Exchange Forum - A Discussion with Irene Khan

February 25th 2010

Irene Khan, who recently left Amnesty International after eight-and-a-half years as its secretary general, outlined her vision of demanding dignity and protecting the rights of the poor, in a wide-ranging conversation at the second Exchange Forum hosted by the Institute for Human Rights and Business in London on Feb 22.

Khan, who is on the advisory board of the Institute, published The Unheard Truth last year.

Jeremy Hobbs, executive director of Oxfam International, who chaired and moderated the discussion, underlined the book’s central message – global poverty is a human rights crisis. Taking note of Amnesty International’s widened mandate from civil and political rights to economic, social and cultural rights during Khan’s tenure, Hobbs showed how Oxfam, which began as a development agency, had moved towards rights-based development approaches, and adopted the language of human rights.

"This book provides the narrative of how to get there, and proves that the sterile debate over rights and poverty is over," Hobbs said. Certain questions remained, he noted, such as the effectiveness of the language of rights, in reminding the state of its obligations, and the role of business.

Khan noted the twin failures of States and markets in addressing poverty, and said in her book she wanted to focus on rights and constraints on power. It is important to demand accountability from those with power, and equally important to demand dignity and empowerment of those who lack power. And the poor lack the power in every sense. The book emphasised the indivisibility of rights, an issue that got distracted by the cold war divide.

Among the issues the audience raised were the mandate of Professor John Ruggie, the Special Representative for business and human rights, extraterritoriality of laws, state jurisdiction, the "cost" of realising economic, social, and cultural rights, differing responses of different sectors, and what the effective drivers are, for spurring corporate behaviour.

Listen to a podcast of the entire discussion online:

Clip duration: 1h:31:25

Download audio file by right-clicking the link below and choose "Save Target As" (or "Save Link As"):