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PRIORITYMEASURE1
“Reinforce the public policies and actions needed to eradicate poverty andbreak the cycles of exclusion and inequality
as a condition for achievingdevelopment in the region.”
Comments
Poverty in all its manifestations represents, in and of itself, a denial of rights, and eradicating poverty is a moral imperative for the region
which governments must assume. The objective of reducing poverty also relates to the role that the factors of population dynamics play in
policies designed to break the cycles of poverty and exclusion. Not only is this the first measure called for in theMontevideoConsensus on
Population andDevelopment, it is also the first objective of the sustainable development goals, to “end poverty in all its forms everywhere”.
The call toput an end to all forms of discrimination is repeated throughout theConsensus for various groups that have suffered exclusion and
denial of their rights. This call to break the cycles of exclusion and inequality can also be found in SDG 10, “reduce inequality within and
among countries”. While progress in reducing poverty is modest in all countries of the region, and will be subject tomonitoring under the
SDGs, there has been some forwardmovement in LatinAmerica and the Caribbean in breaking the cycles of exclusion and inequality, but
bettermeasurement tools are needed. Accordingly, it is necessary to continue reviewingmethodologies formeasure poverty and inequality in
order to capture the complexity andnational specificities of the issue.Aswell, knowledgeof the roleof populationdynamics in terms of these
goals is not sufficientlydeveloped, disseminatedor appreciatedon thepart of publicpolicymakers.
PRIORITYMEASURE2
“Apply ahuman rights approachwitha gender and intercultural perspective in addressing population anddevelopment issues, and step up efforts
to recognize, promote and uphold relevant goals in order to eliminate inequalities and foster social inclusion.”
Comments
The second priority measure presents a guiding principle for population and development policies—the importance of a human rights
approachwith a gender and intercultural perspective— and it is closely linkedwith the first measure. The rights approach holds that the
international rights framework is accepted and offers a coherent system of principles and rules in the development area. Consequently, it
is important that population policies should adopt this approach, as well as the gender and cultural diversity perspective. This approach
constitutes the basis for actions designed to break the cycles of exclusion and inequality, in which the multiple dimensions of social
exclusion must be considered, such as those that affect victims of violence, migrants and displaced persons, people with special
capabilities, people subject to geographical and generational stigmatization, and those facing discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity
or sexual orientation.
The human rights approach is reflected in a crosscuttingmanner in all chapters of theConsensus, for which reason it is suggested that the
second prioritymeasure shouldbemonitored against the specific lines of action, targets and indicators listed inother chapters.
