The Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Tony Ojukwu SAN has said that poverty is a negation of human dignity, adding that where there is poverty they won’t be human dignity and human rights would be completely absent.
Ojukwu SAN who was represented by the Senior Human Rights Adviser of the commission, Hilary Ogbonna made this known on Friday during a one day event organised by My Take Initiative in partnership with the NHRC with the theme “Interconnectedness between poverty and other societal ills”.
The NHRC scribe said, poverty has been acknowledged as a violation of human rights and an assault to the dignity of human circle. Therefore, he called on human rights advocators to turn anti-poverty campaigners.
“Where there’s poverty, they won’t be dignity of life and automatically there is no human rights. So, at this junction I will enjoined all human rights campaigners to see poverty as an endemic that needs to be eradicated because you can’t be human rights advocator if you are not anti-poverty campaigner,”
He noted further that because poverty is a negation of human dignity it has also caused denial of human rights. He added no nation can get out of poverty without deliberate actions. Why acknowledging that Nigeria is one of the counties with the highest poverty rate in the whole world.
However, the Executive Director My take Initiative, Dr. Rosemary Chikwendu in her opening speech said, the priority theme for this year CSW66 is achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental disaster, risk reduction policies and programmes.
According to her, ” We are here to discuss the Interconnectedness between poverty and social ills, in the face of climate change.”Climate change has multiplied the level of poverty in the land, and we are here to interrqogate how poverty contributes hugely to other societal ills, particularly as it relates to women and children,” she said.
On her part, Professor Luz Estela Ortis-Nagle one of the paper presenters identified corruption as the caused of poverty around the world. She added that until corruption is killed poverty will continue to wag stronger.
