International Round Table for NHRIs on ESCR ends; New Delhi Concluding Statement Adopted
New Delhi, 1 December 2005
The three-day International Round Table on National Human Rights Institutions for ways to implement Economic, Social and Cultural Rights came to an end in New Delhi, today with a call to states to respect and ensure that National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) are established in accordance with the Paris Principle adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 December 1993. They also called on their institutions to be adequately resourced to enable them to deal with Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR).
The New Delhi concluding statement, adopted by delegates from 24 countries reaffirmed that all human rights being universal, indivisible and interdependent, National Institutions should adopt a comprehensive approach to the promotion and protection of human rights, which includes ESCR.
It was reiterated that National Institutions must adopt a rights-based approach to ESCR. Due emphasis was placed on particular challenges faced by National Institutions including ensuring respect for ESCR in relation to rationalising resources among various institutions; addressing ESCR in situations of conflict; and in relation to globalisation. It was highlighted that neglect of ESCR can lead to conflicts resulting in violations of human rights thus posing a threat to peace and security. It was opined that despite the development of a universal human rights framework there remain inequities and injustices requiring more proactive strategies to realise the enjoyment of ESCR.
The salient points of the New Delhi Concluding statement are -
I. KEY INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS ON ESCR AND THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO ICESCR
a) Monitor and promote state compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and where the state is not a Party to the Covenant call for its ratification;
b) Engage with the Working Group in drafting the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and encourage states to adopt it;
c) Ensure independent access to the international treaty body system;
d) Assist to ensure that domestic legislation which may impact on the enjoyment of ESCR is in compliance with international human rights norms and provides for sufficient protection of ESCR;
e) Use the existing tools and interpretations including those developed by the United Nations, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and its General Comments, as well as the Limberg Principles and Maastricht Guidelines;
f) Ensure that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) process is consistent with state obligations under international human rights instruments and that their implementation is undertaken from a rights-based perspective.
II. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF ESCR - STATE OBLIGATIONS TO PROMOTE, PROTECT AND FULFIL.
a) Ensure a rights based approach to ESC issues;
b) Encourage that States establish, where appropriate, Governmental institutions which guide planning for, and implementation of, ESCR;
c) Ensure that Government officials including those in economic and planning ministries, the judiciary, parliamentarians and other partners know their international obligations in relation to ESCR;
d) Ensure, where National Plans of Action are developed, that ESCR are taken into full consideration;
e) Find ways to enforce ESCR - including through departments of social welfare, the courts and civil society - to ensure better awareness of the justiciability and enforceability of ESCR;
f) Work with bodies, within their prescribed mandates, to combat corruption which has a direct impact on the enjoyment of ESCR;
g) Coordinate with their governments for programme planning including budgetary allocations to ensure respect for ESCR so that everybody lives with dignity;
h) Assist their states to prioritise the implementation of ESCR to ensure their progressive realisation within a given time frame;
i) Work within their states with representatives of International Financial Institutions to help the state to ensure that their policies and practices do not impact negatively on the enjoyment of ESCR;
j) Need to help inform about, and where they do not exist help in developing, minimum standards to ensure implementation of ESCR;
k) Need to ensure that essential services, which lead to the enjoyment of ESCR, are provided at a minimum and affordable level. Where privatised, the State remains obligated to ensure that the provision of such services do not contravene international ESCR.
III. JUSTICIABILITY OF ESCR AND LEGAL PROTECTION
(a) Use, where possible, quasi-judicial powers in implementing ESCR including, for example, the presentation of amicus briefs to the judiciary thereby assisting it in developing appropriate jurisprudence harmonising civil and political rights with economic, social and cultural rights;
(b) Ensure that National Institutions have adequate powers and competency to undertake investigations;
(c) Use the complaints-handling functions of a National Institution to provide effective redress for those who have suffered violation of ESCR and engage with other partners where the National Institutions may not be mandated to address specific ESCR;
(d) Seek with innovation and interpretation ways to ensure legal protection of rights even where they may not be explicitly provided for in their national constitutions or legislation.
IV. IMPLEMENTING ESCR RIGHTS-MODES AND MODALITIES: ADVOCACY AND OTHER MEANS
a) Provide a voice for those whose ESCR have been violated to ensure the effective provision of remedies;
b) Raise awareness about the international human rights standards of ESCR;
c) Encourage and actively support advocacy, education and training on ESCR by a variety of means for rights-holders and public authorities, including the judiciary, and civil society;
d) Be aware of, and advise on, legal instruments and human rights norms to prevent violations of ESCR, including regional mechanisms, and the need for effective policy development and implementation;
e) Ensure public education concerning ESCR;
f) Develop public information campaigns and engage the media, and devise effective media strategies, to raise awareness of ESCR and violations thereof;
g) Use the range of reporting strategies and mechanisms, including annual, parliamentary and extraordinary reports;
V. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF ESCR - ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
a) Develop a strong research capacity to be able to deal with ESCR effectively;
b) Monitor activities and develop minimum standards to ensure the implementation of ESCR for use by government agencies;
c) Ensure, while supporting a richness of cultural practices, that such practices must not contravene international human rights law;
VI. NEW CHALLENGES AND DIMENSIONS TO ESCR
a) Pay attention to areas which impact on the enjoyment of ESCR including trade, environment, corruption and the activities of non-state actors;
b) Pay particular attention to ESCR in situations of conflict and recognise that a lack of respect for ESCR is a root cause of conflict;
c) Assess the positive and negative consequences of globalisation, including migration, and its impact on the enjoyment of ESCR.
VII. .A PLAN OF ACTION FOR NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS REGARDING ESCR
In addition to striving to implement the various action points within this Concluding Statement National Institutions particularly commit themselves within their different mandates and circumstances under which they operate to:
a) Strengthen their capacity institutionally to be more effective in promoting and protecting ESCR;
b) Establish ESCR units or focal points and develop substantive policy capacity so as to effectively engage on ESCR issues;
c) Develop new and innovative strategies, including through community dialogue, on ways of gathering information beyond traditional forms of complaints-handling processes;
d) Develop particular strategies to address the ESCR of vulnerable groups and women and children;
e) Assess the enforceability, including through judicial procedures, of ESCR in their states and report on this at the next International Conference of National Human Rights Institutions;
f) Encourage the development of National Plans of Action which implement ESCR;
g) Request that this concluding statement be submitted to the next session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
The Round Table held at New Delhi, India from 29 November to 1 December 2005 was a collaborative venture of the National Human Rights Commission o f India and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). It was attended by representatives of 24 National Human Rights institutions from Afghanistan, Albania, Argentina, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Fiji, Ghana, India, Ireland, Senegal, Jordan, Kenya Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Uganda.
The principal objective of the Round Table was to discuss and strengthen the role and capacity of National Institutions in protecting and promoting ESCR. Its specific objectives were to :
· familiarize National Institutions with ESCR including the key international and regional mechanism available for heir protection and promotion;
· explore the "new dimension" of ESCR in the changing political, economic and social scenario;
· provide a forum for National Institutions to meet and exchange best practices on ESCR including the best ways to implement them.
The three-day International Round Table on National Human Rights Institutions for ways to implement Economic, Social and Cultural Rights came to an end in New Delhi, today with a call to states to respect and ensure that National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) are established in accordance with the Paris Principle adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 December 1993. They also called on their institutions to be adequately resourced to enable them to deal with Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR).
The New Delhi concluding statement, adopted by delegates from 24 countries reaffirmed that all human rights being universal, indivisible and interdependent, National Institutions should adopt a comprehensive approach to the promotion and protection of human rights, which includes ESCR.
It was reiterated that National Institutions must adopt a rights-based approach to ESCR. Due emphasis was placed on particular challenges faced by National Institutions including ensuring respect for ESCR in relation to rationalising resources among various institutions; addressing ESCR in situations of conflict; and in relation to globalisation. It was highlighted that neglect of ESCR can lead to conflicts resulting in violations of human rights thus posing a threat to peace and security. It was opined that despite the development of a universal human rights framework there remain inequities and injustices requiring more proactive strategies to realise the enjoyment of ESCR.
The salient points of the New Delhi Concluding statement are -
I. KEY INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS ON ESCR AND THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO ICESCR
a) Monitor and promote state compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and where the state is not a Party to the Covenant call for its ratification;
b) Engage with the Working Group in drafting the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and encourage states to adopt it;
c) Ensure independent access to the international treaty body system;
d) Assist to ensure that domestic legislation which may impact on the enjoyment of ESCR is in compliance with international human rights norms and provides for sufficient protection of ESCR;
e) Use the existing tools and interpretations including those developed by the United Nations, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and its General Comments, as well as the Limberg Principles and Maastricht Guidelines;
f) Ensure that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) process is consistent with state obligations under international human rights instruments and that their implementation is undertaken from a rights-based perspective.
II. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF ESCR - STATE OBLIGATIONS TO PROMOTE, PROTECT AND FULFIL.
a) Ensure a rights based approach to ESC issues;
b) Encourage that States establish, where appropriate, Governmental institutions which guide planning for, and implementation of, ESCR;
c) Ensure that Government officials including those in economic and planning ministries, the judiciary, parliamentarians and other partners know their international obligations in relation to ESCR;
d) Ensure, where National Plans of Action are developed, that ESCR are taken into full consideration;
e) Find ways to enforce ESCR - including through departments of social welfare, the courts and civil society - to ensure better awareness of the justiciability and enforceability of ESCR;
f) Work with bodies, within their prescribed mandates, to combat corruption which has a direct impact on the enjoyment of ESCR;
g) Coordinate with their governments for programme planning including budgetary allocations to ensure respect for ESCR so that everybody lives with dignity;
h) Assist their states to prioritise the implementation of ESCR to ensure their progressive realisation within a given time frame;
i) Work within their states with representatives of International Financial Institutions to help the state to ensure that their policies and practices do not impact negatively on the enjoyment of ESCR;
j) Need to help inform about, and where they do not exist help in developing, minimum standards to ensure implementation of ESCR;
k) Need to ensure that essential services, which lead to the enjoyment of ESCR, are provided at a minimum and affordable level. Where privatised, the State remains obligated to ensure that the provision of such services do not contravene international ESCR.
III. JUSTICIABILITY OF ESCR AND LEGAL PROTECTION
(a) Use, where possible, quasi-judicial powers in implementing ESCR including, for example, the presentation of amicus briefs to the judiciary thereby assisting it in developing appropriate jurisprudence harmonising civil and political rights with economic, social and cultural rights;
(b) Ensure that National Institutions have adequate powers and competency to undertake investigations;
(c) Use the complaints-handling functions of a National Institution to provide effective redress for those who have suffered violation of ESCR and engage with other partners where the National Institutions may not be mandated to address specific ESCR;
(d) Seek with innovation and interpretation ways to ensure legal protection of rights even where they may not be explicitly provided for in their national constitutions or legislation.
IV. IMPLEMENTING ESCR RIGHTS-MODES AND MODALITIES: ADVOCACY AND OTHER MEANS
a) Provide a voice for those whose ESCR have been violated to ensure the effective provision of remedies;
b) Raise awareness about the international human rights standards of ESCR;
c) Encourage and actively support advocacy, education and training on ESCR by a variety of means for rights-holders and public authorities, including the judiciary, and civil society;
d) Be aware of, and advise on, legal instruments and human rights norms to prevent violations of ESCR, including regional mechanisms, and the need for effective policy development and implementation;
e) Ensure public education concerning ESCR;
f) Develop public information campaigns and engage the media, and devise effective media strategies, to raise awareness of ESCR and violations thereof;
g) Use the range of reporting strategies and mechanisms, including annual, parliamentary and extraordinary reports;
V. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF ESCR - ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
a) Develop a strong research capacity to be able to deal with ESCR effectively;
b) Monitor activities and develop minimum standards to ensure the implementation of ESCR for use by government agencies;
c) Ensure, while supporting a richness of cultural practices, that such practices must not contravene international human rights law;
VI. NEW CHALLENGES AND DIMENSIONS TO ESCR
a) Pay attention to areas which impact on the enjoyment of ESCR including trade, environment, corruption and the activities of non-state actors;
b) Pay particular attention to ESCR in situations of conflict and recognise that a lack of respect for ESCR is a root cause of conflict;
c) Assess the positive and negative consequences of globalisation, including migration, and its impact on the enjoyment of ESCR.
VII. .A PLAN OF ACTION FOR NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS REGARDING ESCR
In addition to striving to implement the various action points within this Concluding Statement National Institutions particularly commit themselves within their different mandates and circumstances under which they operate to:
a) Strengthen their capacity institutionally to be more effective in promoting and protecting ESCR;
b) Establish ESCR units or focal points and develop substantive policy capacity so as to effectively engage on ESCR issues;
c) Develop new and innovative strategies, including through community dialogue, on ways of gathering information beyond traditional forms of complaints-handling processes;
d) Develop particular strategies to address the ESCR of vulnerable groups and women and children;
e) Assess the enforceability, including through judicial procedures, of ESCR in their states and report on this at the next International Conference of National Human Rights Institutions;
f) Encourage the development of National Plans of Action which implement ESCR;
g) Request that this concluding statement be submitted to the next session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
The Round Table held at New Delhi, India from 29 November to 1 December 2005 was a collaborative venture of the National Human Rights Commission o f India and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). It was attended by representatives of 24 National Human Rights institutions from Afghanistan, Albania, Argentina, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Fiji, Ghana, India, Ireland, Senegal, Jordan, Kenya Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Uganda.
The principal objective of the Round Table was to discuss and strengthen the role and capacity of National Institutions in protecting and promoting ESCR. Its specific objectives were to :
· familiarize National Institutions with ESCR including the key international and regional mechanism available for heir protection and promotion;
· explore the "new dimension" of ESCR in the changing political, economic and social scenario;
· provide a forum for National Institutions to meet and exchange best practices on ESCR including the best ways to implement them.