A/HRC/23/36 individuals or groups may also prevent them from participating or speaking out, even in the absence of concrete threats, for fear of losing their livelihoods. This is a problem particularly in very hierarchical or caste-based societies. 14. Material deprivation and disempowerment create a vicious circle: the greater the inequality, the less the participation; the less the participation, the greater the inequality. 4 When the participation of people living in poverty is not actively sought and facilitated, they are not able to participate in decision-making and their needs and interests are not taken into account when policy is designed and implemented. This exacerbates their exclusion and often perpetuates the privilege of elites who are able to influence policy directly, or of groups such as the middle class who have a considerable voice in the media or other public spaces. Lack of participation in decision-making and in civil, social and cultural life is thus recognized by the international community as a defining feature and cause of poverty, rather than just its consequence. 5 15. Arguably, the main aim of human rights is transforming power dynamics between individuals in society, in order to challenge oppression, subvert the subordination and marginalization of certain groups and individuals, and promote individual agency, autonomy and respect of the inherent dignity of every human being. The theory and practice of human rights is deeply concerned with preventing powerful actors from imposing their will or interests at the expense of others through coercion, force or manipulation. Thus, participatory processes based on human rights do not accept power dynamics as they are. Rather, they start from the premise that power differentials must be eliminated and seek to explicitly recognize and challenge inequality, including structural and systemic power imbalances in social and economic life. In order to do so, it is necessary to understand the way that power plays out in a particular context, to diagnose asymmetrical power relations and understand how power is exercised both within and between communities to control and exclude disadvantaged groups. 16. Through meaningful and effective participation, people can exercise their agency, autonomy and self-determination. Participation also limits the capacity of elites to impose their will on individuals and groups who may not have the means to defend their interests. Conceived as a right, participation is a means of challenging forms of domination that restrict people’s agency and self-determination. It gives people living in poverty power over decisions that affect their lives, transforming power structures in society and creating a greater and more widely shared enjoyment of human rights. 17. Rights-based participation is particularly necessary in order to ensure that the poorest and most marginalized people can make their voices heard, because of its principled foundations of dignity, non-discrimination and equality. Therefore, in contrast to some supposedly “participatory” processes that are pro forma, tokenistic or undertaken to give predetermined policies a veneer of legitimacy, rights-based participation aims to be transformative rather than superficial or instrumental. It promotes and requires the active, free, informed and meaningful participation of persons living in poverty at all stages of the design, implementation and evaluation of policies that affect them, based on a comprehensive analysis of their rights, capacity and vulnerabilities, power relations, gender relations and the roles of different actors and institutions. 6 4 5 6 Council of Europe, Living in Dignity in the XXIst Century, Poverty and Inequality in Societies of Human Rights: the Paradox of Democracies, 2013, p. 125. Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development (1995), A/CONF.166/9, chapter II, para. 19. ActionAid, People’s Action in Practice: ActionAid’s Human Rights Based Approach 2.0, 2012. 5