41. Nutritionists and globalization
January blog Claudio Schuftan San Jose, California. Since I am back in the Americas for holidays, I start this month by quoting some views of the prominent Uruguayan journalist and…
130 HOW WE, HR ACTIVISTS, ARE DUPED: JUST A FEW EXAMPLES.
The official neoliberal paradigm has actually created its own ‘counter-paradigm’; one that, for looks, embodies a highly ethical (yet apolitical) discourse. Its name: “Sustainable Development”, Sustainable development is a discourse…
129 THE RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGES THE NATURE OF STATE-SOCIETY RELATIONS.
In last instance, rights practices sow the seeds of a different social order since they hold duty-bearers effectively accountable. The struggle to replace ‘clientelism’ with rights is ongoing. (Clientelism is…
128 YESTERDAY’S FUTURE HAS ARRIVED: THE POST-WASHINGTON CONSENSUS ONLY HAS A PITIFUL VAGUE ORIENTATION TOWARDS THE ERADICATION OF POVERTY AND ILL-HEALTH AS HUMAN RIGHTS PRIORITIES. (Part 2 of 2)
In the more specific case of health, there is a conflict between WB policies under the poverty reduction strategies (PRS) process and the Right to Health (RTH). Bank policies do…
127 YESTERDAY’S FUTURE HAS ARRIVED: THE POST-WASHINGTON CONSENSUS ONLY HAS A PITIFUL VAGUE ORIENTATION TOWARDS THE ERADICATION OF POVERTY AND ILL-HEALTH AS HUMAN RIGHTS PRIORITIES. (Part 1 of 2)
The ongoing neoliberal global restructuring is mostly driven by a handful of political superpowers and a small and declining number of large multi-national corporations; they directly and indirectly hold the…
126 MDGs ARE TO (EVENTUALLY) END EXTREME POVERTY, NOT MOST POVERTY; SO, WHERE ARE HUMAN RIGHTS LEFT?
How can we be content with health for half when health for all is possible? The MDGs are too little too late. Let’s face it: The 1978 Alma Ata Declaration…
125 BEING A HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST IS NOT AN ILLUSION ONE SHOULD LOSE AT AGE 40.
The goal of providing human rights to all in the world is as inspiring and formidable a challenge as any extraterrestrial adventure. (J. Cohen and D. Bloom) As sad as…
124 HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION.
Oblivious to the teachings of history, international free trade is being promoted to the rank of ‘development motor’ as if development would be the same as preparing the population for…
123 PEOPLE HAVE RIGHTS EVEN WITHOUT ANY SPECIFIC LEGISLATION SAYING SO.
Every person, anywhere in the world –irrespective of citizenship or territorial legislation– has rights that others should respect. (Amartya Sen) Further, human rights (HR) are blind to nationalities and are…
122 USING THE MILLENNIUM AGENDA AS A REFERENCE POINT IMPLIES SIDE-LINING THE HUMAN RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH!
We live in a world of high-flown objectives, ambitious target setting and obscure acronyms. MDGs and PRSPs make virtually no allowances for human rights (HR) or for environmental protection. Moreover,…