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Dignity Counts : Aguide to using budget analysis to advance human rights

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Respecting the human rights of its people should be one of a government’s highest priorities, if not the highest priority, and it can do many things to meet its rights obligations. Its President, for example, may promote the right to education by making a speech about the importance of education to the well-being of individuals and of the society as a whole. A local government may gather together the people in a community to help plant this year’s crops or paint a health clinic. Sometimes respecting human rights even involves a government in not doing something, like not standing in the way of girls going to school or not abusing detainees in the country’s prisons. Meeting one’s human rights obligations isn’t necessarily about spending money. At the same time, the reality is that very often it does take money for a government to properly meet its rights responsibilities. Financial resources need to be directed, for example, to training police not to abuse citizens, to training judges and maintaining courts. Funding is required to hire teachers, to build schools and to ensure decent working conditions for those laboring in factories. These are a few of the actions that are important to human rights and each requires money. A government’s determination to abide by its human rights obligations should be embodied in national (and local) policies, and government (public) budgets should, in turn, reflect those policies. A government, in other words, should “put its money where its mouth is.” Those interested in determining whether a government is fulfilling its human rights obligations should thus consider looking at the government’s revenue, allocations and expenditures as reflected in its budget. No matter how sophisticated or detailed the analysis, examining a government budget won’t answer all possible questions about how well a government program is being carried out. Increased funding may be directed to schools, for example, but that is no guarantee that the quality of teaching is being enhanced. Assessing the teaching requires something other than budget analysis. A government may open emergency food centers in drought-stricken areas, but what type of food is available to those in need? Does it have enough calories and nutrients? Is the food appropriate and acceptable to the population in the area? Nutritionists can give you more useful answers to those questions than can budget analysts.

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Availability

KP.1.00098

KP.1 INT d

My Library

Available

Detail Information

Series Title

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Call Number

KP.1 INt d

Publisher

Hoboken, NJ : International Budget Project., 2004

Collation

iii, 83 hlm, : ilus.; 28 cm.

Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

0-9707700-4-9

Classification

KP.1

Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

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Subject(s)

Hak asasi manusia
Analisa Budget

Specific Detail Info

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Statement of Responsibility

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