A/HRC/11/32
page 8
II. COMMENTS ON THE CONTENT OF THE
DRAFT GUIDING PRINCIPLES
A. Preamble
16. Several NGOs suggested that it would be appropriate to include in the preamble specific
references to relevant human rights instruments, beyond the few mentioned. Camilo Pérez
Bustillo suggested referring more explicitly to, inter alia, articles 22, 25 and 28 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
17. The absence in the preamble of any reference to the Millennium Development Goals10 and
to a number of relevant policy documents was also noted, including the OHCHR Principles and
Guidelines for a Human Rights Approach to Poverty Reduction Strategies,11 and relevant work
by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other agencies in this area. The
Government of Mexico recommended an explicit reference to Goal 1, given its focus on
eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.
18. The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of
indigenous people12 suggested that, owing to the uniqueness and severity of the issue of poverty
for indigenous peoples, a specific reference to it should be included in the preamble.
19. The Government of the Philippines suggested calling for continuous international
cooperation and decisive action for the eradication of extreme poverty not only on the national
level, but also on the subnational level.
Human rights and extreme poverty: the rights of the poor (Introduction)
20. A number of respondents pointed out that the concepts of extreme poverty, basic poverty
and social exclusion in the draft guiding principles are not defined and that those omissions need
to be addressed. There was a sense nonetheless among some respondents13 that a general
definition of poverty would also be important to the understanding and interpretation of the text,
and that it needed to be drafted in a clear and suitably comprehensive manner. At the seminar,
Professor Peter Townsend, of the London School of Economics and Political Science, advocated
for moving towards an international measure or definition of poverty by using the international
human rights framework, which, he noted, offers the means to do so. The Special Rapporteur on
the right to health even proposed including indicators in the draft guiding principles as a
mandatory requirement for States to monitor and be accountable. Joseph Ingram, the former
10
Zdzislaw Kedzia.
11
These guidelines were drafted by Paul Hunt, Manfred Nowak and Siddiq Osmani.
12
Hereinafter to be referred to as “Special Rapporteur on indigenous people”.
13
The Governments of Greece, the Philippines, Baha’i International Community, 2008 NGO
Consultation, Kamal Siddiqui and Edward Anderson.
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