Call for proposals: Poverty,Inequality and Human Rights

Poverty, inequality and human rights – do human rights frameworks make a difference?

Deadline:	2pm on Monday 13 October 2008 (full proposals)
Timescale:	To be completed by end of April 2009
Budget:	£50,000
Key contacts:	Teresa Hanley (PIPI Manager), teresa_hanley@dsl.pipex.com, 0207 263 8841 Marguerite Owen (administrator), marguerite.owen@jrf.org.uk, 01904 615903

Supporting documents

Background and aims

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) programme on public interest in poverty aims to provide evidence and understanding, ideas and solutions for those involved in building support for UK poverty eradication. In January 2008 JRF jointly organised a seminar for those working on poverty and human rights in the UK to explore potential links and complementarity of work . A recommendation from the seminar was to explore further the learning from experiences from other parts of the world for the UK.

This project seeks to build the evidence base for how human rights frameworks have been drawn on to address poverty in contexts outside of the UK. In particular, it will consider how human rights frameworks have had an impact on policy formulation and implementation (process and policy substance), programmes and debate to address poverty in the domestic context. Potential countries for consideration include South Africa, India, Brazil, USA, Ireland and other European contexts.

The primary audience for outputs will be third sector organisations working to address poverty and promote human rights, government, public bodies including the Equalities and Human Rights Commission and policy advisers from across the political parties.

Background / context

Poverty and human rights linkage

Human rights and anti-poverty approaches have strong conceptual links. Both begin with a commitment to human dignity and the imperative of realising this for every human being. Both are focused on the fundamental conditions in which we live, and the things we need, as a very minimum, to flourish as human beings.

Human rights are set out in various international instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and a wide range of treaties including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (‘ICCPR’), and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (‘ICESCR’), They are also enshrined in national law in many countries through the adoption and ratification of these instruments and also in domestic legislation and policy development.

Building on these basic conceptual links, anti-poverty and human rights practitioners have elaborated ‘human rights based approaches’ to poverty reduction in a bid to convert these links into a practical framework for action. This work has been led at the international level by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Human rights based approaches to poverty reduction are now used by a number of international development actors including some UN bodies as well as NGOs operating at both the international and domestic levels. Some countries have sought to make more explicit links between human rights and their development and anti-poverty strategies notably the Indian and South African governments.

Economic and social rights form a focus of most studies exploring the overlap between human rights and poverty since they are directly related to economic resources. However, it is believed by many that civil and political rights, such as the right to participate in public affairs and the right to equal protection of the law, are crucial for developing and implementing effective anti-poverty strategies.

However, the extent to which building linkage between anti-poverty and human rights approaches has an impact on the substance of policy and eventually on poverty reduction as well as on the policy formulation process is little explored.

Poverty and human rights in the UK

The development of UK anti-poverty strategies has largely taken place separately from the development and practice of human rights in the UK. Some exceptions are around organisations' use of the Convention of the Rights of the Child and also calls for international standards for support for destitute asylum seekers. On the whole, there has been little explicit linkage made in the main body of anti-poverty debate and policy processes. This is partly due to the exclusion of economic and social rights from the British Human Rights Act.

However, the debate around a potential UK Bill of Rights and also developments at the regional level in the four nations has opened up the space for bringing debates and approaches from the two fields together. The 29th joint committee report on a bill of rights for the UK published 10.8.08 recommends that the UK Bill of Rights initially incorporate rights for health, education, housing and an adequate standard of living.

There is a growing number of organisations in the UK interested to draw on human rights frameworks in the eradication of poverty- civil and political as well as economic and social rights. There is also interest in the human rights community to contribute to the eradication of UK poverty and to explore how this can be done.

Those working on anti-poverty work in the UK often refer to experiences of other countries in linking human rights and poverty in their debate, policy and practice. However, there is relatively limited evidence about the impacts of such linkage to inform the UK debate and approach.

Some key issues

There is some evidence of human rights based approaches building confidence and empowering communities to claim entitlements which relate to an adequate standard of living. These show the added value of human rights approaches eg building confidence of community groups, giving weight to their arguments by shifting the focus from need and deservingness to entitlement and by calling on national and international standards and support of international human rights related bodies. However, there is less evidence of the impact the linkage with human rights frameworks has on the substance and results of anti-poverty strategies, policies and programmes. This research seeks to explore the impact of links between human rights and poverty approaches on the results of processes as well as to the quality of processes themselves, though of course these are connected.

Attribution of results to the linkage is a key issue which the research will need to address.

A second issue to address will be what aspects of the political context in another country contributed to the success or failure of the linkage. Timing, expected or unexpected opportunities, key figures and other aspects of the political and wider context can all play a role in contributing to success or failure. It will be necessary to tease out some of the key factors which have contributed to success or problems in other contexts in drawing on human rights frameworks to address poverty.

In identifying the relevance to the UK the situation is complicated by the differing policy and legal context in different parts of the UK. The project is expected to address this complexity.

Related activites

JRF programme on public interest in poverty issues is also undertaking related qualitative work to consider UK attitudes to economic inequality and measures to address it which will report in early 2009. Findings and recommendations from this work may be relevant to this work on poverty and human rights.

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission is undertaking a consultation of UK attitudes to human rights and the drivers for change. The Commission has also indicated it may be interested to consider aspects of poverty and socio-economic inequality within its remit. This research may contribute to the development of the EHRC strategy based on its consultation.

The British Institute of Human Rights is planning an international seminar to examine the practical application of human rights in promoting social justice. Conclusions and recommendations from the seminar will be drawn on by this research if it is feasible.

Aim

To build the evidence base for how human rights frameworks have been drawn on to address poverty in other contexts outside of the UK.

Questions the research will address

What has been the experience in other countries in drawing on human rights frameworks to address domestic poverty?
What impact has such a link had on policy, programmes and debate to address domestic poverty? What contributed to that impact eg context, timing, other?
What difficulties and drawbacks have been met? How have these or could they be addressed?
What is the relevance of these countries’ experience to the UK?

Methods

Review of available literature and evidence from other domestic contexts.
A case study approach may be most appropriate to this work. Each case study would include desk research of available literature and evaluations but also interviews with key individuals involved in the relevant processes from both the poverty and human rights sectors as well as from policy and programme arenas.
Countries with relevant case studies could include India and South Africa which have both made human rights a priority and put them at the core of their development anti-poverty strategies; Ireland and other European countries which have adopted the Council of Europe’s social charter on economic, social and cultural rights and the USA. However, all focus areas with their rationale will be considered.
Discussion groups to consider the implications of the findings of initial research for UK anti-poverty and human rights organisations and processes.
The methodology should ensure the findings and recommendations are relevant across the UK so consider the four countries of the UK.

Expected Outputs

The expected outputs are a 15,000 word report, detailing the methods, results and policy and practice implications, and a 2,000 word summary (the "Findings"). The report will be relevant to organisations working at different scales and locations in the UK as well as to government and other interested bodies. It will provide analysis of case studies from other contexts and draw out the points of learning and relevance for the UK. However, we are open to other ideas about effective outputs beyond or instead of these usual ones. If more than one project is funded from this call, then contributions to joint publication(s) may be required.

Previous Outputs

Other recent work funded by the JRF that may be of relevance to this call for proposals includes:

Is poverty in the UK a denial of human rights? Viewpoint by Damian Killeen
Human rights and tackling UK poverty – report from seminar (Jan 08) held by JRF, British Institute of Human Rights, Amnesty International and Oxfam
Public attitudes to economic inequality by Michael Orton and Karen Rowlingson

Submitting a Proposal

It is essential that you read the how to apply for funding section of our website before submitting your proposal, together with the Application guidelines containing the necessary forms for completing your application. There are also details available on what makes a good proposal and projects the Foundation does not support, which proposers should read, as well as some other useful information.

Three unbound, hard copies of all documents are required. Please also e-mail a Word version of the complete proposal, summary and budget forms to Marguerite Owen by the deadline below.

Proposals should be submitted to:

Marguerite Owen
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
The Homestead, 40 Water End
YORK, YO30 6WP

Timetable

The deadline for receipt of email and hard copies of full proposals is 2.00 pm on Monday 13th October 2008.

Unfortunately, late submissions cannot be accepted. Following review by JRF staff and advisers, proposals that meet the required standards will be submitted to the Public Interest in Poverty Issues Advisory Group in November 2008 for their consideration.

Budget

The maximum budget for this call overall is £50,000 (including VAT and all other expenses)

How we make funding decisions (full proposals)

The following criteria will be used in coming to a decision on full proposals:

How far the work will offer new insights or developments.
The soundness and appropriateness of how the work will be done (i.e. design, methods and analysis). This will include a rationale for the selected focus for the case studies or other approach to the work.
Whether partnerships with relevant other organisations are in place, where these are important. JRF encourages applications from UK-based institutes with partners based in countries of interest.
The experience of the proposers in human rights and poverty in the UK and outside including the knowledge of legislation and of the poverty policy and practice environments.
The ability of the proposers to carry out the work and complete on time.
An understanding of the policy and practice dimensions

Other issues that will be considered include: whether the proposal pays attention to diversity where appropriate (i.e. attending to gender, ethnicity, class, disability etc.) and whether it is written in accessible, lay language. A full yet accessible explanation of the proposed methods to be used is essential, as is full consideration of the ethical implications of the work and the implications for policy and practice across different nations of the UK.

Key Contacts

For queries about the research, including the methods, please contact :

Teresa Hanley (until 25.9.08)
PIPI Manager
020 7263 8841
teresa_hanley@dsl.pipex.com

For queries about the application process, deadlines etc., please contact:

Marguerite Owen (administrator)
01904 615903
marguerite.owen@jrf.org.uk