CESR and the Right to Work
TheCenter for Economic and Social Rights was one of the firstorganizations to challenge economic injustice as violation ofinternational human rights law. Through its projects in the U.S. and abroad, CESR aims to use human rights to hold decision-makers ??? be they governments or corporations ??? accountable for their actions.
CESR Factsheets on the Right to Work
CESR Reports on the Right to Work
Resources and Links on the Right to Work
PAPERS
Certifying International Worker Rights: A Practical Alternative by Jerome Levinson
This paper advocates requiring the U.S.Department of Labor to give a certification to countries that protectbasic workers rights. No preferential trade status or investmentdecision could be made concerning a particular country until theDepartment of Labor granted this certification.
International Instruments on the Right to Work
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 23: ???Everyone has the right to work, to free choice ofemployment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protectionagainst unemployment???
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
click here for the UDHR in other languages
Preamble
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of theequal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is thefoundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights haveresulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience ofmankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoyfreedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has beenproclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled tohave recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny andoppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in theCharter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in thedignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of menand women and have determined to promote social progress and betterstandards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve,in cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion of universalrespect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, therefore,
The General Assembly,
Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a commonstandard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the endthat every individual and every organ of society, keeping thisDeclaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and educationto promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressivemeasures, national and international, to secure their universal andeffective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of MemberStates themselves and among the peoples of territories under theirjurisdiction.
El Derecho a Trabajo: Obligaciones de Derechos Humanos de los Gobiernos y los Actores No Estatales
Las Obligaciones de Derechos Humanos de los Gobiernos
Los derechos humanos establecen las condiciones m??nimas ??? civiles,pol??ticas, econ??micas y culturales necesarias??? para vivir con dignidad.Nos pertenecen a todos y todas por el simple hecho de ser sereshumanos. Cuando los derechos de los pueblos son respetados, protegidosy cumplidos, el pueblo puede vivir en paz y desarrollarse en supotencialidad como seres humanos.
Human Rights Violations in the Fields of Florida: Corporate Accountability and Workers Rights
This brief report describes the human rights violations against immokalee farmworkers.
CESR Op Ed: Stifled in the Loya Jirga, by Omar Zakhilwal (The Washington Post)
Kabul, Afghanistan - I am a member of the loya jirga'ssilent majority -- or rather, silenced majority -- who came here toAfghanistan's capital expecting to shape our nation's future butinstead find ourselves being dragged back into the past.
Human Rights Assessment Mission to Afghanistan
Human Rights Conditions
Over twenty years of successive armed conflicts and massive humanrights violations have killed at least 1.5 million Afghans and rendered6 million homeless. Even prior to 11 September and 7 October, theAfghan population suffered severe destitution and hardship: a ruinedinfrastructure, abysmal socio-economic indicators, the world???s largestpopulation of refugees and internally displaced persons, the world???shighest concentration of land mines, three years of worsening drought,a repressive government and international isolation marked by economicsanctions.