The Value of Human Beings
To defend the rights of individuals is to guarantee that they have a decent level of treatment as human beings. To violate these rights is to consider those individuals as less than humans. Human beings who live in severe poverty have rights, and they do not deserve to suffer. At least this is what Article Three of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”[1] Taking this right from people, which protects people’s right to life’s necessities, like food, shelters, medical care, can lead to severe poverty, and that goes against human rights values. Yet, it is debatable for many scholars whether severe poverty represents a violation of human rights or not. Meanwhile, severe poverty is spreading in the world in a way that an ethical global community should not tolerate, and people are dying as a result of it.
The German professor of philosophy and international affairs at Yale University Thomas Pogge argues in his report for UNESCO, “Severe Poverty as a Human Rights Violation,” that poverty is a result of human agency, and constitutes the highest violation of human rights. He states, “Half of human beings alive today are living in severe poverty, with many of them falling far below the threshold.”[2] Logically speaking, if half of the people who life in the world are suffering because of poverty, then it is not just the highest violation of human rights, but also a crime against humanity. But this is an individual scholar’s opinion.
The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan came close to supporting the idea that severe poverty is a violation of human rights. He stated in a message that was issued in 2002 during the International day for Eradication of Poverty, “On this International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, let us recognize that extreme poverty anywhere is a threat to human security everywhere. Let us recall that poverty is a denial of human rights.”[3] Deprivation of life’s necessities, like having security, food, and shelter is a violation of human rights.
It is impossible to have violations without violators. This means someone is responsible for the insolvent situation of the world’s poor. People are poor not because they were born like that, or because they have fewer principles than others. The opportunity for them to change their lives is always only half-available. They cannot realize it in part because the governmental systems of their countries are corrupt. It is hard for them to achieve these needs on their own because they do not have the political power to demand them, and because they are expensive. Pogge argues, “The great social evils in poorer societies are likely to be oppressive governments and corrupt elites.”[4] Those, the corrupt, are mostly in developing countries where human rights are not on top of government agendas. They have the power to generate giant economic profits at the cost of their poor societies. These regimes have been fully supported by wealthy and powerful countries mostly for economic and military reasons. Therefore, severe poverty is not just a violation of human rights by itself, but also a crime.
Human beings who live in severe poverty do not ask to have the same lifestyles as wealthy people and their politicians. All that they ask for is to pass the stage of ill-being, as many development institutions term suffering from poverty, and to reach a basic level of well-being. The definition of this term is different from one person to the next. Yet, none of the poor ask for more than what they deserve as humans. According to the World Bank’s Poverty Group Report in 1999, people who live in severe poverty define ill-being and well-being differently. Women from Mbwadzulu, a village in Malawi in southeast Africa define ill-being as, “…sometimes they bury their relatives without coffins but mats…People sit on the floor…People going to their gardens without taking any food…they have no latrines…and have no plate drying racks.”[5] Not having drying racks may not be a violation of human rights, but not having food or a coffin to be buried in is definitely a violation. All are locally specific symptoms of severe poverty, as these women know all too well. A group of women from Khwalala and Mtamba in Africa define a good life by saying, “Good life entails having adequate utensils especially pails ‘Nadowa’ for drawing water and…a plate drying rack ‘thandala’.”[6]
72 years ago, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to ensure the rights and freedoms of individuals, and to be a safeguard against violations of these rights. Genocides, slavery, political oppression, discrimination, and other terms are recognized as types of violations of human rights. Under these circumstances, millions of people have been subjected to torture, and death. Since the passing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, millions of human beings have also been suffering and dying as a result of severe poverty. Severe poverty, too, must be universally recognized as a violation of human rights.
Works Cited
Kofi Annan. United Nation Press Release, SG/SM/8431 OBV/297. “Marking International Day For Eradication Of Poverty.” October, 2002. http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/sgsm8431.doc.htm.
The United Nation. Article 3. http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/.
Thomas Pogge. “Severe Poverty as a Human Rights Violation.” 2004. http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php- URL_ID=4363&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html.
The poverty Group. The World Bank. “Consultation With The Poor: Country Synthesis Report.” Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network. July, 1999. pp. 37-38. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPOVERTY/Resources/335642-1124115102975/1555199- 1124138866347/malawi.pdf.
[1] The United Nation. Article 3. http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/.
[2] Thomas Pogge. “Severe Poverty as a Human Rights Violation.” 2004. http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=4363&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html.
[3] Kofi Annan. United Nation Press Release, SG/SM/8431 OBV/297. “Marking International Day for Eradication of Poverty.” October, 2002. http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/sgsm8431.doc.htm.
[4] Thomas Pogge. “Severe Poverty as a Human Rights Violation.” 2004. http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=4363&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html.
[5] The poverty Group. The World Bank. “Consultation with The Poor: Country Synthesis Report.” Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network. July, 1999. p. 38. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPOVERTY/Resources/335642-1124115102975/1555199-1124138866347/malawi.pdf.
[6] The poverty Group. The World Bank. “Consultation with The Poor: Country Synthesis Report.” Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network. July, 1999. p. 37. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPOVERTY/Resources/335642-1124115102975/1555199-1124138866347/malawi.pdf.
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