From Promise to Action: CPJ’s brief to the Human Rights Council’s Review of Canada

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness...’
      So God created human beings in his own image,
      in the image of God he created them;
      male and female he created them.”
            Genesis 1:1, 26a, 27

As Christians, we believe that every human being is created by God in the image of God. Loving and respecting God therefore requires that we be respectful of the image of our Creator within every person. But what does respect mean in practice? At CPJ we believe that it means every individual is gifted by God with rights and responsibilities, including rights to the basic resources necessary for well-being, and the responsibility of working to ensure no one’s rights are violated.

International human rights commitments are also founded on the basis of human dignity. International statements of human rights first began to appear in the years immediately following World War II. After the second bloody, protracted war of the twentieth century, the international community realized that creating a peaceful world characterized by justice required respect for the dignity of every human being. These commitments represent a common acknowledgement that dignity can only be fully realized in the context of basic rights belonging to every person, rights that allow particular freedoms and promise access to certain resources and supports.

When countries sign these international statements and covenants, they agree to be bound by the terms, progressively realizing full implementation of human rights. The United Nations (as well as many non-governmental organizations) monitor and report on implementation and human rights violations. In 2006, this process was formalized in Universal Periodic Reviews (UPR) of countries. Governments and citizens’ groups are invited to report to the Human Rights Council as part of the process, before a working group examines the country’s record and issues a public report. Canada will be reviewed in February 2009.

CPJ was pleased to submit a brief to the UPR as part of this review process, highlighting Canada’s record on poverty and suggesting a poverty reduction strategy as a best practice that would take effective action on poverty. CPJ joined with an array of Canadian organizations that are concerned about Canada’s failure to implement its international commitments at home, and the lack of transparency and public accountability that surround this failure. Canada is not living up to its human rights promises, including the commitment to security of the person.

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1949, states that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted in 1966, echoes this statement, and elaborates that “The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international co-operation based on free consent.” The Covenant also recognizes the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

These rights are reaffirmed in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women adopted in 1979, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989.

Poverty is a condition that violates these human rights. Poverty impedes people’s access to the basic resources necessary for well-being, including adequate and sufficient food and clothing, as well as safe and appropriate housing. As an important social determinant of health, poverty can also prevent the attainment of physical and mental health. The UN’s Draft Guidelines on A Human Rights Approach to Poverty Reduction suggest that “Once this concept is introduced into the context of policy-making, the rationale of poverty reduction no longer derives merely from the fact that the poor have needs but also from the fact that they have rights – entitlements that give rise to legal obligations on the part of others.”

Furthermore, the Draft Guidelines highlight that “poverty signifies non-realization of human rights so that the adoption of a poverty reduction strategy is therefore not just desirable but obligatory on the part of States that have ratified international human rights instruments.”

Sadly, Canada has not done well at implementing this obligation. Despite its endorsement of human rights and its international commitment to eradicate poverty, Canada has not achieved any substantial change in domestic poverty rates. 1 in 10 Canadians currently live in poverty, thus prevented from fully realizing their other rights. CPJ’s brief reviews Canada’s record on poverty over the past years.

However, our brief also points out that four of Canada’s provinces have already implemented or are developing poverty reduction strategies, which provide an example of best practices to other Canadian jurisdictions. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights identified a number of elements for human rights-oriented poverty reduction, including progressive realization, a time-bound plan of action, intermediate targets and poverty indicators. Similarly, Canada’s National Council of Welfare identified key components of successful anti-poverty strategies from around the world: a long term vision with targets and timelines, an action plan and a budget coordinated within and between governments, mechanisms of accountability, and poverty indicators. By adopting a strategy based on these elements, Canada could make significant strides in fully implementing its commitments to human rights and poverty eradication.

CPJ thus recommends that the federal government should adopt a national poverty reduction strategy, including a long term vision with timeline and targets, an action plan and a budget, accountability measures and poverty indicators. It should also encourage jurisdictions in Canada lacking such strategies to follow this example.

Read the brief: From Promise to Action: Implementing Canada’s Commitments on Poverty