A/HRC/15/41
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: General
6 August 2010
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Fifteenth session
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Report of the independent expert on the question of human
rights and extreme poverty, Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona,
on the draft guiding principles on extreme poverty and
human rights*
Summary
The present report, submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 12/19,
contains detailed recommendations by the independent expert on the question of human
rights and extreme poverty on how to improve the draft guiding principles on extreme
poverty and human rights prepared by the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and
Protection of Human Rights. The report benefits from the contributions of States and other
relevant stakeholders that participated in various consultative processes conducted after
2006.
The report includes both the rationale behind the proposals and the basic conceptual
definitions that frame these recommendations. It also outlines the main challenges
experienced by persons living in extreme poverty that must be taken into account when
preparing the principles. Finally, it presents an annotated outline of the independent
expert’s proposal on how to improve the draft guiding principles, divided into three
sections: overarching human rights principles, overarching policy guidelines and specific
rights-based obligations.
The independent expert believes that the guiding principles can become a tool to
help States and other actors operationalize existing human rights obligations for persons
living in extreme poverty.
*
GE.10-15304
Late submission.