Economic and Social Rights in India and Bolivia Scrutinized in New CESR Fact Sheets

These fact sheets are intended to contribute to ongoing monitoring work to hold states accountable for their economic and social rights obligations. The Center for Economic and Social Rights hopes that they will be helpful to various UN and other intergovernmental human rights mechanisms including the Treaty Bodies, Special Rapporteurs and the Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review.

Download the India fact sheet (PDF)

Download the Bolivia fact sheet (PDF)

The 24 March 2007 issue of The Economist magazine carried a leader article ("Stand up for your rights") which argued that economic and social rights were "a distraction" and that no useful purpose was served by viewing basic necessities such as food, health and housing as human rights.

Economic and Social Rights: Taking Stock

Significant changes have occurred in the field of economic and social rights since the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) was established in 1993. The international community has given increasing recognition to the indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights: civil, political, economic, social, and cultural. At the same time, extraordinary progress has been made by the UN Committee on Economic and Social Rights, the UN special rapporteurs, and the academic community in elucidating the content of economic and social rights and the nature of concomitant state obligations.