The straining effects of energy poverty on human dignity:
The severe impact of energy poverty as outlined here does not only pose hardships on current and future generations but also seriously harms human dignity for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states the following:
- Article 23: Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. […]
- Article 25: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health
and well-being of himself and of his family, […].- Article 26: Everyone has the right to education […].” [18]
Malawians don´t find work because companies scale down as a result of regular power outages, whole families suffers lung diseases due to indoor air pollution and kids have to collect firewood instead of going to school. These are just a few cases in which energy poverty is the reason why the three mentioned human rights are not met.
It is crucial for the fulfillment of human rights, for the wellbeing of the current and future generations and for the development of Malawi that people take action to fight the energy crisis on both household, community and constitutional level. Have a look around on Mphamvu-now and find out what you can do!