By Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD (Leading Environmental Law Scholar, Policy Advisor, Natural Resources Lawyer and Dispute Resolution Expert from Kenya), Winner of Kenya’s ADR Practitioner of the Year 2021, ADR Publisher of the Year 2021 and CIArb (Kenya) Lifetime Achievement Award 2021*
While there is no single meaning of the term ‘poverty’ due to the varying elements associated with the same, there exists a number of definitions that ably captures the scope of the term as intended to be used in this paper. One author has observed that: “Poverty is commonly understood as the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. It is a human condition where people do not have adequate access to their fundamental needs such as income, food, clothing, shelter, health care, security, education etc.” Poverty can also be conceptualized in a broad manner which may include, inter alia, the recognition that it is not limited to lack of income only, but comprises of deprivations in areas of health, education, participation and security.
Furthermore, human poverty may also be perceived as a denial of human rights as it arguably infringes on, among others, human freedom and destroys human dignity. It is viewed as an intrusion into human dignity. Basic human rights are an integral part of human rights and their violation has been seen as sabotage of human dignity. Indeed, in the Kenyan case of M W K v another v Attorney General & 3 others [2017] eKLR, the High Court referred to South African jurisprudence and stated as follows:
- Article 28 provides no definition of dignity. However, its role and importance as a foundational constitutional value has been emphasized in a number of cases. In the South African case of S v Makwanyane, [18] O’Regan J pointed out that “without dignity, human life is substantially diminished” and pronounced the prime value of dignity in the following terms: “The importance of dignity as a founding value of the … Constitution cannot be overemphasized. Recognizing a right to dignity is an acknowledgment of the intrinsic worth of human beings: human beings are entitled to be treated as worthy of respect and concern. The right is therefore the foundation of many of the other rights that are specifically entrenched in Chapter 3.”
Sustainable development, as defined in the Brundtland Commission Report, includes human development. One of the ways of achieving human development which empowers people, both men and women, is addressing poverty in order to empower people to contribute positively towards national development with dignity, without solely relying on the Government to do so. The view that poverty is a shortage of income should also be discarded and instead embrace that perceives poverty as ‘unfreedoms’ of various sorts: the lack of freedom to achieve even minimally satisfactory living conditions. This is because while low income can contribute to poverty, lack of schooling facilities, absence of health facilities, unavailability of medicines, the suppression of women, hazardous environmental features and lack of jobs do also play a major role. Thus, as long as these factors exist, then poverty cannot be said to have been eliminated.
Poverty is also viewed as a socioeconomic phenomenon. It is therefore arguable that while the Constitution of Kenya guarantees right to dignity for everyone, this right goes beyond freedom from being treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading manner; it must be guaranteed through ensuring that the ‘unfreedoms’ mentioned above are addressed. Certainly, there is no dignity in living in abject poverty. Indeed, it has been posited that abject poverty conditions are not only a violation of the right to human dignity but in some circumstances, it is actually a threat to right to life. The State must protect its people from descending into such circumstances where their human dignity becomes compromised through deprivation of basic needs or even reaches a point of threat to right to life. Some scholars have rightly argued that ‘poverty is not only deprivation of basic needs or material resources but a violation of human dignity. The most injurious and debilitating characteristic of poverty is loss of dignity’. Arguably, social economic rights as guaranteed under Article 43 of the Constitution of Kenya are critical for enjoyment of the right to life.
Sustainable development seeks to promote and ensure the fulfilment of the basic needs of the world’s poor without compromising the capacity of the environment to provide similar benefits for future generations. In this respect, the sustainable development debates revolve around how natural and environmental resources can be utilized to alleviate human suffering and poverty. The United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA) asserts that this development path should maintain, enhance and, where necessary, rebuild natural capital as a critical economic asset and source of public benefits, especially for poor people whose livelihoods and security depend strongly on nature. This is important considering that ‘more than one billion people in the world live in abject poverty on less than $1.25 per day while the richest 1% people have almost half of the world’s wealth, leading to the conclusion that there is a huge gap and inequality in the distribution of the world economy’.
Thus, while many countries across the world, including Kenya, have been working towards eradication of poverty, huge inequalities have persisted and progress has been uneven. The high rates of poverty have especially been more pronounced in developing countries mainly in the African continent. This is despite the fact that Africa as a continent is endowed with immense natural and human resources as well as great cultural, ecological and economic diversity. Some of the causes of poverty in Africa include, inter alia, population growth, war and crises, climate change, illnesses, inadequate agricultural infrastructure, and unjust trade structures. This is however not to say that poverty is only to be found in developing countries because, as it has been pointed out by one scholar, ‘extreme poverty prevails in all countries of the world, regardless of their economic, social, and cultural situation and seriously affects the most vulnerable and disadvantaged individual’s families and groups who are hindered in the exercise of their Human Rights and fundamental freedom’.
The United Nations 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development which contains 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has some goals and targets that are specifically meant to address poverty and inequalities in the world. The sustainable development goals seek to ensure that natural resources are managed in a way that balances the needs of human beings and the need for conservation of these resources for the sake of present and future generations. The SDGs acknowledge the complex relationship between economic, social and environmental elements of development. They also set goals and targets that states must meet by the year 2030 using these resources. SDG Goal 1 thereof seeks to ensure that countries end poverty in their all its forms in their territories as part of a prerequisite for the realisation of sustainable development. This involves targeting the most vulnerable, increasing basic resources and services, and supporting communities affected by conflict and climate-related disasters.
*This article is an extract from the Article: “Eradicating Poverty for Inclusive Development in Kenya,” (2021) Journal of Conflict Management and Sustainable Development Volume 7(3), p. 81 by Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD, Kenya’s ADR Practitioner of the Year 2021 (Nairobi Legal Awards), ADR Publisher of the Year 2021 and ADR Lifetime Achievement Award 2021 (CIArb Kenya). Dr. Kariuki Muigua is a foremost Environmental Law and Natural Resources Lawyer and Scholar, Sustainable Development Advocate and Conflict Management Expert in Kenya. Dr. Kariuki Muigua is a Senior Lecturer of Environmental Law and Dispute resolution at the University of Nairobi School of Law and The Center for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy (CASELAP). He has published numerous books and articles on Environmental Law, Environmental Justice Conflict Management, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Sustainable Development. Dr. Muigua is also a Chartered Arbitrator, an Accredited Mediator, the Africa Trustee of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Managing Partner of Kariuki Muigua & Co. Advocates. Dr. Muigua is recognized among the top 5 leading lawyers and dispute resolution experts in Kenya by the Chambers Global Guide 2022.
References
Muigua, K., “Eradicating Poverty for Inclusive Development in Kenya,” (2021)Journal of Conflict Management and Sustainable Development Volume 7(3), p. 81.