Center for Economic and Social Rights

Overview

The Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) is an international human rights organization that functions primarily as a research and advocacy nonprofit in the area of economic and social rights. The CESR prides itself on seeking "social justice through human rights" by carrying out projects for economic and social rights in collaboration with other national and international organizations as well as local human rights advocates and activists in countries of operation. In order to assure compliance with international human rights standards, the CESR utilizes an interdisciplinary approach of legal and socioeconomic analysis to advocate issues and monitor, expose and hold governments accountable for violations in addition to providing the resources and legal documents to do so.

Official Mission Statement

The official mission of the CESR is "to work for the recognition and enforcement of economic and social rights as a powerful tool for promoting social justice and human dignity."

Board

The CESR maintains a very international board that contributes to its very international outlook. Current (2010) members of the board of directors are:, Geoff Budlender of South Africa, Linda Cassano of the United States, Manuel Jose Cepeda of Colombia, Sakiko Fukuda-Parr of Japan, Richard Goldstone of South Africa, Chris Jochnick, Irene Khan of Bangladesh, Elizabeth McCormack of the United States, Carin Norberg of Sweden and Alicia Ely Yamin of the United States and the honorary board member Phillip Alston of Australia.

History

The CESR was founded in 1993 by Roger Normand, Sarah Zaidi and Chris Jochnik and it was the first organization created to focus exclusively on economic, social and cultural rights. The CESR was established with the aim of bringing the human rights community back to its roots in the belief of the interdependence of all human rights established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights founded in 1948. This was significant in the midst of great violations and denials of economic and social rights in the world that were given far less attention and urgency than those of civil and political rights. The organization has continued to carry out this same vision since its creation yet it has evolved its strategies to adapt and meet the consistent transformations and evolution in the field of human rights as well as world issues at large. In the years from 1993 to 1996, the CESR mainly focused on research and advocacy projects to prove the importance of economic and social rights and convened a series of discussions and workshops with human rights, development and social justice groups to challenge the conceptual issues stating economic and social rights were not a fundamental and equal component of the human rights framework . The organization also launched a project on health and the environment in Equador. Between 1997 to 2000, the CESR established and strengthened projects in the United States, Latin America and the Middle East. This was also a significant period of strengthening the organization itself through extreme networking , consultations and coalition-building with many local groups and large organizations such as Amnesty International, CARE, Oxfam International, etc. From 1998 to 2004, CESR extended its projects and areas of operations. It also expanded its functions to not only research and advocacy for economic and social rights but also carried out strategy-sharing and consulting and solidarity development functions. Yet, perhaps the most important transformation of the organization occurred between 2004 and 2008. In 2004, Eitan Felner became the new executive director of the CESR and put into effect a series of rights monitoring techniques for the organization to use and teach to others in order to bring about more concrete changes. The CESR also narrowed its actions to focus on more country specific projects. In November of 2008, Eitan Felner stepped down as executive director and was replaced with Ignacio Saiz, current executive director, in 2009.

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. [9] 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. These rights include, but are not limited to, the right to work, the just and favorable conditions of work, the right to form and join trade unions, the right to an adequate standard of living, and the rights to food, adequate housing, health and education. 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. Internationally, the CESR also works to pressure states to fulfill their Millennium Development Goals.

Focus Issues and Countries

Focus issues include the rights to education, health, food and nutrition, work and labor, water, housing as well as the intersection of poverty and public policy. Current and former focus countries include Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Cambodia, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Egypt, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Iraq, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Peru and the United States.

Notably, in a case brought by CESR and the Nigerian-based Social and Economic Rights Action Center, the Nigerian government was found guilty in 2002 by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights of economic, social and cultural rights violations against the Ogoni people, in connection with state violence and abuses around oil development in the Niger Delta. The Nigerian government and the Royal Dutch Shell oil company were named in the petition.

In November 2009, EFE and the Associated Press reported that CESR had published a report charging that by failing to implement a fair and progressive tax policy, the Guatemalan state systematically violates the economic and social rights of its citizens.

References

<ref>[King, Jeffrey."An Activist's Manual on the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights." Law and Society Trust: March 2003.]

External links

• Center for Economic and Social Rights website
• SourceWatch listing on CESR
• ESCR-Net listing on CESR
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights