An opportunity for fresh action on human rights

It has been a difficult year around the world. The recession has had an impact on many interconnected areas: food, income and housing security and access to social services, to name a few. Individuals and institutions across the planet have undertaken efforts to dig out from under the economic collapse and to rebuild economies – and societies – that are stronger than before.

As part of economic recovery initiatives, governments of industrialized countries, including Canada, provided bailout packages to major banks – the same institutions whose investments and spending habits were instrumental in initiating the downturn. However, the benefits haven't always reached the most marginalized.

Amnesty International (AI), an international human rights advocacy group, has highlighted the devastating impact of rising food costs on farmers and consumers, particularly in developing countries. The resulting riots that have taken place around the world attest to the severity of the crisis. Here, Food Banks Canada’s recent report, Hungercount 2009, revealed that national food bank usage increased by the widest year-by-year margin ever – 18 per cent since 2008.

Food shortages and high prices are just two examples of how the economic situation has led to an increased violation of the dignity of many people in Canada and around the world.

These impacts reveal a larger reality. This is more than just an economic crisis, it is also a human rights crisis. As we head towards International Human Rights Day (December 10), it is worth remembering that the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) speaks not only to civil and political rights, but to social, cultural and economic rights as well. Article 25 states that everyone has the right to an adequate standard of living, including food security, housing and necessary social services.

Economic hardship intensifies the scope and severity of challenges to and need for social and economic rights. And as a result, awareness of these issues grows. It is in times such as these that there is a real opportunity to initiate fresh action to promote human rights and dignity. Now is the time for individuals and groups to come together to demand government action. There are many ways to get involved.

Two exciting initiatives that address the importance of economic and social rights were launched in the spring of 2009. These are Amnesty International’s Demand Dignity campaign and Dignity for All, a multi-partner campaign intent on seeing poverty eliminated in Canada.

Demand Dignity

Demand Dignity approaches poverty as a global human rights issue. Campaign material states that as human rights promotion increases, poverty decreases.

The motivation behind Demand Dignity stems from the UDHR and the right to an adequate standard of living, including food, housing and social security. In this year of global economic crisis, one of the major concerns of this campaign is that many government policies do little to help people overcome poverty, but instead perpetuate the situation. One of the cornerstones of the campaign is an emphasis on leadership and accountability in order that the people most affected by the recession, not just the banks and big businesses, get the help they need.

Within Demand Dignity, there are specific campaigns, including “What does Living in Dignity mean to you?” which focuses on gathering stories of injustice, exclusion and poverty from around the world. The sharing of stories, in turn, promotes global education on poverty, indignity and the connection to international human rights. Individuals and groups are encouraged to participate in these discussions or officially join AI.

Demand Dignity clearly approaches these issues with an international lens. When the attention turns to countries like Canada, much of the emphasis is placed on how they can intervene in the world’s least developed countries. However, the principles behind Demand Dignity, especially in ensuring adequate living standards, are very applicable to Canada.

Dignity for All

Dignity for All: The Campaign for a Poverty-Free Canada is built on the same basic premise: freedom from poverty is a human right.

 In March 2009 Parliament adopted a motion do everything possible to make poverty a top priority at the G8 and G20. If Canadians affirm that international human rights standards need to be applied around the world, these same standards must be reflected within Canada’s borders.

Dignity for All is calling on the Canadian Government to develop a comprehensive federal plan for poverty elimination that includes measures to address food, income and housing security. Along with this plan Dignity for All is seeking a legislative commitment to make poverty a standing concern of the federal government, through the implementation of a federal anti-poverty Act, as well as the provision of sufficient investment in social security. Individuals and groups can support these actions very easily, by signing onto the campaign on-line.

CPJ's involvement in Dignity for All and our emphasis on the promotion of human dignity is tied to the Biblical principle of loving our neighbour. This stems from the foundational belief that all people reflect the image of God, and thus are entitled to be treated with dignity.

The launch of these two significant campaigns in such a short space of time emphasizes the significant indignities deepened by the recession around the world and here in Canada.

 As AI Secretary General, Irene Khan argues in the forward for AI’s Report 2009, “Governments should invest in human rights as purposefully as they are investing in economic growth.”

The growing awareness of these concerns has also created renewed opportunities to address them. As recovery begins, and as we mark another anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is time for a fresh approach in the ongoing promotion of human dignity.