Poverty and Human Rights

Civil, political, economic and social rights are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international law. However, while civil and political rights in Canada are well established and protected, the same cannot yet be said for economic and social rights – even though all human rights are meant to be indivisible (i.e. equal in status) under law. A major reason for this is simply lack of public awareness and understanding of economic and social rights.

It has been said that “human rights only become meaningful when they gain political content…they are rights that require active participation from those who hold them.” Towards such participation, Canada Without Poverty intends to develop on-line resources and workshops for youth on poverty and economic and social rights; educate young Canadians about poverty and about Canada’s human rights obligations, particularly respecting economic and social rights; and seed the founding and coordination of a growing national network of Canadian youth engaged, from a human rights basis, in poverty solutions.

A learning curriculum will be developed in collaboration with youth and educators, while web-based programming will be developed in collaboration with youth and technology experts. The initiative will be piloted with a number of schools and youth organizations, and promoted through on-line social media and traditional media. Enrollment and completion rates will be evaluated by on-line data collection; on-line and workshop participants will also complete pre- and post-knowledge tests and their own subjective evaluation forms.