Report on extreme poverty and human rights (A/HRC/35/26), submitted by the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
Author: Philip Alston
Year: 2017
Language: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish
PDF of Resource
The focus of the present report is on the idea of replacing or supplementing existing social protection systems with a universal basic income (“basic income”). In recent months, this proposal has drawn increased attention from governments, scholars, and practitioners in a range of different fields, and four major books on the subject have been published in rapid succession. As a report of the Government of India concluded, if “thinkers on both the extreme left and right” have all become basic income supporters, then it is “a powerful idea” which must be discussed seriously, even if that report concludes that the time has not yet come for its implementation. Before exploring the details of the concept and its relationship to human rights, consideration needs to be given to the context in which the proposal has attracted such attention.
The present report is premised on the view that the human rights movement needs to address and respond to the fundamental changes that are taking place in economic and social structures at the national and global levels.
Link to report (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish ).
Related Principles
States parties to major human rights instruments related to economic, social and cultural rights such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) have an immediate minimum core obligation to ensure the satisfaction of, at the very least, minimum essential levels of all economic, social and cultural rights such as the right […]