Human rights don’t disappear the moment an earthquake, a hurricane or a tsunami strikes. We witnessed after the Indian Ocean tsunami, the earthquake in Haiti and many other disaster situations that during relief and recovery efforts the protection of human rights gains in importance as it can safeguard the dignity of those affected. – United Nations Inter-Agency Standing Committee (2011) Operational Guidelines on the Protection of Persons in Situations of Natural Disasters
The Canterbury earthquakes have created human rights challenges on a scale seldom seen in New Zealand, particularly in relation to the right to adequate housing. They have also created challenges to the realisation of other basic human rights such as the right to health, the right to property, the right to education, and civil and democratic rights. This report examines the human rights challenges that have emerged during the recovery, and calls for human rights standards to be the essential foundation for a fair and just recovery. There have been many positive responses, but continuing to respond to the on-going human rights challenges is a key part of the recovery process.
Purpose
Monitoring Human Rights in the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery reports on the human rights aspects of the Canterbury recovery. It focuses on the Canterbury earthquakes to raise awareness and understanding of the relevance of human rights in disaster contexts, and more generally in New Zealand. Through a primary focus on housing, it examines the impact of the earthquakes on interrelated human rights standards relating to health, accessibility, democratic rights and the role of the public and private sectors in giving full effect to these rights.
A core purpose of this report is to encourage influencers and decision-makers to apply a human rights approach to the recovery. This can be achieved by putting human rights principles at the centre of decision-making in civil emergencies, and more broadly, at the centre of the shaping of social, economic and development policy. The experience in Canterbury shows this is a way to reach better decisions for everyone, as well as better services both in the private and public sectors.