Human Rights and Extreme Poverty. Note by the Secretary-General. Report of the Independent Expert on the Question of Human Rights and Extreme Poverty. The Importance of Social Protection Measures in Achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Abstract

The report highlights the importance of social protection measures in the Millennium Development Goals agenda. It also stresses that social protection measures designed, implemented and evaluated within the framework of a rights-based approach are more likely to ensure the achievement of the Goals and to result in long-term improvements. In addition, the report argues that the use of a rights-based approach to social protection can maximize synergies across the Millennium Development Goals and have greater effect in terms of reducing extreme poverty and inequality. The UN independent expert outlines the main features of a rights-based approach to social protection. She pays particular attention to gender related concerns as one of the core components of such an approach. The report calls on States to devote increased attention to the issue of gender equality while designing, implementing and evaluating social protection programmes within a human rights framework.