Children, Poverty and Social Rights

SeminarChild Poverty and Disparity:

Implications for Public Policy in EgyptCEFRS 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?

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948PREAMBLE

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.

Approach: A human rights-based analysis

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 poverty

Child rights violations

CHILD POVERTY is an extensive global condition --

and a denial of rights, freedom and development

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?

but

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, KenyaCCF 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 domainsDeprivation: 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

Vulnerable

Material Deprivations

AIncome poor

BC

Combining Different Approaches

Excluded

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$ day, PL)

•CRC-based Child poverty

•Lack of Water and Sanitation•Low Quality Schools•Absence of clinics•Lack of participation/respect/protection

• Solution•Social Policy (integrated with, and as important as, economic policy)•Economic Growth (social

services take the back seat)

•Low Income

•Solution

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

Human Rights: Disparities are exclusion from social rights and sometimes an expression of discrimination

Children inequality matters: Why?

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

ChildRights

Policy analysis framework

Breaking the poverty cycleEstimating and analyzing child poverty Poverty reduction starts with Children

Making poverty reduction sustainableDisparity matters

Ensuring resources and transparencyBudget initiatives

Legislative & institutional reform

Policy issues and interventions

What can be done?

• Evidence and Analysis

Estimate child poverty and deprivation

Estimate child disparities by wealth, gender, regions, ethnic group

Use DHS & othersse DHS & others

Analyze characteristics and causes of child poverty

Qualitative methods /participatory app.ualitative 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