Center for Economic and Social Rights - Advocacy by Country

Occupied Palestinian Territories

Wed, 04 Aug 2004 14:36:37 -0400

Gunman on Roof, Gaza Strip
Photo courtesy of Andy Ryan

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Other Resources and Links on Israel/Palestine

Since 1996, CESR has worked with a broad range of Palestinian, Israeli, and international groups to document and oppose violations of economic and social rights in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The primary aim of this work has been to highlight the root cause of ESCR violations – the discrimination and brutality inherent in the Israeli occupation – and to advocate for alternatives that recognize and promote equal rights for all people living under Israeli rule. CESR initiatives have also focused on changing U.S. policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Oslo Peace Process

Afghanistan

Fri, 30 Jul 2004 10:18:34 -0400

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Photo courtesy of Jason Florio

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Following the tragic events of September 11, 2001 and the ensuing US military invasion of Afghanistan, CESR began work in two areas:

public education in the United States to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the human rights implications of US military action, and
organizing a comprehensive fact-finding mission to Afghanistan to assess violations of human rights and humanitarian law and advocate for more just policies.

From September to December 2001, CESR launched a public education and advocacy campaign that included producing educational materials, organizing and attending events on Afghanistan and submitting letters to the editor and editorials to newspapers and magazines. CESR produced three widely disseminated fact sheets in English and Spanish on the basic indicators, history, and humanitarian vulnerabilities of Afghanistan. CESR co-sponsored and organized a number of community events, such as a panel discussion at The Riverside Church in Manhattan and a benefit event in Brooklyn to raise money for Afghan refugees. CESR had letters published in the New York Times and the Washington Post, and issued press releases on World Food Day and International Human Rights Day calling attention to the human rights violations related to the humanitarian crises in Afghanistan.

CESR also initiated a meeting for the UN Special Rapporteur on Food with several humanitarian relief organizations including Oxfam, CARE and Save the Children UK that contributed to the drafting of a letter on the right to food in Afghanistan which was signed by 9 human rights and humanitarian organizations and sent to heads of UN agencies and George W. Bush.

Ecuador

Thu, 29 Jul 2004 12:43:41 -0400

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For recent work in Ecuador, visit CDES at www.cdes.org.ec

Latin America provides a strong foundation for economic and social rights work given its long history of human rights activism, the flourishing of popular movements there, and the fact that economic policies in the region have created some of the most inequitable societies in the world. Despite new political openness in recent years, regional development continues to exclude large parts of the population and is increasingly dictated by international financial institutions and foreign corporations.

CESR’s focus in Latin America has been two-fold: first, challenging development projects in the Amazon for their lack of accountability and community participation, and second, promoting greater awareness and use of economic and social rights among civil society and governments throughout Latin America.

Development policies in the Amazon have had devastating impacts on the health and welfare of local communities as well as the environment. In 1993, CESR organized a team of scientists which produced the first substantive proof that communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon were being systematically exposed to toxic wastes dumped by oil companies. Based on these findings, CESR issued a report, Rights Violations in the Ecuadorian Amazon: The Human Consequences of Oil Development [pdf, 308 kb], that charged the government of Ecuador and US oil companies with violating the rights to health and a healthy environment. This report strengthened local efforts to confront irresponsible oil development by providing two critical elements: an international human rights framework and credible scientific evidence of violations.

CESR has since collaborated with environmental and indigenous groups to demand greater transparency and public participation in development processes. CESR has also worked with members of the Ecuadorian Congress to ensure stronger environmental and social regulations.

To help make human rights a central feature of the national debate over development priorities, CESR has also:

prepared and disseminated numerous publications on economic and social rights, including legal reports and popular education materials;
launched a national information campaign on economic and social rights with local human rights groups;
helped establish a community-based network to monitor development and human rights issues in coordination with national and international NGOs;
co-hosted community workshops on key issues such as negotiating with oil companies;
organized a series of seminars with a group of activists and academics to prepare a submission on rights violations to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
co-organized investigations of oil development practices with Congressional oversight committees; and
conducted lectures and public presentations to raise awareness about economic and social rights at the academic and professional levels.

Honduras

Wed, 28 Jul 2004 14:33:28 -0400

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Extraction industries pose a serious threat to the environment and human health, especially in less developed countries that desperately need foreign exchange.

Iraq

Tue, 27 Jul 2004 17:26:51 -0400

Photo courtesy of the U.N. (#187401)

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CESR has worked in Iraq since 1991, conducting comprehensive field surveys to assess the impact of war and sanctions on socio-economic conditions there, and undertaking extensive advocacy and public education efforts to reverse the policies which have contributed to the suffering there. CESR’s research studies have documented an entire people reeling under economic collapse, caught in a cycle of hunger and disease that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Iraq's most vulnerable members.

Peru

Mon, 19 Jul 2004 17:51:28 -0400

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United States

Thu, 08 Jul 2004 15:14:39 -0400

Photo courtesy of Harvey Finkle

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U.N. Special Rapporteur on Education
Mission Report [pdf 122.8 kb]

Despite the fact that the United States is the world's richest country in aggregate terms, it lags behind many other nations in fulfilling the needs of all of its citizens: 20% of children under the age of five live in poverty - the highest child poverty rate of any fully industrialized nation; 44 million people lack health insurance; between 40 and 44 million people are functionally illiterate; and 28 million people face food insecurity.

The United States stands virtually alone in the world as an opponent of economic and social rights. The Second Bill of Rights proposed by President Franklin Roosevelt's in 1944 focused on guarantees of work, adequate housing and income, medical care and education, protection from economic fears of old age, sickness, injuries, and unemployment, and a market free from unfair competition and domination of monopolies was to serve as basis of economic security. While FDR's vision was never integrated into American domestic policy it did serve to inspire inspire the drafting and adoption of the Universal Declaration under the leadership of Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt.

American administrations -- regardless of the broad global consensus to the contrary -- regularly take the position that economic and social rights are merely “aspirational,” unenforceable and best approached as a policy matter leaving broad latitude to governments to provide or deny such rights depending on the political context of the moment. On the domestic level, the United States provides no federal constitutional guarantees for economic and social rights, and has yet to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Instead, American governments over the last two decades have steadily eroded domestic legislative protections and international legal standards for economic and social rights, which are particularly vulnerable to regression in the current political and economic environment.

CESR's work in the United States seeks to create and strengthen American accountability for economic and social rights. We aim towards building a human rights culture in the United States and in bringing American domestic policies into compliance with international standards. Our purpose is to advocate for incorporating the full range of human rights into the US domestic legal system and popular American culture. Recognition of economic and social rights in the American public and policy arena will strengthen government accountability regardless of political shifts. For example, American legal, political and popular cultural recognition of political and civil rights protected the core of the 1964 Civil Rights Act against sustained concerted political and judicial attacks during the 1980’s and 1990’s.