VI-d. Rights as Goals
Many social programs define their tasks in terms of the services they provide, that is, in terms of the "inputs" they deliver to their clients, such as inoculations, subsidies, school meals, drinking water, etc. They often leave the ultimate goal unspecified, and thus function as if they expect to continue the same activity eternally, with no real abatement of the problems they claim to address. Often social programs can be made more effective if there are clear outcomes or goals guiding their actions. The purpose of providing school lunches, for example, should not be simply to provide school lunches. Presumably the objective is to obtain better outcomes in terms of, say, health status, school attendance, and school performance. In dealing with Vitamin A deficiency, the goal is not to deliver Vitamin A capsules to everyone; it is to eliminate Vitamin A deficiency. Goals should be plainly articulated.
The entitlements corresponding to specific human rights can be described either in terms of inputs delivered to clients or in terms of desired outcomes, results, or targets that constitute steps toward the achievement of particular goals. Rights to specific inputs and rights to specific outcomes are the counterparts to what are described in human rights discourse as "obligations of conduct" and "obligations of result". The formulation of goal-oriented rights can be illustrated with reference to children's human rights to food and nutrition.
Earlier, in Subsection IV-b, we described the concrete goals in relation to nutrition that had been set out at the World Summit for Children in 1990, and subsequently endorsed by many other bodies. Unfortunately, few countries have achieved the goal of reducing severe and moderate malnutrition to half the1990 level by the year 2000. Nevertheless, the basic form of the language of those goals can be retained, with a fresh start and a new commitment. For example, any nation could reasonably take as its primary nutrition goal the reduction of severe and moderate malnutrition among under-5 children by half over the next ten years.
Imagine that a country's commitment to the goal of the reduction of severe and moderate malnutrition among under-5 children by half over the next ten years is so serious that it is willing to assure its citizens that they had a right to its achievement. Imagine that its government was willing to take on the achievement of this goal as a real obligation, one on which it could be called to account for its performance. What would this imply? A substantial planning effort and commitment of resources would have to be made to achieve the specified reduction of malnutrition within the stated time frame. These commitments could be made through appropriate national law.
Of course it may be that the goal just outlined is too demanding, and the government is not able to make such a broad commitment because of its resource constraints. Other formulations could be substituted. For example, the government might be willing to make a strong commitment only if it was limited to children under three years of age, or only if it was limited to severe malnutrition, or only if it had twelve years to achieve the goal. The specifics are open to discussion. The point is that, whatever the details of its formulation, one way to interpret nutrition rights is in terms of a firm legal commitment to a specific nutrition goal. Rights can be defined in terms of the direction in which individuals and the society as a whole are heading.
Thus, if people have a right to good nutrition, countries must have the goal of assuring that all people are well nourished. The goal should be used as the basis for designing a specific goal-directed strategic program of action. The goal and the strategy should be outlined in the law. One major element of the strategy would be the establishment of specific intermediate targets, typically in terms of particular levels to be reached on specified indicators by definite dates. For example, the government might say that it will reduce the proportion of malnourished children in its population by ten percent within one year, and twenty-five percent within two years. In this approach, the process of realizing rights is pursuing a strategy to reach a goal.
Human rights can be understood as expressions of global goals: there should be no slavery, no discrimination, no genocide, no hunger, etc. When countries ratify international agreements, they make commitments with regard to pursuing these goals for their own countries. At global, regional, national, or subnational levels, the strategy for moving toward achievement of these goals can be based on the explicit formulation of intermediate goals or targets, e.g., reducing discrimination or hunger or pollution by a certain degree by a certain date. Strategic planning and resource allocation need to be guided by plausible, concrete objectives.
Whether in service-oriented or goal-oriented programs, careful attention should be given to the process through which rights are realized. The rights holders should not be treated as passive beneficiaries of a government-directed program, but should be fully engaged, with high levels of participation, community ownership, sustainability, and empowerment (Jonsson 1997).
Continue to VI-e. Rights Imply Entitlements
Subsection VI-d last updated on October 27, 1999