Human rights

Rights and migration, livelihoods, housing, land and property

This section provides a selection of resources that explore the links between human rights, right-based approaches and a selection of sectors and themes. They include donor guidance and policy statements, academic research, and advocacy papers. Many of these documents aim to show how a rights-based approach helps to enhance existing sectoral work. The indivisibility or interdependence of rights also demonstrates that cross-sectoral working is essential for realising rights. A rights-based perspective helps to move beyond predominantly technical approaches, to recognise the need to address the wider political and social environment within which programmes occur. Rights often necessitate the use of new language or ways of thinking about how to make decisions and prioritise, with implications for policy formation.

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Migration

Migrants are largely more vulnerable to rights violations or omissions. This is particularly the case in the labour market, where fair labour standards for migrant workers are a key concern.

ILO, 2004, 'Towards a Fair Deal for Migrant Workers in the Global Economy', International Labour Conference 92nd Session, ILO, Geneva.
Economic, political and demographic factors are causing increasing labour migration and associated pressures. How can this be better managed to protect human rights, maximise growth and development, and prevent clandestine flows and trafficking? This International Labour Organisation report draws lessons from the experience of both origin and host countries in managing migration to improve the treatment and conditions of migrant workers and their families. It aims to provide a basis for formulating sound recommendations for future action.
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Livelihoods

Securing livelihoods and attaining sustainable development is a key component in poverty reduction. Sustainable livelihoods approaches and human rights based approaches are not necessarily mutually exclusive as approaches to reducing the burden of poverty. The promotion of livelihoods and sustainable development benefits from a human rights perspective which analyses of power relations, institutions and political context. A human rights based approach is seen to have added value in livelihood strategies for it focuses attention on people rather than ‘providers’, as well as promoting citizenship and meaningful participation in society.

Moser, C. and Norton, A., 2001, 'To Claim Our Rights: Livelihood Security, Human Rights, and Sustainable Development', Overseas Development Institute, London.
How can human rights contribute to the promotion of sustainable development and strengthen the livelihoods of poor people? This paper argues that a human rights perspective makes a difference by developing a more concrete understanding of social sustainability and by extension, sustainable development. It outlines a conceptual framework for the application of a human rights approach to strengthening sustainable development and livelihoods, which also serves as a useful guideline for practical implementation by donors.
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Foresti, M., and Ludi, E., with Griffiths, R., 2007, ‘Human Rights and Livelihood Approaches for Poverty Reduction’, Poverty wellbeing Briefing Note, Overseas Development Institute/Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, London/Stockholm
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Housing rights

How can housing rights be used to tackle problems of homelessness at local, national, regional and international level? In addition to being enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, housing rights are supported by a wide variety of other legal instruments. These instruments have been adopted successfully in many states with extremely diverse social, cultural, political and legal contexts. Experience has shown that women and indigenous people are particularly susceptible to housing rights violations due to their often disadvantageous status within society.

UN-Habitat, 2002, 'Review of International and National Legal Instruments', UN Housing Rights Programme, Report No. 1, UN-HABITAT, Nairobi
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Scholtz, B., Gomez, M., 2004, 'Bringing Equality Home: Promoting and Protecting the Inheritance Rights of Women', Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, Geneva
How and why are women’s rights to adequate housing systematically violated in sub-Saharan Africa? How can national and international actors change customary and statutory law and practice to improve this situation? This report provides an overview of the local legal tools that already exist and those that need reforming or putting into place in ten African countries. It argues that strategies based on human rights can effect change if pursued with strength and persistence.
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UN-HABITAT, 2005, 'Indigenous People's Right to Adequate Housing. A Global Overview', UN Housing Rights Programme, UN-HABITAT, Nairobi
To what extent do indigenous peoples in different parts of the world enjoy the right to adequate housing? This report illustrates the lack of adequate housing and consequent poor living conditions of indigenous peoples worldwide. The study was undertaken within the framework of the United Nations Housing Rights Programme – a joint initiative of UN-HABITAT and the OHCHR. It includes a review of relevant literature, identification of case studies and the collection of primary data. Seven case studies are drawn from ten countries: Australia, Canada, Ecuador, Finland, Kenya, Mexico, Norway, the Philippines, the Russian Federation and Sweden. Adequate housing for indigenous people is a critical human rights concern and there is a profound connection between indigenous peoples' rights to land and rights to housing.
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Land and property rights

There appears to be a general consensus that investing poor people with land and property rights has positive social and economic outcomes, or at least does not harm social standing or the ability of beneficiaries to improve productivity, access to credit, increase income and encourage social and economic investment in land, property or other things such as education, health or other income-generating activities. However there is debate as to whether interventions such as land titling always lead to pro-poor outcomes due to the increased burden of servicing bills and related payments. A perceived challenge to address is how the formalisation of land rights based on individualised European tenure has adversely affected the poor people’s access to common land due to the erosion of customary rights and common property interests.

Boudreaux, K. and Dragos Aligica, P., 2007, ‘Paths to Property: Approaches to Institutional Change in International Development’, Institute of Economic Affairs, London
What are the best strategies for creating an institutional environment conducive to securing stable property rights? This publication draws on examples from sub-Saharan Africa to illustrate a process-oriented view of institutional change. There is no 'correct' path to property rights protection. Only by understanding the historical and institutional context can sustainable reform and its consequent economic dividends be achieved. Property rights policy should be regarded as a strategic and dynamic process, rather than as a blueprint-based exercise in social engineering.
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Ikdahl, I., et al., 2005, 'Human Rights, Formalisation and Women's Land Rights in Southern and Eastern Africa', Institute of Women's Law, University of Oslo
Land is a vital resource for rural livelihoods. How far has land reform advanced and how effectively has gender equality been implemented in five countries in Southern and Eastern Africa? What problems need to be resolved and what are the forces resisting change? This report adopts the human rights based approach to spell out a human rights framework for gender-equal and non-discriminatory land reform/formalisation processes.
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Galiani, S., and Schargrodsky, E., 2010, ‘Property Rights for the Poor: The Effects of Land Titling’, Working Paper, Social Sciences Research Network
Secure property rights are considered a key determinant of economic development, but examining the effects of land titling programmes is complex. Are they a tool for rapid poverty reduction? Would credit accessed through land ownership be invested as capital in productive projects, increasing labour productivity and income? This study of land allocation in Argentina examines the effects on a very deprived group, concluding that land titling can be an important tool for impacting poverty. However, the programme did not open up a rapid route to credit access and entrepreneurial income, but a slow channel of increased physical and human capital investment, contributing to poverty reduction for future generations.
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Rashid, H., 2010, ‘Land Rights and the Millennium Development Goals: How the legal empowerment approach can make a difference’, in Legal Empowerment: Practitioners’ Perspectives, ed S. Golub, International Development Law Organization, Rome, pp. 217-233
What is the relationship between land rights and the MDGs? This chapter argues that community-based organizations, representing the land rights of the poor, must be an integral part of an effective land governance system.
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Hatcher, J., Palombi, L., and Mathieu, P., 2010, ‘Securing the land rights of the rural poor: experiences in legal empowerment’, in Legal Empowerment: Practitioners’ Perspectives, ed S. Golub, International Development Law Organization, Rome, pp. 235-250
This paper provides examples of legal empowerment initiatives to secure the land rights of the rural poor from Africa (Niger, Madagascar, Rwanda, DRC, Mozambique, Namibia, Burkina Faso and Mali), South America (Bolivia, Guatemala and Peru), and Asia (India, the Philippines).
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