A/HRC/2/2 A/HRC/Sub.1/58/36 page 31 Reaffirming that extreme poverty persists throughout the world, that it constitutes a negation of human rights and might, in some situations, threaten the right to life, and that the international community must continue to regard its immediate alleviation and eventual elimination as a major priority, Taking into account the relevant decisions and resolutions of the Commission on Human Rights, which has repeatedly condemned the situation of poverty in the world and emphasized that it represents a negation of the fundamental rights of the individual, as well as the declaration on poverty and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on 4 May 2001, and recalling that, in that context, the Commission, in its resolution 2001/31 of 23 April 2001 and its other resolutions on the matter, requested the Sub-Commission, with the help of an ad hoc group of experts, to draw up guiding principles on the implementation of human rights norms and standards in the context of the fight against extreme poverty, Adopts the following guiding principles, which it submits to the Human Rights Council for consideration, expressing the hope that all the interested parties will engage in an in-depth discussion with a view to their adoption. Human rights and extreme poverty: the rights of the poor 1. Poverty is a human condition characterized by sustained or chronic deprivation of 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.2 2. Extreme poverty and exclusion from society constitute a violation of human dignity; consequently, the inclusion in national and international plans of measures to eliminate them is a priority. 3. Persons living in extreme poverty are fully entitled to demand that policies and programmes at the national and international level aimed at the eradication of extreme poverty should be drawn up and effectively implemented in accordance with the principles of human rights and the present guiding principles. 4. Persons living in extreme poverty are entitled to the full enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to participate in the adoption of decisions which concern them, and to contribute to the well-being of their families, their communities and humankind. 2 Declaration by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on poverty and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2002, Supplement No. 2 [E/2002/22-E/C.12/2001/17], annex VII), para. 8.