The prevalence of malnourishment in Madagascar is higher than it was in 1992, and acute child malnutrition is on the rise. The Malagasy people also face low and unequal access to safe water, sanitation and health treatment. These problems suggest possible failures of the government to give priority to the progressive realization of economic, social and cultural rights according to maximum available resources.
Making Human Rights Accountability More Graphic
CESR's fact sheet (ici en Fran??ais) on Madagascar provides a graphic overview of selected elements of the human rights to food, health, and water, seeking to highlight areas where government efforts to realize these rights may be inadequate. It was prepared in light of Madagascar's appearance before the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in November 2009 and the forthcoming possible mission of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food.
The 43rd Session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
CESCR is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by its States parties.
Part of CESCR's 43rd session (2-20 November 2009 in Geneva) focused on the consideration of the state reports submitted by Madagascar. The discussion of this meeting can be found here.
In light of its consideration of Madagascar's reports, and the subsequent discussion, the Committee adopted its concluding observations. These concluding observations list principal subjects of concern along with suggestions and recommendations to the State party. Some listed concerns that were presented by the fact sheet include:
- Concerns about Law No. 2007-037 allowing property acquisition by foreign investors, especially for agricultural purposes, which have an adverse impact on people's right to food.
- Concerns that the majority of Malagasy people live in poverty and that half of the population does not have access to clean water or adequate sanitation facilities.
- Concerns about the high child mortality rates and the lack of adequate maternal health care.
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Issues related to the high malnutrition prevalence among children and the general population and the general insufficient budget allocations for health care.
Get Involved
To find out more about how the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights works, and how you can work with it, see CESR's manual on how to submit reports. There are also various legal means related to the UN to hold states to account for their legal human rights obligations.