E/CN.4/2006/43 page 2 Summary In the present report the independent expert further explores the link between human rights and extreme poverty and aims at showing the distinct added value of looking at extreme poverty in terms of a violation or denial of human rights. In section I, the independent expert describes the value added of looking at development in terms of human development and making the elimination of poverty an explicit objective of economic development. In section II, he explains that viewing extreme poverty as a deprivation of human rights would add a further value to efforts to combat extreme poverty, making poverty eradication a social objective which would “trump” other policy objectives. The independent expert makes the case that, apart from appealing to moral entitlements to a life in dignity, it is possible to appeal to “legal obligations”, as poverty can be identified with the deprivation of human rights recognized in international human rights instruments. In section III, the independent expert stresses that a distinct advantage of looking at extreme poverty is that it reduces the number of persons involved to a manageable subset of the population and focuses on the need to give priority to the poorest of the poor. Referring to the distinction between “core rights” which a State needs to implement with immediate effect, and rights which may be implemented progressively over a period of time, the independent expert proposes that removing the conditions of extreme poverty should be treated as a core obligation which should be realized immediately and given the same high priority as other human rights objectives.