The Globe and Mail - June 18, 2008
Letter to the editor by Gauri Sreenivasan, Senior policy analyst
Canadian
Council for International Cooperation
(disponible en anglais seulement)
Re: Level The Playing Field For The World's Poor, June 17
Ottawa -- It's human rights, not just "access to justice and the rule of law, property rights, labour rights and business rights," that are needed to help end global poverty (Level The Playing Field For The World's Poor - June 17). The universal human struggle to escape poverty and pursue a life of dignity is the struggle to claim the full spectrum of human rights - the right to food, work, health, education, to organize, to vote and to freely assemble without fear.
The world's governments have multiple obligations under international law to
respect, protect and fulfill human rights. Unfortunately, these obligations are
often unmet. And human rights, for the hundreds of millions of people who live
with the daily reality of war, repression, hunger, ill-health and illiteracy,
remain illusory.