Demand Dignity Campaign
"Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. And overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life." – Nelson Mandela
Everyone everywhere has the human right to essential health care and housing, as well as clean water, food, education and decent work. Everyone has the right to security, both physical and economic; to freedom from discrimination; and to participate in the decisions that affect their lives.
The fact that violations of the right to health care or the right to clean water are common does not make those rights violations acceptable. Governments have the duty to respect, protect and fulfill the full range of human rights, at home and abroad. Private sector actors and international financial institutions also have an obligation to adhere to human rights standards.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees these rights and more – both freedom from oppression and the right to live a life with dignity. But more than sixty years after its adoption in the aftermath of the horrors of World War II and the Great Depression, the aspiration of a world free from want and fear is still unrealized for millions of people living in poverty.
At its core, poverty is not merely a question of lack of income. It is a question of one’s right to housing, adequate food, clean water, and a decent standard of health care being at risk. Thousands die every day from preventable disease, contaminated water and hunger-related diseases, and those who live in poverty often lack the power to do much about that insecurity. These are human rights violations.
Amnesty International, as the world’s largest grassroots human rights movement, is committed to addressing all human rights violations, including those of poverty. Given the size and breadth of our movement, we have a unique role to play in changing the terms of the debate around poverty and human rights. Our brand new Demand Dignity Campaign will be rolling out in 2009 and we will contribute to the work of defending everyone’s right to live with dignity. We will do so by helping to empower communities and human rights defenders to win equal access to human rights and accountability for human rights abuses from their own governments and from international actors in the state, private and multilateral sectors. The first area of human rights violations we will be looking into are those related to the right to health, and specifically a woman’s right to maternal health, in the context of an ongoing human rights scandal: maternal mortality at home and abroad.
Maternal Mortality and the Human Right to Health Care
Around the world, one woman dies every minute -- half a million women every year – and many more face long-term debilitating health problems, due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Almost all of these deaths are preventable. That the world allows them to continue in 2009, when we know how to stop them, is a human rights crisis. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – an international framework to cut world poverty in half by 2015 – includes cutting the rate of maternal deaths by three-quarters. But that goal has seen the least progress out of all the MDGs.
Amnesty International’s work on maternal health continues our efforts to advance women’s human rights, most recently in our Stop Violence Against Women Campaign. Complacency in the face of maternal mortality reflects discrimination against women, and it perpetuates that discrimination. As Mahmoud Fathalla, past president of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, said:
"Women are not dying because of diseases we cannot treat. They are dying because societies have yet to make the decision that their lives are worth saving."
Maternal mortality is a crucial issue all over the world: Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and even here at home. This year will see the release of reports on Peru, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, and the United States. In every case, maternal mortality is an entry point for looking at the health care system as a whole.
In this country, we now have a once-in-a-generation chance to reform the health care system to truly fulfill the human right to health. As we see in the news every day, too often the debate assumes that health care is a commodity. It is not – it is a human right, and a public good. It is up to us, as human rights advocates, to ensure that point of view is represented.
Demand Dignity
While we in the U.S. are focusing much of our energy around maternal health and the national healthcare debate, Amnesty International as a whole will soon be campaigning on a variety of issues related to poverty and human rights including human rights abuses associated with slums and corporate accountability especially around the extractive industries.
In the coming years, in addition to maternal health, Amnesty will also be looking at the human rights abuses associated with slums and extractive industries. Country related briefings and reports are being prepared on:
Maternal Mortality –Peru, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso and the United States
Slums – Italy, Kenya, Angola, Cambodia and Egypt
Corporate Accountability – Nigeria and other case studies
