Expanding Perspectives On Human Rights In Africa

This book draws attention to emerging issues around the rights of minorities, marginalized groups, and persons in Africa. It explores the gaps between human rights provisions and conditions, showing that although international human rights principles have been embraced in the continent, various minority groups and marginalized persons are denied such rights through criminalization and persecution. African countries have a good record of signing and ratifying international and regional rights instruments but the political will and capacity for enforcing these with respect to minorities remain weak. International contributors to the book provide new perspectives on the rights of marginalized and minority groups in different parts of Africa and the extent to which they are deprived or denied entitlement to the universality and equality articulated in law. The authors show that human rights, while having come of age as a moral ideal, has not been fully entrenched in practice towards groups such as children, indigenous populations, the mentally ill, persons with disabilities, and persons with albinism. This volume is geared toward scholars, students, human rights groups, policy makers, social workers, international organizations, and policy makers in the fields of criminology, security studies, development studies, political science, sociology, children studies, social psychology, international relations, postcolonial studies, and African Studies.

This powerful volume challenges the conventional view that the concept of human rights is peculiar to the West and, therefore, inherently alien to the non-Western traditions of third world countries. This book demonstrates that there is a contextual legitimacy for the concept of human rights. Virginia A. Leary and Jack Donnelly discuss the Western cultural origins of international human rights; David Little, Bassam Tibi, and Ann Elizabeth Mayer explore Christian and Islamic perspectives on human rights; Rhoda E. Howard, Claude E. Welch, Jr., and James C. N. Paul examine human rights in the context of the African nation-state; Kwasi Wiredu, James Silk, and Francis M. Deng offer African cultural perspectives; and Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im and Richard D. Schwartz discuss prospects for a cross-cultural approach to human rights.

This book draws attention to emerging issues around the rights of minorities, marginalized groups, and persons in Africa. It explores the gaps between human rights provisions and conditions, showing that although international human rights principles have been embraced in the continent, various minority groups and marginalized persons are denied such rights through criminalization and persecution. African countries have a good record of signing and ratifying international and regional rights instruments but the political will and capacity for enforcing these with respect to minorities remain weak. International contributors to the book provide new perspectives on the rights of marginalized and minority groups in different parts of Africa and the extent to which they are deprived or denied entitlement to the universality and equality articulated in law. The authors show that human rights, while having come of age as a moral ideal, has not been fully entrenched in practice towards groups such as children, indigenous populations, the mentally ill, persons with disabilities, and persons with albinism. This volume is geared toward scholars, students, human rights groups, policy makers, social workers, international organizations, and policy makers in the fields of criminology, security studies, development studies, political science, sociology, children studies, social psychology, international relations, postcolonial studies, and African Studies.

1 The dominant discourse

"The volume stands out both in its timeliness and in the originality of its 'new thinking' about human rights on the continent. . . . The editors offer excellent intellectual leadership to this project."--Crawford Young, University of Wisconsin, Madison The often oppressive existence endured by ordinary Africans means that human rights issues, along with political and economic ones, are central to Africa's progress. The 1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, signed by African leaders, takes the stance that human rights in Africa must honor the traditional African concern for the collective over the sanctity and integrity of the individual. The editors and authors of this book argue against that consensus, defending the position that human rights are universal. The contributors ask whether the idea of universal human rights is tenable theoretically and practically, coming at the issue from bases of social and political theory, history, and law. They conclude that the views on human rights in Africa need to move in the direction of international thinking on the issue, a posture not merely Western but quintessentially human. The book has much to offer students of African and international studies, human rights specialists, and others concerned with human rights issues. Contents Part I. Theoretical Perspectives Endless Teardrops: Prolegomena to the Study of Human Rights in Africa, by Ronald Cohen Human Rights and Precolonial Africa, by Timothy Fernyhough Human and Peoples' Rights: What Point Is Africa Trying to Make? by H. W. O. Okoth-Ogendo The African Human Rights Process: A Contextual Policy-Oriented Approach, by Winston P. Nagan Part II. Substantive Issues Women's Rights and the Right to Development, by Rhoda E. Howard African Refugees: Defining and Defending Their Human Rights, by Art Hansen "Life Is War": Human Rights, Political Violence, and Struggles for Power in Lesotho, by Robert Shanafelt The National Language Question and Minority Language Rights in Africa: A Nigerian Case Study, by F. Niyi Akinnaso Education and Rights in Nigeria, by Ajuji Ahmed and Ronald Cohen Academic Freedom in Africa: A Right Long Overlooked, by Goran Hyden The Challenges of Domesticating Rights in Africa, by Goran Hyden Ronald Cohen is professor of anthropology and African studies at the University of Florida; among his many books and articles on Africa is Satisfying Africa's Food Needs (1988). Goran Hyden is professor of political science at the University of Florida; his books on African politics and development include No Shortcuts to Progress (1983). Winston Nagan, professor of law and affiliate professor of anthropology at the University of Florida, chaired the board of Amnesty International (USA) from 1989 to 1991.

The last couple of decades has not only witnessed an increased convergence between human rights and development but also a significant shift towards rights-based approaches to development, including especially responsiveness to the fact that development in itself is a human right guaranteed to be enjoyed by all peoples. This edited volume of peer-reviewed papers constitutes the first product resulting from the annual international conference series on the right to development, organised by the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, and the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute at the University of South Africa. It explores the complex nature of the right to development from a diversified perspective, including from a conceptual, thematic, country and regional points of view. Conceived with the purpose to overshadow dominant economic growth approaches to development, the perspectives on the right to development articulated in this publication seek to locate the developmentalist discourse within the framework of accountability and people-centred development programming, necessitating appropriate policy formulation to ensure the constant improvement in human well-being. The book is written with the aim to reach out to researchers, academics, practitioners and policy makers who desire an in-depth understanding of the right to development as it applies universally.

About the publication This book addresses poverty, one of the important issues confronting Africa, from a multi-disciplinary approach. With contributions from eminent scholars from diverse backgrounds, the book explores poverty from a human rights perspective. Its central message is that poverty is not necessarily a failure on the part of an individual, but rather caused by the actions or inactions of governments, which are often exacerbated by structural inequalities in many African societies. This in turn requires a more pragmatic approach grounded in respect for human rights. Exploring the link between poverty and human rights in Africa will be useful to researchers, policymakers, students, activists and others interested in addressing poverty. Table of Contents PREFACE viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS x CONTRIBUTORS xi 1. General introduction to poverty and human rights in Africa Ebenezer Durojaye & Gladys Mirugi-Mukundi 1 Introduction 2 Understanding poverty 3 Nexus between poverty and human rights 4 Significance of this book 4.1 The relevance 5 Overview of the book 5.1 Section I: Trends and incidence of poverty in Africa 5.2 Section II: Poverty and socio-economic rights 5.3 Section III: Poverty and vulnerable groups 5.4 Section IV: Poverty and access to justice 2. Integrating a human rights approach to food security in national plans and budgets: The South African National Development Plan Julian May 1 Introduction 2 Human rights and food security 3 Development planning and human rights 4 The components of budgeting for human rights 4.1 Diagnostic analysis 4.2 Identifying interventions and budget prioritisation 4.3 Estimating the financial costs of achieving food security 4.5 Estimating social and economic benefits 5 Public expenditure management for food security 5.1 Fiscal and monetary policy 5.2 Multi-year budgeting 6 Conclusion 3. Is South Africa winning the war on poverty and inequality? What do the available statistics tell us? Emmanuel Sekyere, Steven Gordon, Gary Pienaar & Narnia Bohler-Muller 1 Introduction 1.1 Income inequality in South Africa 2 Poverty and human development trends in South Africa 2.1 South African Social Attitudes Survey: Perceptions of poverty 2.2 Human development 3 Access to services 4 Addressing social inequality in South Africa 4.1 Addressing income inequality in South Africa 4.2 Addressing human development challenges 4.3 Addressing service delivery 5 Conclusion and summary of findings 4. Who really ‘state-captured’ South Africa? Revealing silences in poverty, inequality and structurally-corrupt capitalism Patrick Bond 1 Introduction 2 Inequality, the state and its ‘capture’ 3 The political economy of the capitalist state 4 World Bank inequality denialism 5 The fight between hostile brothers: The ‘Zuptas’ and ‘White Monopoly Capital’ 6 Social resistances 5. Poverty, women and the human right to water for growing food Ngcimezile Mbano-Mweso 1 Introduction 2 The human right to water 2.1 Recognition in international law 2.2 Definition and content: Is there a right to water for growing food? 2.3 Normative content of the human right to water for growing food 3 Conclusion 6. The link between environmental pollution and poverty in Africa Olubayo Oluduro 1 Introduction 2 Legal framework for the protection of the environment in Africa 3 Nature of environmental pollution in Africa 3.1 Environmental pollution in Africa: Case studies of some countries 4 Nexus between pollution and poverty 4.1 Environmental pollution leads to diversion of labour 4.2 Increased burden of disease in poor countries 4.3 Problem of food security 4.4 Right to safe drinking water 5 Protecting the environment to fight poverty and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals 6 Recommendations 6.1 Political commitment 6.2 Promotion of education and information sharing 6.3 Eliminating poverty 7 Conclusion 138 7. Alleviating poverty through retirement reforms Kitty Malherbe 1 Introduction 2 Poverty among older persons 3 Current social security provision for older persons 4 Arguments for the reform of the current retirement income system 5 Proposed retirement reforms 5.1 Comprehensive social security and retirement reform process 5.2 Reforms proposed by National Treasury 6 Constitutional principles guiding reforms 6.1 Coordinated approach 6.2 Inclusivity 6.3 Progressive realisation 6.4 Governance and accountability 6.5 Availability of resources 6.6 ‘Lifespan’ view to addressing poverty 7 Potential impact of social security and retirement income reforms 8. Disability, poverty and human rights in Africa: Opportunities for poverty reduction from the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Enoch M Chilemba 1 Introduction 2 Poverty, disability and human rights link in Africa 2.1 Persons with disabilities in Africa: Among the poorest of the poor 2.2 Poverty, disability and human rights linkage 3 Utilising the opportunities from CRPD in countering obstacles relating to disability and poverty in Africa 3.1 Fostering equality and non-discrimination to reduce poverty 3.2 Fostering inclusive education to eradicate poverty 3.3 Enhancing employment in the open labour market to eradicate poverty 3.4 Ensuring social protection to reduce poverty 4 Conclusion 188 9.The co-existence of gender inequality and poverty Nomthandazo Ntlama 1 Introduction 2 SADC’s transformative vision in eliminating gender inequalities and poverty 2.1 Reducing poverty and eliminating gender inequality: A mammoth task 2.2 Towards a transformative region: Advancing the principles of the community of nations 3 Conclusion 10. The potential of the African human rights system in addressing poverty Bright Nkrumah 1 Introduction 2 Norm creation and norm enforcement: Issues and implications 2.1 Normative framework for addressing poverty 2.2 African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights 2.3 Little angels: African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child 2.4 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa 3 Other instruments relating to poverty 3.1 AU Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (Anti-Corruption Convention) 3.2 Declaration on Employment and Poverty Alleviation in Africa 3.4 Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme 4 Institutional frameworks for addressing poverty 4.1 African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights 4.2 African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child 4.3 African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights 4.4 Need for complementarity: The road not taken 5 Other related mechanisms 5.1 New Partnership for Africa’s Development 5.2 African Peer Review Mechanism 6 International best practice dealing with poverty 7 Concluding reflections 11. Realising access to justice for the poor: Lessons from working with rural communities Victoria Balogun 1 Introduction 2 What is access to justice for the poor? 3 How are non-profit organisations such as the Centre for Community Justice and Development promoting access to justice in South Africa post-1994? 4 Are there any barriers to access to justice and do they have any implication(s) for the poor in poor communities? 5 The intersection between poverty and access to justice for poor communities 6 Access to justice, the role of legal aid offices and the commitment to serve the poor in poor communities 7 Equality and access to justice for the poor 8 Conclusion 12. The role of the South African Human Rights Commission in ensuring state accountability to address poverty Rachael Adams 1 Introduction 2 Poverty and human rights 2.1 International human rights law 2.2 Poverty and human rights in South Africa 2.3 Socio-economic rights 3 What do we mean by state accountability? 3.1 State accountability 4 South African Human Rights Commission 4.1 Mandate and functions 4.2 Reporting requirements 5 Structures of accountability 5.1 Complaints 5.2 Reporting 6 Inequality and intersectional discrimination 6.1 Interdependence of rights and the role of government 7 Conclusion: The role of the South African Human Rights Commission