WUNRN
The
Optional Protocol to the UN Covenant on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights,
will make it possible for individual, groups or organizations acting on their
behalf to seek justice at the international level for violations of economic,
social and cultural rights by submitting complaints to the UN Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The adoption of the Optional Protocol
also provides support to efforts to get greater recognition of economic, social
and cultural rights in domestic law and before courts, and will strengthen our
monitoring role, as civil society organizations. The NGO Coalition for the
Optional Protocol Steering Committee
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HUMAN
RIGHTS COUNCIL ACHIEVES MILESTONE, ADOPTING OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO COVENANT ON
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
18
June 2008
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour today
congratulated the Human Rights Council on its adoption of an important new
human rights instrument to strengthen the protection of economic, social and
cultural rights.
“This is a highly significant achievement”, she said. “The Protocol will
provide an important platform to expose abuses that are often linked to
poverty, discrimination and neglect, and that victims frequently endure in
silence and helplessness. It will provide a way for individuals, who may
otherwise be isolated and powerless, to make the international community aware
of their situation.”
The Optional Protocol will allow persons to petition an international human
rights body about violations of rights guaranteed in the International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Adopted by the Human Rights Council on
18 June, the Protocol is expected to get the final approval by the United
Nations General Assembly later this year. Thereafter, the Protocol will enter
into force once it has been ratified by 10 States.
“Since the adoption of the two core international human rights covenants in
1966, the lack of a complaint procedure for economic, social and cultural
rights has been a missing piece in the international human rights protection
system" Arbour said. "As we are celebrating the 60-year anniversary
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Optional Protocol reaffirms
our commitment to a unified and comprehensive vision of human rights, sending a
strong, unequivocal message about the equal value and importance of all human
rights.”
With its adoption of the Optional Protocol, the Human Rights Council brings to
fruition a process set in motion by the 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human
Rights prompting the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights to
prepare a first draft optional protocol in 1996 and leading to the commencement
of intergovernmental negotiations in 2004.
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