poverty in developing countries. What is Basic Needs Approach?
It attempts to define the absolute minimum
resources necessary for long-term physical well-being usually in terms of consumption of goods. The poverty line is then defined as the amount of income required to satisfy those needs. What is Basic Needs Approach? The basic needs approach has been described as consumption-oriented, giving the impression "that poverty elimination is all too easy."
• Needs-based approach also known as a
traditional approach, which generally understood as deficit model which focuses on the community's needs, deficiencies, and problems. What is Basic Needs Approach?
Development programs following the basic
needs approach do not invest in economically productive activities that will help a society carry its own weight in the future, rather it focuses on allowing the society to consume just enough to rise above the poverty line and meet its basic needs. Who introduces the Basic Needs Approach? • The 'basic needs' approach was introduced by the International Labour Organization's World Employment Conference in 1976. • It proposed the satisfaction of basic human needs as the overriding objective of national and international development policy. The Basic needs approach to development was endorsed by governments and workers and employers organizations from all over the world. It influenced the programmes and policies of major multilateral and bilateral development agencies, and was the precursor to the human development approach. The ILO report goes on to indicate two crucial elements in the Basic Needs approach: "First, they include certain minimum requirements of a family for private consumption: adequate food, shelter and clothing, as well as certain household equipment and furniture. Second, they include essential services provided by and for the community at large, such as safe drinking water, sanitation, public transport and health, education and cultural facilities." These Basic Needs included not only the essentials to physical survival, but also to access to services, employment and decision- making to provide a real basis for participation. Rights Vs. Needs • The basic needs approach often aims to obtain additional resources to help a marginalized group obtain access to services. • A human rights approach, in contrast, calls for existing community resources to be shared more equally, so that everyone has access to the same services. Assisting people to assert their rights, therefore, often means involvement in political debate. While a basic needs approach does not necessarily recognize willful or historical marginalization, a human rights approach aims directly at overcoming such marginalization. Rights Vs. Needs • Basic needs can, in principle, be met through benevolent or charitable actions. • Actions based on a human rights approach are based on legal and moral obligations to carry out a duty that will permit a subject to enjoy her or his right.