Email this page to a friend!

Back to All Blogs

The most basic right?
 

Featuring in the Melbourne Human Rights Arts & Film Festival, the film Good Fortune looks at the experience of two families living in extreme poverty.

The Global Poverty Project is offering one lucky blog reader the chance to win a double pass to see Good Fortune on Tuesday the 4th May at Cinema Nova in Melbourne.

To celebrate the inclusion of a development focused film in the Festival, and to raise awareness of the link between human rights and extreme poverty, we're asking you...

What is the most basic human right for people living in extreme poverty?

Leave your response in the comments section below to go into the draw. We'll announce the winner on Saturday the 1st of May. 


The Human Rights Arts & Film Festival is Australia's premier cultural event - devoted exclusively to the exploration of human rights issues through art and film. It showcases 43 of the most powerful, thought provoking and moving human rights feature films.

Good Fortune asks the question 'do international efforts to alleviate poverty in Africa actually benefit the communities they seek to help?' Landen Van Soest and Jeremy Levine follow the struggles of two courageous families in Kenya who confront large development projects that threaten their livelihood and their homes.To learn more about the issues we've raised, visit the Global Poverty Projevct Info- Bank.

Posted by GPP Australia - Renee Carr in Poverty, Aid, Global Health, Education, Hunger, Technology, Corruption & Governance, Enterprise & Trade, Women & Gender, Fairtrade & Ethical Purchasing, Water & Sanitation, Environment & Climate, What Can I Do?, Polio for column Action Stories on Apr 21st 2010, 21:02
Comments: 13 | Post a Comment

Comments

22/04/10 9:32am - Posted By Katherine griffin - Reply to this comment
Happiness Heath and Love
22/04/10 11:12am - Posted By Nina Collins - Reply to this comment
Dignity: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."

But there is a little freedom or dignity when you are struggling to feed yourself and your children every day and dealing with violence, sickness and a lack of the most basic of human necessities.
22/04/10 11:49am - Posted By Grace Gown - Reply to this comment
Education: Information gives people the ability to empower themselves and to change their own situation. Sustainable information allows generations of people to make a positive impact upon their own lives.
22/04/10 12:44pm - Posted By Phuong Phan - Reply to this comment
Everyone needs to be treated fairly and equally in terms of opportunity under a clear and transparent legal system regardless of their religions, gender or where they come from. They need to have their choices repected in term of political, social, economical and cultural perspectives. People are born to be treated like that.

And it is their governments' responsibilities to moderate all of their residents' needs, which is also the basic function of a government.
22/04/10 1:03pm - Posted By Nicolette - Reply to this comment
The right to life, freedom and to rights
22/04/10 1:56pm - Posted By Tam - Reply to this comment
I think all people have the right to feel safe. They should not be afraid of drinking water. They should not be afraid of violence. They should certainly not be afraid of their own government. They should not be afraid of measles or mosquitoes or having a baby.

If a government could take care of their people, so that their water was safe, their police were just, and their health was a priority, the poorest people in the world could have a much better life.
26/04/10 8:40pm - Posted By Azlina - Reply to this comment
The right to free speech
26/04/10 8:40pm - Posted By Emma - Reply to this comment
a voice
26/04/10 9:17pm - Posted By Amy Rorke - Reply to this comment
I believe the fundamental need is fertile land. With that, people can be in a position to not only supply food to their family but make an income that will then allow for expenses such as adequate shelter, education, healthcare and childbirth, legal rights and an ability to progress forward.

When developers, governments, mining companies and the like claim land and displace people, they take away the ability for people to provide for themselves - effectively taking away their future.
26/04/10 9:19pm - Posted By Jasmine - Reply to this comment
The right to speak... and be heard!!
26/04/10 9:30pm - Posted By Stacey - Reply to this comment
So tough! I am tossing up between 2 things - the right to an Education and the right to Love.

Everyone should have the right to an education.
Education = Knowledge.
Knowledge = Empowerment.
Without even a basic education people are disadvantaged in so many ways. Imagine not being able to read, not being able to process news or information, not being able to resist being taken advantage of, not being able to see a bigger picture? Those who cannot read or write are either exploited by those who can or must turn to less desirable ways to earn a living; crime or prostitution. An education would mean a level playing field for all....think of the possibilities for the ideas, inventions and information that lie untapped in uneducation minds....

Seondly, everyone should have the right to feel loved.
If everyone in this world felt truly loved, cherished, respected and understood there would be no need for materialism and ridiculous consumerism, no need to prove yourself, no need to crush and destroy everyone around you, no need to go to war. If we could all know what it is to be truly loved and in turn love others in return, the poverty, despair and hopelessness felt by so many would no longer exist.....
In an ideal world....ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE
26/04/10 9:31pm - Posted By John - Reply to this comment
Hope. Hope for a future without the suffering of today. Hope for a world in which every human being is free to be what he or she wants to be, without the constraints of deprivation or fear; in which they have access to adequate nutrition, shelter, healthcare, and education; in which human rights are truly a right, and no longer a privilege enjoyed only by some. Hope for what will be possible for the generations to come. Hope for 1.4 billion of our fellow mankind. Hope for humanity. Whilst the word may not appear in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or be frequently spoken by those involved in the broader human rights discourse, surely hope is at the heart of everything we believe in and set out to achieve. Without it, we have nothing.
03/05/10 4:45pm - Posted By The Global Poverty Project - Reply to this comment
Thanks so much for all your comments, you have all highlighted the really important point - that there is a really stong link between human rights and extreme poverty.

We have drawn a winner from the above entries, and are pleased to announce that John has won the double pass to Good Fortune!

Thank you to everybody who contributed to this discussion - we love to hear your thoughts and hope you'll keep contributing to these conversations by commenting on our blogs!

Add Comment

Your Name:

Your Email (Not Displayed):

Please enter the code in the image into the box

Code:


Can't read the image? Reload
Back to All Blogs