Human rights and extreme poverty : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly

The General Assembly,

Reaffirming the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and other international instruments concerning human rights adopted by the United Nations,

Recalling its resolutions 44/148 of 15 December 1989 and 44/212 of 22 December 1989 and other relevant resolutions,

Bearing in mind Commission on Human Rights resolution 1991/14 of 22 February 1991, in which the Commission drew the attention of the General Assembly to the contradiction between the existence of situations of extreme poverty and exclusion from society, which must be overcome, and the duty to guarantee full enjoyment of human rights,

Recalling its resolution 45/199 of 21 December 1990, in which it proclaimed the Fourth United Nations Development Decade, one of the main characteristics of which is the search for a significant reduction in extreme poverty and a shared responsibility of all countries,

Recognizing that extreme poverty is a violation of human dignity and could constitute a threat to the right to life,

Deeply concerned at the steady increase in extreme poverty in the world and at its effect on the most vulnerable groups of society, which are thus prevented from exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Aware of the need for a better understanding of the causes of extreme poverty,

Recognizing that the elimination of widespread poverty and the full enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights are interrelated goals,

Recognizing that the grave suffering of the great majority of human beings who live in conditions of extreme poverty demands the immediate attention of the international community and the adoption of concrete measures for the elimination of extreme poverty and social exclusion,

1.         Affirms that extreme poverty and exclusion from society constitute a violation of human dignity and that urgent national and international measures are therefore required to eliminate them;

2.         Stresses the need for an in-depth and complete study of the nature of the phenomenon of extreme poverty which affects mankind;

3.         Requests the Commission on Human Rights to give appropriate consideration, in directing its studies of extreme poverty, to the conditions in which the poorest themselves can convey their experience and so contribute to a better understanding of their situation of social exclusion;

4.         Again requests States, the specialized agencies and United Nations bodies and other international organizations, including intergovernmental organizations, to give the necessary attention to this problem;

5.         Notes with appreciation the concrete measures taken by the United Nations Children's Fund to lessen the effects of extreme poverty on children and the efforts of the United Nations Development Programme to give priority to the search for a means of alleviating poverty within the framework of the relevant resolutions;

6.         Decides to continue the consideration of this question at its forty-seventh session under the sub-item entitled "Human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms".