The Human Rights Approach to Social Protection

Dr. Magdalena Sepúlveda of Chile is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights. In its resolution 8/11 (2008), the UN Human Rights Council requested that she examine the relationship between extreme poverty and the enjoyment of human rights, paying particular attention to the situation of vulnerable groups and the impact of discrimination. In this publication Dr. Sepúlveda and her assistant Ms. Carly Nyst set out to elaborate and promote a human rights framework for social protection, identifying best practices and disseminating lessons learned. Their approach involves the application of the central human rights principles of the human rights framework - equality and non-discrimination (including accessibility, acceptability, affordability and the incorporation of the gender perspective), participation, transparency and accountability - to the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of social protection systems.They have synthesised the key findings and recommendations from the previous reports of the Special Rapporteur to the UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly.