A report by Erum Dahar, Ruth Reid and Benjamin Ryder AFI Changemakers August 2016
Recognition Before beginning the discussion, it is necessary to lay out the structure of human rights. Firstly, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognises two distinct sets of human rights - namely, civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights. The United Nations (“UN”) adopted two International Covenants containing these rights, thereby transforming the provisions of the Declaration into legally binding obligations. In addition to exploring the relationship between the rights encompassed within the Covenants, this particular section will focus on the issues relating to economic, social and cultural rights, as they are inextricably linked to the prevalence of poverty. Moreover, although there are contrasting views on poverty as a violation of human rights, AFI Changemakers will adopt the position that poverty should be seen as a distinct violation of specific rights for the purposes of this report. (Campbell, 2003) The official status of the Covenants, which dates back to the Universal Declaration and has been reiterated in countless resolutions thereafter, is that the two covenants and sets of rights are, in the words adopted by the 1993 Second World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, ‘universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated. The international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing, and with the same emphasis.’ (Vienna Declaration, para. 5). Contrary to this formal status, which was reaffirmed by the UN General Assembly in its 2005 resolution creating the Human Rights Council (“HRC”), disagreement exists over the appropriate status of economic, social and cultural rights. One of the arguably extreme views within this debate is that economic, social and cultural rights (‘ESR’) do not constitute rights at all; (Alston, 2008) treating them as rights poses a risk to the enjoyment of individual freedom, inhibits the operation of free markets by encouraging large-scale state intervention in the economy, and even serves to reduce the importance of civil and political rights. (Alston, 2008) AFI Changemakers observed that many Member States at the Human Rights Council adopted a clear stance on ESR. The general position taken by such states was that ESR is of equal importance to Civil and Political Rights, and they expressed support for them. In addition to expressing support for ESR, many developing states also called for the adoption of legislative provisions based clearly on the recognition of specific ESR as international human rights, as well as the creation of effective means of remedy and redress to individuals or groups alleging violations of these rights, which is particularly important for vulnerable groups. These
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