Povertà e minori: il ruolo (attuale e potenziale) della Carta sociale europea

The relationship between poverty and the international protection of human rights is both complex and contentious, reflecting a broader, persistent tension between the recognition of economic and social rights—formally enshrined in various international treaties at both global and regional levels—and the practical limitations in their enforcement and justiciability. Poverty thus poses one of the most urgent challenges to the foundational promise of human rights, which are guaranteed to every individual “without distinction of any kind, such as […] social origin […] or other status” (Art. 2, UDHR). While this challenge clearly applies to the protection of any individual living in a state of temporary or chronic poverty, it becomes even more intricate when poverty is compounded by additional layers of vulnerability, such as childhood. In this context, the present paper begins with a brief theoretical analysis of the current international legal framework addressing child poverty, before focusing on the role of the European Social Charter, as interpreted by the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR). Furthermore, the analysis aims to explore the relationship between the ECSR’s interpretation of these rights and the obligations imposed on States and other international organizations by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). In fact, the CRC remains the most widely ratified treaty in history, and adherence to its core principles is a necessary precondition for achieving one of the key targets of the first Sustainable Development Goal in the 2030 Agenda: “[…] ensure that all men and women, particularly the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resourc