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*
There exists a number of international and regional legal instruments that are geared towards eradication of poverty. Poverty eradication is an important step towards ensuring that every person’s inherent dignity and the right to have that dignity respected and protected is realised and guaranteed. Thus, international human rights instruments and sustainable development documents are the main sources of the legal framework for poverty eradication. In addition, regional documents such as the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources is also relevant part of international framework on poverty eradication. We discuss the international legal framework for poverty eradication below:
Agenda 21
The central aim of the Agenda 21 as adopted in 1992 was combating poverty, hunger, ill health and illiteracy, and the continuing deterioration of the ecosystems on which the human race depend for their well-being. It also sought to deal with the integration of environment and development concerns and greater attention to them which would lead to the fulfillment of basic needs, improved living standards for all, better protected and managed ecosystems and a safer, more prosperous future. Thus, the aim was to achieve a global consensus and political commitment at the highest level on development and environment cooperation. Agenda 21 also rightly points out that managing resources sustainably requires an environmental policy which not only focuses on the conservation and protection of resources but also takes due account of those who depend on the resources for their livelihoods as a way of addressing poverty and achieving long-term success in resource and environmental conservation.
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
Article 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) states: “Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take steps, individually and through international assistance and co-operation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the rights recognized in the present Covenant by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures.”
Convention on Biological Diversity
In order to ensure that biological diversity management takes care of the needs of the people especially those living around them, the Convention on Biological Diversity was negotiated with the objective of promoting the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. The 2002 World Summit on sustainable Development in Johannesburg adopted a plan of implementation reiterating the Rio principles and establishing poverty eradication, sustainable consumption and production patterns and protection of the natural resource base for economic and social development as the three prime objectives (Johannesburg Plan).
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (“Rio+20”) which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 2012, also involved governments committing to sustainable development and to ensure the promotion of an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable future for the planet and for present and future generations. The participants would ensure that they work towards eradicating poverty which they recognized as the greatest global challenge facing the world today and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, thus creating the need for freeing humanity from poverty and hunger as a matter of urgency. At the Rio+20 Conference, world leaders, participants from governments, the private sector, NGOs and other groups, deliberated on how they can reduce poverty, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, includes a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by the year 2030. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. It also seeks to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom and was formulated in recognition that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. The Sustainable Development Goals, Agenda 2030 (SDGs) define sustainable development broadly to cover issues such as poverty, inequality, gender equality, health, education, governance, climate change and environmental protection.
The African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
The African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources seeks: to enhance environmental protection; to foster the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources; and to harmonize and coordinate policies in these fields-with a view to achieving ecologically rational, economically sound and socially acceptable development policies and programmes. Under the SDGs and other legal instruments and policies, poverty eradication efforts have since adopted a human rights approach due to its complex relationship with the basic human rights.
The main objective of all the major international legal instruments, policies and actions on human rights is the alleviation of human suffering and to promote the total wellbeing of all, the absence of which wellbeing is usually perceived to be poverty. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN Human Rights) rightly observes that:
A human rights definition and understanding leads to more adequate responses to the many facets of poverty, responses that do not trample on rights in the pursuit of growth and development. It gives due attention to the critical vulnerability and subjective daily assaults on human dignity that accompany poverty. Importantly, it looks not just at resources but also at the capabilities, choices, security and power needed for the enjoyment of an adequate standard of living and other fundamental civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.
*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.