About Rights

What does the right to culture include?
There is no simple definition for the right to culture. However, theright to express and enjoy one???s culture does exist. Internationalorganizations and documents are quick to name ???culture??? as an importantright, even though what that means hasn???t been fully developed byinternational law. The Covenant on ESCR recognizeseveryone's right to take part in cultural life, to enjoy the benefitsof scientific progress, and encourages the development of internationalcontacts and co-operation in the area of science and culture. Therights of indigenous peoples is a first step towards legal recognitionof cultural rights.

Activist???s Manual on the ICESCR[pdf 1.25 mb]
Bibliography
CESR's Guide to the Legal Framework of ESCR
Justiciability of ESCR
Optional Protocol to the ICESCR
Other Resources and Links
Workshop Report: Developing a Common Framework for the Promotion of ESCR[pdf 123.81 kb]

What are Economic, Social, and Cultural rights?
Economic, social, and cultural rights include the human right to work,the right to an adequate standard of living, including food, clothing,and housing, the right to physical and mental health, the right tosocial security, the right to a healthy environment, and the right toeducation. For more information on a specific ESC right, click one of the links on the left.

ESCR are part of a larger body of human rights law that developed in the aftermath of World War II.Human rights law includes all economic and social rights, plus civiland political rights like the right to free speech and the right to afair trial. These rights are deeply intertwined: for example, the rightto speak freely means little without a basic education. Similarly, theright to work means little if you are not allowed to meet and assemblein groups to discuss work conditions.

The most important human rights law is in the International Bill of Human Rights, which includes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Economic and social rights are also included in numerous other human rights legal instruments. Among the most important are:

• Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
• Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
• Vienna World Conference on Human Rights Declaration and Plan of Action
• Conventions of the International Labor Organization

The U.N. human rights system is rooted inthe International Bill of Rights, but also includes additional humanrights treaties. Each of the treaties is governed by a Treaty Body thatprovides authoritative interpretations of its terms. The Treaty Bodiesalso publish General Comments, which elaborate on specific articles ofthe treaties. For a list of General Comments to the ICESCR, click here. For more information on the U.N. human rights system, click here.

CESR has prepared a Guide to the LegalFramework of economic, social, and cultural rights that elaborates onhow those rights exist in international law. Click here for the Guide. In 1995, CESR hosteda set of workshops that explored the theoretical and practical concernssurrounding economic, social, and cultural rights advocacy andpractice. Click here for the Workshop Report[pdf 123.81 kb].

Why are they called "rights"?
All the world's great religious and moral traditions, philosophers, andrevolutionaries, recognize that human beings deserve to live infreedom, justice, dignity and economic security. The International Billof Rights grew out of these traditions, and calls for all governmentsto make sure their citizens have human rights -- civil, political,social, cultural and economic. Referring to economic, social andcultural issues as "rights" uses the legal framework developed underinternational law, and gives individuals legitimate claims againststate and non-state actors for protection and guarantees.

During the Cold War and trickle-down economics theory, ESCR werefrequently mis-labled as "benefits," meaning individuals had no basicclaim to things like food and shelter. After the Covenant came intoforce in 1976, jurisprudence around economic and social rights began todevelop and great progress following the formation of the UnitedNations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.

Economic and social rights require governments and other powerfulactors to ensure that people have access to basic needs, and thatpeople have a voice in decisions affecting their well-being. Povertyand injustice are neither inevitable nor natural, but arise fromdeliberate decisions and policies, and the human rights legal frameworkprovides a way to hold public officials accountable for developmentpolicies and priorities.

What are the minimum requirements?
States are bound to ensure minimum human rights regardless of their resource constraints. For ESC rights, minimum core requirements include availablefoodstuffs for the population, essential primary health care, basicshelter and housing, and the most basic forms of education. The Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights elaborated on state obligations under General Comment 3: The Nature of States Parties Obligations

How do states fulfill their minimum requirements?

What is the Right to Education? The right to education is twofold: it requires free and compulsory primary level education, and it requires that there is equal access to every levelof education. A basic education is a right inherent to being human, andthus constitutes an end in itself. However, education is also a meansto an end: it is required to ensure all people can participateeffectively in a free society, and to promote understanding, toleranceand friendship among all nations and groups. CESR Work on the Right to Education International Instruments on the Right to Education Resources and links on the Right to Education

What does the right to education include?
There are several components to the right to education:

Available: There must be adequateschool facilities and buildings. Schools must be healthy and safephysical environments with access to potable water.

Accessible: Education must available to all andfree from discrimination. Schools must be in physical proximity tostudents, and education must be affordable for all students.

Acceptable: Schools must have trained teachersreceiving domestically competitive salaries and good quality teachingmaterials that respect cultural differences. Discipline must respect achild???s dignity.

Adaptable: Schools must adapt or change to meet theneeds of children from different communities, children who do not speakEnglish in their homes, and children with disabilities.

All four of these areas are important to ensuring the right toeducation. However, international law recognizes that some countriesmay not have the resources to fully implement the right immediately.For those countries, there are two rules: first, consistently work toimprove the right, and second, always provide at least the minimum core content.The minimum core content includes (1) the right of access to publicinstitutions without discrimination, and (2) free choice of educationwithout inteference by the state or a third party.

Finally, as with every human right, all countries have the followingobligations when it comes to implementing the right to education:

• Respect ??? the obligation to respect requires governmentsto refrain from interfering directly or indirectly with the enjoymentof the right to education.