Children, Poverty and Social Rights

Seminar
Child Poverty and Disparity:
Implications for Public Policy in Egypt
CEFRS and UNICEF
11 March 2008

Alberto Minujin, The New School University, New York

Motivation:

Increasing recognition of the

importance of eradicating child
poverty…
But much more is needed…
to affect policies…
Content:

•How human rights and poverty are linked?

•What is child poverty?
•Does equity for children matter? Why?
•What can be done?
•How to influence policy in favor of children
and families?
Approach: A human rights-based analysis

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948

PREAMBLE
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal
and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is
the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world

Article 1.

All human beings are born free and

equal in dignity and rights.
 Freedom from what?

• Freedom from want

• Freedom from fear
• Freedom to live in dignity
 Human rights and poverty

•Is there a right to equality?

•Is there a right not to be poor?

• Constitutive rights
• Instrumental rights

• Universality, equality and non-discrimination

Human Rights and Poverty,contd.

• Constitutive rights
– Important to understand meaning of poverty
– Right to food, health, etc
• Instrumental rights
– They help realize constitutive rights
– Such as right to work, vote, etc

Some rights can be both constitutive and

instrumental
Child Poverty and Child Rights

Child rights violations

Child poverty
 CHILD POVERTY is an
extensive global condition --
and a denial of rights, freedom
and development
 but
What is poverty to a child?
• The traditional poverty discourse as it
relates to children is largely based on
adult ideas and assumptions
• It gives prominence to survival and
physical health impacts, with a
particular focus on infants and under-
fives.
• But is this the way children see it?
 What is poverty to a child?
“I feel bad. I feel like the odd one out…You lack
self-esteem. You feel lonely. You feel ashamed.
Like if you have only two underpants and you
have to wear one and wash the other and hang
it up to dry everyone will always see that you
have only two – the red one and the green one
– and you are alternating between them.”
16 year-old girl, Rusinga, Kenya
CCF Study
 What is poverty to a
child?
• Children understand poverty as a
deeply physical, emotional and social
experience
• This experience is felt acutely and
minutely from an early age
• It is more about experience than about
resources
 So how do children
respond?

Children are not passive recipients

of experience but active contributors
to their own well-being and
development
How children experience poverty
Three inter-related domains
Deprivation: A lack of material conditions and services
Exclusion: A result of unjust processes through which children’s dignity, voice,
and rights are denied
Vulnerability: An inability of society to cope with existing or probable threats to children
in their environment
Combining Different Approaches

Vulnerable

Income
A
poor
C
B

Excluded
Material
Deprivations
 Alternative definition of poverty and child
poverty
• 1995 World Summit for Social Development
definition of poverty
– a condition characterized by insufficient access
to “food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities,
health, shelter, education and information,” taken
as forms of deprivation.

• SOWC 2005 Children living in poverty are

those who:
– experience deprivation of the material, spiritual
and emotional resources needed to survive,
develop and thrive, leaving them unable to enjoy
their rights, achieve their full potential or
participate as full and equal members of society.
 Different approaches,
Different solutions
•Adult poverty (e.g. 1 US$ •CRC-based Child poverty
day, PL)
•Lack of Water and
•Low Income Sanitation
•Low Quality Schools
•Absence of clinics
•Lack of
participation/respect/prote
ction
•Solution •Solution
•Economic Growth (social •Social Policy (integrated
services take the back seat) with, and as important as,
economic policy)
Implications of Alternative Definitions
• Changes basis of the discussion

• Influences nature of the policy dialogue

• Focuses policy debates on social sectors

• Highlights discrimination, exclusion, inequality

• Integrates gender issues in policy debates

• Influences design of indicators, data/information

gathering

• Emphasizes interdisciplinary approach,

– Linking law, budgets, social policy
YES
• Ethical: Child Rights Principles (Universality,
Non-discrimination,Indivisibility &
Interdependency)
• Methodological
• Practical (Policies)

Complement poverty analysis with

disparity/distribution analysis
 Children inequality matters: Why?
Human Rights: Disparities are exclusion from social
rights and sometimes an expression of discrimination

+
Policy Programme implications: Narrowing gaps

=
Human Rights Approach to Programming (HRBAP):
• Integrated programs
• Participation/empowerment
• Governance and accountability
 Look beyond averages

MDGs goals (U5MR, nutrition, education, etc) can

be analyzed by:
• Gender
• Urban/rural
• Geographic location
• Wealth
Reduce disparity in access to quality Basic
Social Services is crucial and strategic for
reducing child poverty, for economic
development and social integration
 Policy analysis framework
Policy issues and interventions
Breaking the poverty cycle Making poverty reduction sustainable
Estimating and analyzing child poverty Disparity matters
Poverty reduction starts with Children

Child
Rights

Ensuring resources and transparency

Budget initiatives
Legislative & institutional reform
What can be done?
• Evidence and Analysis
Estimate child poverty and deprivation
Estimate child disparities by wealth,
gender, regions, ethnic group
Use DHS & others
Analyze characteristics and causes of
child poverty
Qualitative methods /participatory app.
What can be done?
• Advocacy and Communication
Child situation brief
Regional / national state of children
Partnership with universities /
research centers
What can be done?
• Policy
Use evidence, analysis, advocacy and
partnerships to leverage policies and
resources for children’s and women’s
rights
Map, analyze and monitor policies
 Conclusions
•Make child poverty visible
•Link the poverty situation of children with that
of women and families.
•Analyse child poverty characteristics and
underlying causes to provide orientation for
policy and programme development.

Measuring child poverty allows us to

make inferences about policy issues
 Conclusions
• It is possible to complement the deprivation
measurement of child poverty with an income-
based measurement and other approaches
• Disparity analysis on child wellbeing is an strategic
component of child poverty analysis
• Not all human rights violations constitute poverty,
but all human rights violations are related to
poverty

It is possible to influence the nature of policy

dialogue