The Human Rights Face
of Poverty
in the
RoNu
2006: Woman begging in
Whenever we lift one soul from a life of poverty,
we are defending human rights.
And whenever we fail in this mission, we are failing human rights.
Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General
Protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances,
to respect for their persons, their honour, their family rights,
their religious convictions and practices, and their manner and customs.
…they shall at all times, be humanely treated.
Index
Summary
- Research objective and methodology
- Background: Poverty in context, January-June 2006
2.1
Intensification of
security measures and restriction of movement
2.2
Adoption of fiscal
measures
2.3
Deep crisis and
massive poverty
2.4
The Quartet’ s
Temporary Mechanism
- Poverty and the human rights framework
3.1
The concept of poverty
3.2
The human rights
approach to poverty
- Poverty, basic capabilities and human rights in the oPt
4.1
Identifying basic
capabilities
4.2
Human Rights in focus
- Applicable Legal Framework
5.1
International Human
Rights Law, IHRL
5.2
International
Humanitarian Law, IHL
5.3
Other applicable laws
and instruments
6.1
Internal closures:
violation of human rights and cause of poverty
6.2
Horizontal
fragmentation of the
6.3
The impact of external
closures
6.4
The
7.1
The right to work and
poverty reduction
7.2
Unemployment in the
oPt
7.3
The impact of internal
closures
7.4
The impact of external
closures
7.5
The impact of economic
measures adopted by
7.6
The obligation of
8.1
Food insecurity
affects the poorest and most vulnerable
8.2
The obligations to
respect, protect and fulfil
8.3
Food accessibility and
the duties to respect and fulfil
8.4
Physical accessibility
to food
8.5
Settlers’ violence and
the duty to protect
8.6
Economic accessibility
to food
8.7
Food availability in
the
8.8
Physical and economic
accessibility to water
8.9
The obligation to
fulfil the right to food: food assistance in the oPt
9.1
The impact of closures
9.2
The right to health
and the obligations to respect and protect
9.3
The impact of economic
measures adopted by
9.4
Ill health as a
consequence and cause of poverty
9.5
Violation of the right
to health: availability, quality and economic accessibility
10.1
The right to education
10.2
The right to family
life
10.3
The right to
self-determination
11.1
Assistance and poverty
reduction: the problem of targeting
11.2
Poverty reduction
strategies in the oPt
Abbreviations and Acronyms
CAP
Consolidated Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territories
CCPR
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
CEDAW
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women
CERD
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
CESCR
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
CRC
Convention on the Rights of the Child
EU
European Union
FAO
Food Agricultural Organisation
ICRC
International Committee of the Red Cross
IDs
Identity Documents
IDF
Israeli Defence Forces
IHL
International Humanitarian Law
IHRL
International Human Rights Law
ILO
International Labour Organisation
IUED
Institute on Development Studies of the
JWC
Joint Water Committee
MoA
Ministry of Agriculture
MoH
Ministry of Health
MoPIC
Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation
MoSA
Ministry of Social Affairs
MSF
Médecins Sans Frontières
MTDP
Medium Term Development Plan
NGOs
Non-Governmental Organisations
OCHA
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
OHCHR
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
oPt
PA
Palestinian Authority
PCBS
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
PHRMG
Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group
PPA
Participatory Poverty Assessment Project
PWA
Palestinian Water Authority
SHCP
Social Hardship Cases Programme
SSN
Social Safety Net Programme
UN
United Nations
UNDP
United Nations Development Programme
UNICEF
United Nations Children’s Fund
UNRWA
United Nations Relief and Works Agency
USD
WaSH
Water and Sanitation Hygiene Monitoring Programme
WBWB
West Bank Water Department
WFP
World Food Programme
WHA
World Health Assembly
Acknowledgements
This report
was researched and written by a researcher of the Palestinian Human Rights
Monitoring Group (PHRMG). The PHRMG is grateful to all friends who read early
drafts of the report and provided valuable research advice and comments, to R.D.
who conducted proofreading and final checks and RoNu who took the meaningful
images used in this report.
A special
thanks goes to the Institute of Development Studies of Geneva (IUED), for its
invaluable support and cooperation and to several UN agencies, in particular,
the WFP, FAO, WHO, OCHA and the UNDP for the useful information and assistance
given.
The PHRMG
also acknowledges with appreciation representatives of the PA Ministry of
Planning and the Ministry of Social Affairs, who agreed to be interviewed for
this report.
The
organisation also wishes to thank the Israeli, Palestinian and international
non-governmental organisations and the many individuals who contributed with
their expertise and suggestions to this research.
Summary
Over the past six months, the humanitarian and economic situation has seriously deteriorated in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt), mainly as a result of the intensification of Israeli security measures, the withholding of tax revenues collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA) by Israel and the freeze of direct budget assistance to the PA by international donors. The adoption of the Quartet Temporary Mechanism to deliver assistance by-passing the PA, has not alleviated the suffering of the Palestinian people. In this context poverty has risen sharply, so that the majority of Palestinians are now considered to be poor.
This report addresses poverty through the lens of human rights, therefore understanding poverty as a phenomenon driven by human rights violations. It covers the period January-June 2006, focusing specifically on the West Bank.
After presenting the main features of a human rights approach to poverty, this report identifies the main human rights violations that either cause, perpetuate or, to a lesser extent, result from poverty in the oPt. It also documents those violations and analyses their impact on the poor and vulnerable groups applying the human rights legal framework. Furthermore, it reaffirms the concept of interdependence of human rights, highlighting how the enjoyment of some rights, may depend or contribute to the enjoyment of other rights and, at the same time, the violation of some may lead to the violation of others. And it evaluates the importance of mainstreaming human rights into poverty reduction strategies. Finally, it gives recommendations to several actors who bear the responsibility to reduce poverty in the oPt, acknowledging that poverty reduction is not a question of charity or welfare. Rather, it is a legal obligation.
1. Research objective and methodology
This report gives details of the findings of research covering the period January-June 2006. Its objective consists of providing an analysis of poverty through the lens of human rights. The intent is therefore to address poverty as a phenomenon resulting from and causing itself human rights violations.
The analysis is mainly focused on the West Bank because a report on poverty in the Gaza Strip has been recently issued by a well known human rights organization. The intention is therefore not to duplicate the efforts.
This research has relied on reports that used both qualitative as well as quantitative methods in measuring/assessing poverty, evaluating that an integration of both allows for a more comprehensive understanding of a very complex issue.
The concept of poverty used in this report refers to the non-fulfillment of a person’s human rights to a range of basic capabilities – to do and be the things he or she has reasons to value[1].
The analytical human rights-based framework applied has been developed using as main sources of reference the Draft Guidelines on Human Rights and Poverty Reduction[2] and the Human Rights and Poverty Reduction Conceptual Framework[3] of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). This has had implications on the direction of the research.
In accordance with the OHCHR indications, the research began with the identification of the capabilities that Palestinians consider basic enough for their failure to count as poverty. Priority has been given to those capabilities that the OHCHR suggests are considered basic in most societies.[4] With a view to confirming whether these capabilities are basic in the Palestinian society and to identify other capabilities to be possibly added to the given list, it was fundamental to collect data on perceptions of Palestinians. Unfortunately, due to time and resource constraints, it was impossible to carry out field research. Nonetheless, to the stated purpose, the research could count on the results of the Pro-Participatory Planning Project, jointly undertaken in 2002 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MOPIC) of the Palestinian Authority (PA). This project consisted of conducting the Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA), by using a qualitative methodology. This meant consulting Palestinians on the concept and causes of poverty, as well as on the strategies to reduce it[5]. Interviews, focus groups and workshops were conducted with Palestinians from 63 localities, representing towns, camps and villages in the 16 Palestinian Districts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Although the report was published in 2002, both the UNDP and the MOPIC believe that the findings are still valid and the MOPIC refers to them in its studies.
In addition, this research took into account the results of the Palestinian Living Conditions Surveys Project, run by the Institute on Development Studies of the University of Geneva (IUED), in cooperation with several other partners including UN Agencies[6]. Using quantitative survey methodology, the project provides information on Palestinian public perceptions on poverty, assistance, impact and needs. The results of the IUED Poll n.10 were consulted as soon as available in order to assess Palestinians’ perception of poverty in the period December 2005-May 2006. The findings were compared with the PPA results.
Furthermore, the monitoring of recent reports as
well as of media materials produced on the current crisis by several sources,
confirmed that it was impacting on several sectors in particular, leading to the
impoverishment or further impoverishment of Palestinians.
Going through these three methodological steps, it was possible to identify those capabilities whose failure has resulted in poverty in the oPt, in the period covered by this research.
Once capabilities had been identified, the second step consisted in reading the capability failure in terms of rights, therefore applying the human rights legal framework to the analysis. This has led to the exposure of specific human rights violations that are causes and/or consequences of poverty, consider the poor as claim holders, identify duty holders and point out their legal obligations. Since the West Bank has the status of Occupied Land, International Humanitarian Law was also used in the legal analysis.
To document specific violations of human rights, this report relied on information from international organizations and agencies, including the United Nations (UN), the World Bank, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as well as Israeli and Palestinian governmental and non-governmental organizations and institutions. In addition, it took into account information given in IUED Report n.10 and emerging from the analysis of cross tabulations of IUED Poll n. 10, using poverty both as dependent and independent variable.
To gather information or discuss the findings, interviews have also been conducted with international inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations and agencies, as well as with Israeli and Palestinian governmental and non-governmental organizations and institutions.
2. Background: Poverty in context, January-June 2006
Following the outcome of the January election of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the victory of the Hamas party, the Government of Israel and external donors have adopted a variety of measures that have negatively affected the economic, humanitarian and security sectors causing a crisis situation in the oPt and resulting in the serious deterioration of human rights of Palestinians and in massive poverty. Those that have produced the most significant impact are:
- intensification of Israeli security measures;
- Israeli restrictions of movements of people and goods;
- Israel’ s suspension of transfer to the PA, VAT and custom taxes;
- freeze of direct budget assistance by external donors.
Furthermore, some additional developments are of particular importance: the banking crisis in the oPt; the increased tension between Fatah and Hamas, mainly in the Gaza Strip; and the escalation in the conflict in the Gaza Strip, following an attack by Palestinian militants on an Israeli army post at Kerem Shalom and the launch of operation “Summer Rain” by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) at the end of June. A brief overview is provided below.
2.1
Intensification of security measures and restriction of movement
Since late 2005 and through the first six months of 2006, Israel has tightened its security measures, including incursions and military operations, internal closures and restrictions on movement of people and goods in and out of the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as within the two regions. In mid July, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) counted 536 physical obstacles in the West Bank (as compared to 402 in December 2005)[7]. In some areas, such as Jenin, Nablus, Hebron and South of Hebron, the combination of roadblocks, checkpoints and movement restrictions, has de facto isolated Palestinian communities in enclaves[8]. In addition, as of May 2006, 51% of the construction of the Wall was completed, most of which inside the West Bank. A system of permits regulating access to many routes within the West Bank, makes movement even more difficult.
Israel has also increased external closures which have caused a consistent decline in labor flows and limitations of movements of people and goods from the West Bank to Israel and between Gaza/West Bank and third countries. Trade restrictions have produced a strong negative impact on the market and Palestinian economy in general. Despite the Agreement on Movement and Access of 15 November 2005, Karni Crossing, the only existing crossing for exports and import of goods in and out of Gaza has been frequently closed in the first quarter of 2006, causing a shortage of essential food supplies, including wheat flour, fruits and dairy products and badly affecting Gaza export market[9]. Although Rafah terminal could have been an alternative to Karni for exports to third countries, in practice, movements across the terminal have been impossible, due to Israel’s prohibition to Egyptian trucks and Palestinian tracks (traveling outside the Egyptian border either to export products or only to transfer goods to Egyptian tracks) to enter or re-enter Gaza[10].
2.2 Adoption of
fiscal measures
The situation in the oPt has become even more critical because of the decision of Israel not to transfer revenues to the PA despite the agreement under the Paris Protocol of 1994[11]. According to the Protocol, Israel should remit to the PA, VAT and custom taxes collected in Israel on goods destined for the Gaza Strip and West Bank, which, in 2005, amounted to approximately 13% of GDI[12]. Israel withholding of revenues, is the primary cause of the PA liquidity crisis in 2006[13]. In May 2006, the World Bank considered that in case the financial situation did not change or, in case of intensification of fiscal strictures, the amount of the PA domestic revenues would decline to US$ 25 million and no banking system would be available to distribute this money[14]. Banks have already been applying restrictions on loans and some have refused to transfer money to the PA.
The fiscal compression has been worsened by the suspension of external donors’ assistance to the PA for almost 5 months. Direct assistance[15] was halted after the Hamas Government refused to agree on Quartet principles of non-violence, recognition of the State of Israel and the acceptance of previous agreements.
2.3 Deep
crisis and massive poverty
Since the end of May 2006, noting the rapid deterioration of the humanitarian situation, the UN has provided a monthly assessment of the situation and changes occurred, using both humanitarian indicators and field observation.[16] In both May and June, the UN reported about fuel shortages in the West Bank, including fuel destined to hospitals and the PA Ministry of Health (MoH) vehicles. According to the findings, the MoH have experienced shortages resulting in reduced medical supplies and essential drugs, non-maintenance of medical equipment and reduced number of surgical operations. Also the social assistance sector has already felt the deleterious effect of the crisis. Starting from January, the Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA), have not been able to guarantee cash assistance to 45.000 Palestinian families, classified as social hardship cases and have stopped the job creation projects. As a result, the poorest of the poor in the West Bank have been deprived of income. The educational sector, on the other hand, has not being strongly affected by the crisis as yet and the UN predicts that the impact of the fiscal crisis will be fully felt only at the beginning of the new school year.
The IUED most recent survey points to the fact that this catastrophic situation has resulted in such a sharp increase in poverty, that it is estimated that the poverty rates in the oPt currently stand at 70% and more specifically, 71% in the West Bank, 35% in East Jerusalem and 79% in the Gaza Strip. Extreme poverty rates stand at 38% in the oPt, and respectively 33% in the West Bank, 17% in Jerusalem and 54% in the Gaza Strip. Poverty rates have increased substantially in refugee camps, from 39% in July 2005 to 52% in May 2006, reaching a peak of 45% in West Bank refugee camps and 55% in Gaza refugee camps. Living conditions drastically deteriorated also in villages, where in May, 74% of the surveyed households were poor. Apparently the most affected are the poor, who have been impoverished further and are now considered as extremely poor. [17]
Very alarmingly, an increasing number of Palestinians consider they do not have the capacity to keep up financially in the coming period and this is evident for those already living in extreme poverty (28%).[18] In addition, 53% of surveyed households in the West Bank, declared they felt insecure due to the economic crisis.
The same worrying situation is given by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), who estimates that poverty rates in the oPt, in the second quarter of 2006 have reached 65.8% of households if income data is used (70.3% of the Population in the oPt); by geographic location, they stand at 54.6% in the West Bank and 887.7% in Gaza. Deep poverty rates among Palestinian households have reached 55.6%, distributed by 43.2% in the West Bank and 79.8% in Gaza. [19]
Therefore, data by PCBS and the IUED does not differ much and shows a situation of massive poverty.
Poverty has increased more sharply among PA employees who have not received their salaries for five months, rising from 37% in 2005 to 46% in 2006 (of the 46%, 10% are the poorest and 36% are the poor).[20]
Furthermore, as in fact predicted by international institutions, the non-payment of PA security personnel, has led to a rise in insecurity and higher death rates and incidents, in particular in the Gaza Strip. On the one hand, internal clashes have intensified (as of June, 85 family or factional feuding incidents were recorded by OCHA, causing the killing of 36 people, including one child, and the injuring of 193 people, including 24 children) and factionalism has increased also as a consequence of the deployment of the 3.000 “Executive Support Force” created by the PA Ministry of Interior and declared illegal by the Palestinian President. On the other hand, violence has also been directed at Israel, as has happened with the attack on an Israeli army post at Kerem Shalom, the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier and the abduction and killing of a civilian which caused the launch of operation “Summer Rain” in Gaza by the IDF at the end of June. The ongoing military operation has exacerbated the hardship and living conditions of the population and created a further spiral of violence.
2.4 The Quartet’ s
Temporary Mechanism
To face the serious situation, on 9 May, Members of the Quartet supported the creation of a temporary international mechanism, “limited in scope and duration, transparent and accountable” to ensure direct delivery of assistance to the Palestinian people, without the money passing to or through the PA government.
On 19/20 June, in occasion of the visit to Israel of EU Commissioner for External Relations, Ferrero-Waldner, the mechanism was presented. It consists of three elements:
- the Emergency Services Support Programme of the World Bank: the intention is to expand the programme to guarantee the coverage of essential supplies in the health sector and basic allowances to those who are providing care in hospitals and clinics; (VERIFFICARE p. 65 approx. R 2 Helth-critica SR)
- the Interim Emergency Relief Contribution of the European Commission: the plan is to reinforce this channel so to ensure the supply of essential utilities, such as fuel;
- the Need Based Allowance Programme:
it will be supported by the European Commission and hopefully, by other donors
and will lead to the creation of a social safety net. This implies the
establishment of a fund to make payments directly to bank accounts of
Palestinians in greatest need. 625.000 people will benefit from social
allowances under the programme.
Part one and two of the mechanism have been launched already, while the third part will start up in September.
Commenting on the cut of funds by donor countries and agencies, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories said that “the Palestinian people have been subjected to possibly the most rigorous form of international sanctions imposed in modern times” and expressed the opinion that the limited support provided through the Temporary Mechanism, “will ameliorate the humanitarian situation but will not alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people”[21]. Sharing the same opinion, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health stated that: although a step in the right direction, the emergency plan does not fulfil the donors’ responsibility to provide health assistance in the oPt[22].
In the meantime, to respond to the impact of the fiscal crisis facing the PA and the disastrous effects on the population, the UN have revised the Consolidated Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territories (CAP), which has been increased from US$ 215 million to US$ 385 million. As pointed out in the new CAP, launched on 31st May, “most of the new funding being sought is in the sector of temporary jobs and cash assistance to the most vulnerable, medical supplies to PA institutions and food to the growing most at-risk groups identified by UNRWA and the WFP”.[23] However, UN Agencies are still of the opinion that the new funding will alleviate the worst effects of the humanitarian crisis, but that: a lasting solution lies in a fully functioning PA and the easing of movement restrictions on Palestinians[24].
3. Poverty and the human rights framework