Every person is a holder of human rights for the mere reason of being human. It follows in principle that everyone is the beneficiary of human rights. In practice, however, some groups are less equal than others. They are more vulnerable than others because they have traditionally been subjected to discrimination, which makes them require special protection of their rights so that they enjoy their fundamental rights and freedoms on equal footing with others.

Economic, social and cultural rights symbolize internationally recognized minimum standards to protect individuals against social and economic insecurity and the threat they pose to human integrity, freedom and equality. They are an essential part of the normative international code of human rights aimed at the eradication of discrimination and protection of these vulnerable groups.

Economic, social and cultural rights constitute three interrelated human rights. Among the social rights, the right to an adequate standard of living is considered as a very central one. Enjoyment of this right requires, at a minimum, that every one shall enjoy the necessary subsistence rights: adequate food and nutrition right, clothing, housing and the necessary conditions of care. Closely related to this right is the right of families to assistance. In order to enjoy social rights, there is also a need to enjoy certain economic rights. These are the right to property, the right to work and the right to social security. The latter is essential, particularly where a person doesn’t have the necessary property available, or is not able to secure an adequate standard of living through, work, due either to unemployment, old age or disability. Cultural rights contain the following elements: the right to take part in cultural life, the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications, the right to benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literacy or artistic production of which the beneficiary of which is the author, the freedom indispensable for scientific research and creative activity.

Economic, social and cultural rights as enumerated in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (herein after referred to as ICESCR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) include:

• Fair and safe working conditions for workers;

• The right to seek and choose work;

• The right to form; join and act together in trade unions;

• “Social security”, including government assistance during old age and in times of unemployment, and money or other help for people at other times when they need assistance in order to live their lives with dignity;

• Assistance and protection for families;

• Equal marriage rights for men and women;

• An adequate standard of living for everyone, involving adequate clothing, housing, and food;

• A high standard of health and health care for all;

• Satisfactory primary education for all and increased opportunities for further education;

• The right to participate in the cultural life of the community; and

• The right to benefit from scientific progress.

The guarantee of ESC rights means that it is a violation of human rights to be starving, to be homeless or not to have adequate resources to support family. The guarantee of ESC rights means that every one has a right to live in dignity and right to a secured livelihood. It means that everyone is entitled to a safe, secure work environment and to the means necessary to secure his/her well-being and to realize her/his potential.

In addition to CESCR and UDHR, many of the international instruments adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, Specialized Agencies of the UN, or the regional organizations such as the Organization of African Unity, the Organization of American States, and the Council of Europe also guarantee ESC rights. ESC rights for specific groups like conventions agreed to through the International Labor Organization (ILO), Convention for Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) contain protection for ESC rights.

Under human rights treaties, governments have the final responsibility for guaranteeing that people have the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of their rights. In order for people to enjoy the benefits of Economic, Social and Cultural rights, governments must play a positive role, yet governments are not always the direct providers of what a particular human right requires. Government can do much to make sure that everyone enjoys adequate education and health care, for instance, even though governments do not provide all aspects of education or health care.

When states seek to implement their obligations in national law, they are required to impose duties on persons subject to their jurisdiction. Duties to respect and protect the right of other persons and duties to contribute to the common welfare, make it possible for a state so that every one enjoy their economic, social and cultural rights.

Full economic, social and cultural rights can be achieved only gradually. Resources and time may be required. Since implementation of ESC rights often costs money, it can be difficult for many low-income nations to meet all their obligations adequately at ones. We should remember, however, that many government obligations do not cost much money. Certain obligations under the covenant can be implemented immediately, notably the obligations to respect and protect existing rights.

Although Art. 2(1) of the covenant allows states to achieve full rights gradually; it demands that states take some steps immediately, thereby setting the stage for progress. In its general comment no. 3(1990) on the nature of state obligations under Art. 2(1), the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights pointing out that while the concept of progressive realization constitutes a recognition of the fact that full realization of all economic, social and cultural rights will generally not be able to be achieved in a short period of time, the phrase “achieve progressively” must be seen in light of the overall objective which is to establish clear obligations for state parties to move expeditiously as possible toward realization of these rights.

As soon as possible, therefore, states must pass laws and launch plans and programs, to start strengthening the enjoyment of rights of the covenant allows states to achieve progressively the full realization of the rights recognized in the covenant,” “ to the maximum of its available resources,” and by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures.”

According to the committee on ESCR:

The consent of progressive realization constitutes a recognition of the fact that full realization of all ESC rights will generally not be able to be achieved in a short period of time. It is on the one hand a necessary flexibility device, reflecting the realities of the real world and the difficulties involved for any country in ensuring full realization of economic, social and cultural rights.

One approach to defining violations is provided by the Mastricht guidelines on violations of ESC rights, which describes state party’s obligations in protecting and upholding economic, social and cultural rights: the obligations to respect, protect and fulfill.

The first obligation, to respect requires that a state party itself does not violate the ESC rights of its population. The state must respect the resources owned by the individual, her or his freedom to find a job of preference and the freedom to take the necessary actions and use the necessary resources alone or in association with others – to satisfy his or her own needs. Consequently, as part of the obligation to respect, the states should take steps to recognize and register the land rights of indigenous peoples and land tenure of small holders whose title is understand. By doing so the state will have assisted them in making use of their resources in greater safety in their pursuit to maintain adequate standard of living. This may involve such actions on the part of the state as introducing retrogressive legislation that adversely affects the guarantee of the rights enumerated in the covenant.

The obligation to protect requires that the state prevents or addresses violations by third parties (non-state) actors, by passing and enforcing appropriate legislation. In this regard, the states obligation consists for example, the protection of the freedom of action and the use of resources against other, more assertive or aggressive subjects – more powerful economic interests, protection against fraud, against unethical behaviors in trade and contractual relations, against the marketing and dumping of hazardous products. This protective function of the state is most important aspect of state obligations with regard to ESC rights, and it is similar to the role of the state as protector of Civil and political rights.

The obligation to fulfill requires that state to review resource priorities and make the necessary legislative, administrative, budgetary, judicial and other necessary changes to implement specific rights. In this regard, the state has the obligation to assist and to fulfill the right of everyone under ESC right. The obligation to assist take many forms, some of which are spelled out in the relevant instruments. For example under the ESCR (Art. 11(2)), the sate shall take measures of production, conservation and distribution of food by making full use of technology and scientific knowledge and by developing and reforming agrarian system. The obligation to fulfill could consist of the direct provisions of basic needs, such as foods or resources which can be used for food (direct food aid, or social security) when other possibility exists, such as, for example (1) when unemployment sets in; (2) for the disadvantaged, and the elderly; (3) during sudden situation of crisis or disaster; and for those who are marginalized.

With regard to taking positive measures towards the fulfillment of these rights, obviously different stats have different amounts of resources available. This, however, does not depend solely on the national income of the society concerned, but also on the amount of resources made available to the state for the pursuit of its obligations under international human rights law.

The choice made by the state as to what part of its resources is allocated to the realization of economic, social and cultural rights as compared to other purposes is also another point to be taken into account. In particular, it is important to grasp the part played by military expenditure there in international relations as well as rational policies. If the state does not have sufficient resources or is temporarily experiencing financial difficulties, it has an obligation under the covenant to such international assistance and cooperation.

It is also important to note how corruption undermines the pursuit for the respect of human beings. Corruption impedes the implementation of economic, social and cultural right by weakening government’s financial capability and mode of rendering public services. Unless a system of transparency and accountability is built and of course appropriate measures are taken against corrupts, it is difficult to imagine that the vulnerable sections of the society enjoy all of their fundamental rights and freedoms.

In the effort to build a society where everyone enjoys all spectrums of his/her rights, it is our duty to respect and contribute our part in protecting economic, social and cultural rights. Considering the economic situation of Ethiopia, donors are very much expected to extend their financial assistance to projects aimed at ensuring these rights.

Bibliography

Promoting and Defending Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (www.hrea.com/library)