User:Maria cuse/Sandbox

I am a senior International Relations and Geography major at Syracuse University.

Economic and Social Rights

International Law

Established and adopted in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." The UDHR, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and its two optional protocols, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and its optional protocols form what is known as the International Bill of Human Rights. [3] The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was adopted on December 16, 1966 and entered into force in 1976. Its implementation and adherence by State participants is monitored by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), a body of eighteen international experts established in 1985 and regulated by the United Nations Economic and Social Council or ECOSOC.

Evolution and Validity of Economic and Social Rights

Economic and social rights are considered the second wave of rights behind civil and political rights. It is argued by many scholars that economic and social rights originally started to evolve out of the industrialization of countries and the growth of a working class that began to mobilize and demand worker rights. Economic and social hardship and recognition continued to grow and become apparent in the later years following World War I and II, the Cold War, the Great Depression and significantly today, with the expansion of capitalism and development, typically of "third world" countries. Although the UDHR of 1948 includes economic and social rights in Articles 22-27, civil and political rights are the main focus of the document. It is suggested that this lack of original representation in the UDHR is due to a lack of consensus on what economic and social rights are, their universality and their validity in international law. The creation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights was also met with much criticism surrounding the implementation of these rights into international law. First, critics argued, and some still exist today, that economic and social rights could not and should not be put into international law because they were incapable of being assessed by a court of law. Second, critics state that economic and social rights suffer from an inability to be immediately implemented. Finally, critics argue that unlike civil and political rights that can be more easily provided, economic and social rights require much positive action significantly with resources and time. Yet, although the debate on the validity of economic and social rights is still present, the existence and status of economic and social rights in international law has been consolidated and is unquestionable. It is now consistently stressed in international human rights law, though not always enforced in practice by states, that economic, social and cultural rights are indivisible from civil and political rights whereby one right cannot be enjoyed without the others. Most importantly, the world will only continue to move into an era of globalization and development that will put economic and social rights at the forefront of international and national law.

Public Policy

The Center for Economic and Social Rights seeks to affect and change public policy concerning economic and social rights and international human rights law, in general through its research and advocacy. The CESR has contributed numerous newsletters, country fact sheets, thematic issue publications, country specific publications and official UN submissions. They have also created a library of publications and resources concerning all areas of international human rights and developed a set of tools and resources for monitoring economic and social rights and dealing with its denials and violations. In addition to their efforts to educate the general public, groups, organizations and governments, their networking and coalition building as also allowed the CESR to work towards public policy change through political pressure, significantly through exposure of denials and violations of economic and social rights and working towards holding governments and non-state actors accountable for these rights. In particular, the CESR has worked extensively in the United States since 1998 to address the United States' opposition of and lack of ratification of the ICESR and consequently, its extreme lack of achievement in economic and social rights, one of the worst records of all high-income countries in the world. The CESR, in addition to educational and political pressure measures, has even requested the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights of the United Nations to specifically evaluate the economic and social rights violations of the UNited States before the Universal Periodic Review, adding significant international pressure on the State.