mutually reinforce each other. Powerlessness manifests itself in many ways, but at its core is an inability to participate in or influence decisions that profoundly affect one’s life, while decisions are made by more powerful actors who neither understand the situation of people living in poverty, nor necessarily have their interests at heart. 13. The right of people living in poverty to participate fully in society and in decisionmaking is blocked by multiple compounding obstacles – economic, social, structural, legal and systemic.3 All of these relate to their lack of financial, social and political power. Discrimination and stigma, disempowerment, lack of income, mistrust and fear of authorities all limit the possibilities and incentives for people living in poverty to participate. Due to their lack of status and power, people living in poverty are also particularly vulnerable to corruption, clientelism or co-option. At the most extreme level, poor or marginalized individuals may face reprisal (emanating from State or non-State actors such as corrupt community leaders of business enterprises) if they speak out in participatory spaces, in the form of violence or threats to them, their families, property or livelihoods. Often, the economic dependency of people living in poverty on more powerful 2 3 4 Questionnaire responses were received from Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Brcko District), Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Estonia, France, Greece, Guatemala, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lithuania, Mexico, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Qatar, Romania, Senegal, Serbia, Slovenia and Tunisia. Civil society organizations also responded to a similar questionnaire. All responses are available from http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Poverty/Pages/ResponsesGovernmentsLivingInPoverty.aspx Many are similar to obstacles they confront in trying to access other rights; see A/67/278 (2012).