Vatican City, 17 December 2015 (VIS) –
This morning in the Holy See Press Office, a press conference was
held to present the manual “Making human rights work for people
living in extreme poverty: a handbook for implementing the UN Guiding
Principles on extreme poverty and human rights”. The panel was
composed of Bishop Bernardo Johannes Bahlmann, O.F.M., of Obidos,
north-east Brazil; Michel Roy, secretary general of Caritas
Internationalis; Fr. Michael A. Perry, O.F.M., minister general of
the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor; Francesca Restifo, Franciscans
International (FI) International Advocacy Director; and Jean Tonglet,
ATD Fourth World delegate for Italy and Relations with the Holy See.
Bishop Bahlmann began by speaking about
deforestation in the Amazon and the catastrophic consequences for the
populations who live there and for the planet as a whole; Fr. Perry
then commented on how Franciscans live in close contact with the
communities affected by poverty in various parts of the world, and
seek to establish a strong bond between the protection of the rights
of the poor and the protection of the environment. Francesca Restifo
then explained the content and aims of the Manual.
“The elimination of extreme poverty
is not only a moral duty, but also a legal obligation, by virtue of
the provisions of international law on human rights. Extreme poverty
is not merely an economic question: it is a multidimensional
phenomenon that includes both the lack of income and the basic
capacities for being able to live in a dignified fashion, and it is
something that seriously compromises the possibility for people to
exercise or obtain their rights in the foreseeable future. The
guiding principles are the first instrument that the United Nations
dedicated to people in poverty. We understood the potential of this
document and immediately felt the need to translate it into a
language accessible to all. As is enshrined in them: 'Extreme poverty
is not inevitable. It is, at least in part, created, enabled and
perpetuated by acts and omissions of States and other economic
actors'. But 'the tools for ending it are within reach'”.
These tools are “a basis in human
rights, providing a framework for the long-term eradication of
extreme poverty, starting from the acknowledgement that those who
live in poverty are holders of rights and agents of their own change;
empowerment, or rather making people autonomous and active in their
community in reclaiming their rights; and participation and
consultation with these people in the policies that affect them
directly”.
“The aim of the manual that we
present today was and remains that of helping local workers to
understand better the consequences in terms of human rights for
people who live in conditions of extreme poverty, and to propose to
them a series of concrete actions to reclaim their rights, thus
becoming agents of change. Our objective was to translate their
individual challenges into collective actions. To do this, it was
first necessary to listen to the needs of those who work with people
directly involved in situations of poverty. … This took two years
of constant consultation and collaboration at a capillary level with
local communities and a continual exchange of ideas and information.
We consulted with activists working in urban slums and in rural areas
with limited access to basic services, with indigenous local
populations who were losing their land and their means of subsistence
due to the actions of large multinationals, and with those who work
directly in the field to protect women, children, migrants and
refugees”.
With regard to the content of the
manual, Restifo explained that following the introductory chapter,
the second part establishes various fundamental principles such as
the importance of winning the trust of those who live in extreme
poverty, the evaluation of the risks that they may run in claiming
their rights, and their active participation in all phases of the
process. The third part offers suggestions for concrete actions which
can be undertaken to help the authorities respect their obligations
in terms of human rights – valid proposals both for developing
countries and those that are already industrialised. This is also the
part that focuses on groups of rights, recognising their
indivisibility, mutual relationship and interdependence. It is a
practical guide to acting according to the situation and the specific
questions relating to those involved. Finally, the fourth part is
dedicated to the importance of monitoring the actions undertaken”.
Finally, Restifo emphasised that there
is not a clear division between poverty and extreme poverty, but the
latter is characterised by multiple and interrelated violations of
civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. “Extreme
poverty affects various areas of human existence and often creates a
vicious circle of impotence, stigmatisation, discrimination,
exclusion and material deprivation … elements that feed on each
other. Some people can be poor but at the same time are part of a
social fabric in which they are in any case integrated. Others do not
have the same possibility”.
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