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Economic, social and cultural rights, (ESCR) are
socio-economic Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their loc ...
human rights, such as the right to education, right to housing, right to an adequate standard of living, right to health, victims' rights and the right to science and culture. Economic, social and cultural rights are recognised and
protected Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...
in international and regional human rights instruments. Member states have a legal obligation to respect, protect and fulfil economic, social and cultural rights and are expected to take "''progressive action''" towards their fulfilment. The Universal Declaration on Human Rights recognises a number of economic, social and cultural rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) is the primary international legal source of economic, social and cultural rights. The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women recognises and protects many of the economic, social and cultural rights recognised in the ICESCR in relation to children and women. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination prohibits discrimination on the basis of racial or ethnic origin in relation to a number of economic, social and cultural rights. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities also prohibits all discrimination on the basis of the
disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...
including refusal of the reasonable accommodation relating to full enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights.


International and regional human rights instruments

Economic, social and cultural rights are recognized and
protected Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...
in a number of international and regional human rights instruments.


International human rights instruments

The Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the
UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
in 1948, is one of the most important sources of economic, social and cultural rights. It recognizes the right to social security in Article 22, the right to work in Article 23, the right to rest and leisure in Article 24, the right to an adequate standard of living in Article 25, the right to education in Article 26, and the right to benefits of science and culture in Article 27. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) is the primary international legal source of economic, social and cultural rights. The Covenant recognized and protects the right to work and to just and favorable working conditions in Article 6 and 7, the right to join trade unions and take collective labor action in Article 8, the right to social security in Article 9, the right to protection of the family, including protection for mothers and children, in Article 10, the right to an adequate standard of living, including the
right to food The right to food, and its variations, is a human right protecting the right of people to feed themselves in dignity, implying that sufficient food is available, that people have the means to access it, and that it adequately meets the individual ...
and the right to housing, in Article 11, the right to health in Article 12, the right to education in Article 13, as well as the right to participate in cultural life and the right to benefits of science and culture in Article 15. The
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, fre ...
, adopted at the same time as the ICESCR, recognizes and protects a number of core economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to join trade unions in Article 22, and the right of ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities to engage in their culture, practice their religion and use their language in Article 27. A number of other major international human rights instruments contain provisions relating to economic, social and cultural rights. The Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes and protects many of the economic, social and cultural rights recognized in the ICESCR in relation to children. Including the right to health in Article 24, the right to social security in Article 25, the right to an adequate standard of living in Article 27, the right to education in Article 28, and the right to protection from economic exploitation (see child labour) in Article 32. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination prohibits discrimination on the basis of racial or ethnic origin in relation to a number of economic, social and cultural rights. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women affirms a range of economic, social and cultural rights to women. The ILO Conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) protect a range of work related economic, social and cultural rights. Common global standards were agreed by some 195 states in the Recommendation on Science and Scientific protect and reassert scientific freedoms, the rights of scientists, and rights of research subjects, and the right of everyone to science.


Regional human rights instruments

The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights protects the right to work in Article 15, the right to health in Article 16, and the right to education in Article 17. The European Social Charter protects a wide range of economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to work, to favourable working conditions, the right to join trade unions and to take collective labour action in Article 1 to 10, the right to health in Article 11, the right to social security, including the right to medical assistance and the right to social welfare services, in Article 12 to 14, protection of especially vulnerable groups are enshrined in Article 15 to 17 and 19, and right to housing in Article 31. The Protocol of San Salvador protects a range of economic, social and cultural rights within the Inter-American human rights system.


Secondary legal sources

A range of secondary legal sources exist on economic, social and cultural rights which provide guidance on their normative definition. An important secondary legal source is the
United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) is a United Nations is a 18-member Committee, entrusted with overseeing implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). It meets (usually t ...
which is overseeing the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The Committee has been central in developing the normative definition of key economic, social and cultural rights, interpreting the role of State Parties to the ICESCR, and monitoring protection and violation of the ICESCR rights. The Committee issues guiding pronouncements in the form of ''general comments'', and other human rights treaty bodies may also issue comments relevant to economic, social and cultural rights. Other important secondary legal sources on economic, social and cultural rights are the Limburg Principles on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1987 and the Maastricht Guidelines on Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1997. The Limburg Principles have been extensively used in national legal systems as an interpretive tool for establishing violations of economic, social and cultural rights. The Maastricht Guidelines build on the Limburg Principles and identify the legal implications of acts and omissions which are violations of economic, social and cultural rights. Various United Nations Special Rapporteurs have influenced the normative development of economic, social and cultural rights. Appointed by the Commission on Human Rights and its sub-commissions, key rapporteurs include the Special Rapporteur on the Realization of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, the Special Rapporteur on the Right to
Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
, and the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women.


National constitutions

A number of national constitutions recognize economic, social and cultural rights. For example, the 1996 Constitution of South Africa includes economic, social and cultural rights and the
South African Constitutional Court The Constitutional Court of South Africa is a supreme constitutional court established by the Constitution of South Africa, and is the apex court in the South African judicial system, with general jurisdiction. The Court was first establishe ...
has heard claims under these obligations (see ''Grootboom'' and '' Treatment Action Campaign'' cases). India's constitution, which does not explicitly recognize economic and social rights in their constitution, has nonetheless found that these rights exist, though unenumerated, inferable from the right to life. Constitutional recognition of economic, social and cultural rights has long been thought to be counterproductive, given that courts might be tasked to
adjudicate Adjudication is the legal process by which an arbiter or judge reviews evidence and argumentation, including legal reasoning set forth by opposing parties or litigants, to come to a decision which determines rights and obligations between the pa ...
them, and hence disrupt the democratic chains of accountability of the so-called elected branches. Nonetheless, a growing literature from the Global South has tracked very different judicial responses. Sympathetic critics argue that socio-economic rights appear ‘quite negligible’ factors in terms of ensuring overall human development.Hirschl, Ran and Evan Rosevear, ‘Constitutional Law Meets Comparative Politics: Socio-economic Rights and Political Realities’ in Tom Campbell, K. D. Ewing, and Adam Tomkins (eds.), 2011, The Legal Protection of Human Rights: Sceptical Essays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 207–28, pp. 213, 223. Contemporary welfare states tend to emphasize
decommodification In political economy, decommodification is the strength of social entitlements and citizens' degree of immunization from market dependency. In regards to the labor force, decommodification describes a "degree to which individual, or families, can ...
, general welfare and the common good, not rights. Sweden, Finland, and Denmark, for example, adhere to a comparatively robust welfare effort, built primarily through social democratic parties and trade union mobilisation, without relying on judicial review of socio-economic rights. Nonetheless, majoritarian political arenas such as parliaments and trade union structures may remain unresponsive to minorities. The gains won through litigation, modest though they may be, can nonetheless be of value for those who benefit from them. Civil society movements have advanced alternative institutions, norms and practices for constitution-making and making socio-economic rights effective. Participants in recent constitution-making experiments in
Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...
, Bolivia and Ecuador have all linked economic and social rights to new institutional arrangements such as participatory budgeting or technologically-enhanced direct democracy as well as to new norms and discourses, notably those concerning ecological stewardship and the commons as well as care and social reproduction. In
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
, social movements such as the ‘ Right2Water’ and ‘ Repeal the 8th’ campaigns have demonstrated how highly networked individuals and communities can mobilise both alongside and outside of traditional institutions, act collectively, and advance economic, social and cultural rights.


State responsibility

Economic, social and cultural right enshrined in international and regional human rights instruments are legally binding. Member states have a legal obligation to respect, protect and fulfil these rights. The exact nature of states' obligations in this respect has been established principally in relation to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and further
Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is an international treaty establishing complaint and inquiry mechanisms for the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It was a ...
has been established in accordance with Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. State parties to the ICESCR are required to take "progressive action" towards fulfilment of the ICESR rights. While immediate fulfilment may not be possible due to the economic situation of a country, postponement of proactive action is not permitted. State parties must show genuine efforts to secure the economic, social and cultural rights enshrined in the ICESCR. The burden of proof for progressive action is considered on be with the state party. The prohibition on discrimination in relation to economic, social and cultural rights is regarded as having immediate effect. State parties must abolish laws, policies and practices which affect the equal enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights and take action to prevent discrimination in public life. All state parties, regardless of the economic situation in the country or resource scarcity, are required to ensure respect for minimum subsistence rights for all. State parties must also ensure that available resources are accessed and used equitably. Therefore, government decisions on how to allocate resources should be subject to scrutiny. Legislative measures alone are not sufficient to ensure compliance with the ICESCR and state parties are expected to provide judicial remedies in addition to taking administrative, financial, educational and social measures.


Monitoring, enforcement and implementation framework

Intergovernmental organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have persistently neglected economic, social and cultural rights over the past 50 years. While all human rights are said to be "equal, indivisible, interrelated, and interdependent", the monitoring, enforcement and implementation framework for economic, social and cultural rights is less advanced than that for
civil and political rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...
. International enforcement mechanisms are strongest for civil and political rights, and their violation is considered more serious than that of economic, social and cultural rights. There are few international NGOs that focus on economic, social and cultural rights and there are few lawyers who have the knowledge or experience to defend economic, social and cultural rights at a national or international level. Economic, social and cultural rights are less likely than civil and political rights to be protected in national constitutions. In 2008, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the
Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is an international treaty establishing complaint and inquiry mechanisms for the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It was a ...
, which gives the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights competence to receive and consider communications from individuals claiming that their rights under the Covenant have been violated by a state party. The Protocol entered into force on 5 May 2013. In 2017, for the common global standards in the Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers relating to the right to science, states agreed at the UNESCO General Conference to adopt four-yearly reporting on implementation, and agreed that UNESCO's Executive Board is competent to manage monitoring, with the networks of UNESCO National Commissions and academic partners mobilized in countries to ensure implementation and monitoring at country level. For the other major international human rights conventions mentioned above there are various other treaty bodies to ensure some monitoring of implementation. And each may transmit to the Human Rights Council reports of individual cases when a state is the subject of a Universal Periodic Review.


Education is a human right

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
is guaranteed as a human right in many human rights treaties, including: Material was copied from this source, which is available under
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
license.
* The Convention against Discrimination in Education(1960, CADE). * The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights(1966, ICESCR). * The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979, CEDAW). * The Convention on the Rights of the Child(1989, CRC). The right to education places the individual at the centre of education frameworks. Education as a human right has the following characteristics: * It is a right; Education is not a privilege or subject to political or charitable whims. It is a human right. It places mandatory demands on duty-bearers (particularly the state, but also parents, children, and other actors). * It is universal; Everyone has the right to education without discrimination. This includes children, adolescents, youths, adults, and
older people Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...
. * It is high priority; Education is a key priority of the state. Obligations to ensure the right to education cannot be dismissed. * It is a key right; Education is instrumental in ensuring all other human rights. It has economic, social, cultural, civil, and
political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...
dimensions. The right to education places legal obligations on states when they make decisions regarding education and the education system. It offers an internationally agreed normative framework for the standards that states must not fall beneath concerning the education of its citizens and non-citizens. These standards define what states must do and avoid doing in order to ensure the dignity of the individual. The right to education is broad and covers many aspects of education. This means that for the specific areas related to education, states must act within the boundaries permitted under international human rights law (IHRL). The main aspects of
education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
are: * The aims of education. * Non-discrimination and equality in the education system. * Free and compulsory universal primary education. * Available and accessible, free education at the secondary level, including vocational education. * Accessible (on the basis of capacity), free education at the tertiary level. * Fundamental education for those who have not received all or part of their primary education. * Maintenance of an education system at all levels. * Provision of a fellowship system. * The training of teachers, their status, and their working conditions. * Educational freedom, that is, the freedom of parents to have their children educated in accordance with their religious and moral convictions. * The freedom of individuals and organizations to set-up private schools. * quality education, including setting minimum standards regarding infrastructure and human rights education * safe and non-violent learning environments * the allocation of adequate resources * academic freedom at all levels of education * the settings and contents of the
curriculum In education, a curriculum (; plural, : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to ...
. * Transparent and accountable education systems.


Advocacy

Networking groups such as ESCR-Net are working to create online resources and spread information about effective cases, initiatives, and working groups promoting ideals and celebrating victories of human rights initiatives and the
Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is an international treaty establishing complaint and inquiry mechanisms for the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It was a ...
. Currently, human rights advocacy groups are working diligently to fine-tune rules, regulations and implementation schemes; little news of complaint successes or failures is available. The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions ( COHRE) has helped to establish the Housing and Property Directorate (HPD/HPCC) in Kosovo.


Theory of rights

According to
Karel Vasak Karel Vasak or Karel Vašák (26 June 1929 – 1 May 2015) was a Czech- French international official and university professor. Vasak was born in Czechoslovakia and later moved to France to study law. He decided to remain there after the Communist ...
's theory of three generations of human rights, economic, social and cultural rights are considered second-generation rights, while
civil and political rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...
, such as freedom of speech, right to a fair trial, and the right to vote, are considered first-generation rights.Karel Vasak, "Human Rights: A Thirty-Year Struggle: the Sustained Efforts to give Force of law to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights", ''UNESCO Courier'' 30:11, Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, November 1977. The theory of negative and positive rights considers economic, social and cultural rights
positive rights Negative and positive rights are rights that oblige either inaction (''negative rights'') or action (''positive rights''). These obligations may be of either a legal or moral character. The notion of positive and negative rights may also be a ...
.
Social rights Economic, social and cultural rights, (ESCR) are socio-economic human rights, such as the right to education, right to housing, right to an adequate standard of living, right to health, victims' rights and the right to science and culture. Econo ...
are "rights to the meeting of basic needs that are essential for human welfare." Examples of social rights include the right to healthcare and the right to decent working conditions.


See also

* Constitutionalism * Constitutional economics * Rule according to higher law * Cultural rights * Human rights inflation * Human security * International labour standard * Millennium Development Goals * Social responsibility *
Social rights Economic, social and cultural rights, (ESCR) are socio-economic human rights, such as the right to education, right to housing, right to an adequate standard of living, right to health, victims' rights and the right to science and culture. Econo ...
* Three generations of human rights *
Welfare rights Welfare rights means the rights of people to be aware of and receive their maximum entitlement to state welfare benefits, and to be treated reasonably well by the welfare system. It has been established in the United Kingdom since 1969 and has al ...
* Right to education * Education for justice


References


Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Economic, Social And Cultural Rights Rights