Human Rights and Millennium Development Goals: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
Since the proclamation in the year 2000 the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are the main framework of the international cooperation efforts, in particular of the United Nations and their agencies. In this article the MDGs are examined in connection to the human rights approach, with reference to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The article gives special attention to the first goal, «eradicate extreme poverty», because the human rights approach offers qualitative elements to the measurement of poverty and to the evaluation of the results in the fight against poverty.
The human rights approach underlines empowerment and participation, and put the attention on the obligation of conduct of the states to achieve progressively the rights (to health, to food, to education), having in consideration the dignity of every human being.