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Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

CONSIDER FOR WOMEN & GIRLS, Economic, Social & Cultural Rights as in Dimensions of International Corporate Power on Land, Resources, Food, Water, Health Needs as Generic Medications; Conflict & War - Refugee Status & Displacement - Natural Disaster Issues, Trafficking +.

 

DEFENDING WOMEN'S ECONOMIC, SOCIAL & CULTURAL RIGHTS, CAN BE A SERIOUS CHALLENGE.  INTERNATIONAL UN AND DOMESTIC LAWS MAY BE COMPLEX TO ENFORCE, MONITOR, & LITIGATE.

 

THOUGH MORE LEGAL AND ACADEMIC IN WORDAGE, THE MAASTRICHT PRINCIPLES CAN BE A STRONG TOOL FOR ADVOCACY ON WOMEN'S & GIRLS ECONOMIC, SOCIAL & CULTURAL RIGHTS.

What are a state’s human rights obligations when it engages in conduct that carries human rights consequences for the inhabitants of another state? What obligations do states have to contribute to the global realization of human rights, such as the rights to food, to healthcare, and to an adequate standard of living, of persons residing in a territory outside their own? How is international human rights law evolving so as to remain efficacious under conditions of globalization?______________________________________________

HUMAN RIGHTS NORMS FOR A GLOBALIZED WORLD: THE MAASTRICHT PRINCIPLES ON EXTRATERRITORIAL OBLIGATIONS OF STATES IN THE AREA OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL & CULTURAL RIGHTS

Direct Link to Full 2012 5-Page Text: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1758-5899.2012.00206.x/pdf

Excerpt: Economic globalization fosters an accountability gap and has made evident an imbalance between the scope of influence of states and the way in which their legal responsibility is defined. Still, the extraterritorial dimensions of economic and social rights have been approached by courts and human rights expert bodies in a largely ad hoc fashion. By authoritatively bringing together the requirements of international human rights law in this fast-evolving area, the Principles should contribute to reconciling the human rights duties of states with globalization.

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Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Definition of Extraterritorial Obligations

For the purposes of these Principles, extraterritorial obligations encompass:

a) Obligations relating to the acts and omissions of a State, within or beyond its territory, that have effects on the enjoyment of human rights outside of that State’s territory; and

 b) Obligations of a global character that are set out in the Charter of the United Nations and human rights instruments to take action, separately, and jointly through international cooperation, to realize human rights universally.

Direct Link to Full 11-Page Document:

http://209.240.139.114/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Maastricht+ETO+Principles+-+Final+Version.pdf

40. Non-Judicial Accountability Mechanisms

In addition to the requisite judicial remedies, States should make non-judicial remedies available, which may include, inter alia, access to complaints mechanisms established under the auspices of international organisations, national human rights institutions or ombudspersons, and ensure that these remedies comply with the requirements of effective remedies under Principle 37. States should ensure additional accountability measures are in place at the domestic level, such as access to a parliamentary body tasked with monitoring governmental policies, as well as at the international level.

41. Reporting and Monitoring

States must cooperate with international and regional human rights mechanisms, including periodic reporting and inquiry procedures of treaty bodies and mechanisms of the UN Human Rights Council, and peer review mechanisms, on the implementation of their extraterritorial obligations in relation to economic, social and cultural rights, and redress instances of non-compliance as identified by these mechanisms.

VII. Final provisions

42. States, in giving effect to their extraterritorial obligations, may only subject economic, social and cultural rights to limitations when permitted under international law and where all procedural and substantive safeguards have been satisfied.

43. Nothing in these Principles should be read as limiting or undermining any legal obligations or responsibilities that States, international organisations and non-State actors, such as transnational corporations and other business enterprises, may be subject to under international human rights law.

44. These principles on the extraterritorial obligations of States may not be invoked as a justification to limit or undermine the obligations of the State towards people on its territory.

Annex

Signatories to the Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States

in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The Principles were adopted by the experts in their individual capacity. Organisations are

listed with the names of experts for the purpose of identification rather than endorsement of

the Principles by their institution.

Meghna Abraham - Amnesty International

Catarina de Albuquerque - UN Special Rapporteur on the right to water and sanitation

Theo van Boven - Maastricht University, former UN Special Rapporteur against Torture and

former Member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racism and Discrimination

Maria Virginia Bras Gomes - Directorate General for Social Security, former Member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Lilian Chenwi - University of the Witwatersrand

Danwood Chirwa - University of Cape Town

Fons Coomans - Maastricht University

Virginia Dandan - UN Independent Expert on Human Rights and International Solidarity, former Member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Olivier De Schutter - University of Louvain, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food

Julia Duchrow - Bread for the World

Asbjørn Eide - Norwegian Centre for Human Rights

Cees Flinterman - Maastricht University, Member of the UN Human Rights Committee and former Member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Mark Gibney - University of North Carolina

Thorsten Göbel - Bread for the World

Paul Hunt - University of Essex, former UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health

Ashfaq Khalfan - Amnesty International

Miloon Kothari - Housing and Land Rights Network, former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing

Rolf Künnemann - FIAN International

Malcolm Langford - University of Oslo

Nicholas Lusiani - Center for Economic and Social Rights

Claire Mahon - Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights

Christopher Mbazira - Makerere University

Maija Mustaniemi-Laakso - Åbo Akademi University

Gorik Ooms - Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp

Marcos Orellana - Center for International Environmental Law

Sandra Ratjen - International Commission of Jurists

Aisling Reidy - Human Rights Watch

Margot Salomon - London School of Economics and Political Science

Fabián Salvioli - University of La Plata, Member of the UN Human Rights Committee

Martin Scheinin - European University Institute, former Member of the UN Human Rights Committee and former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism

Ian Seiderman - International Commission of Jurists

Magdalena Sepúlveda - UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

Heisoo Shin - Member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and former Member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Sigrun Skogly - Lancaster University

Ana María Suárez Franco - FIAN International

Philippe Texier - Member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Wouter Vandenhole - University of Antwerp

Duncan Wilson - Scottish Human Rights Commission

Michael Windfuhr - German Institute for Human Rights

Sisay Yeshanew - Åbo Akademi University

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http://www.escr-net.org/docs/i/1134974

Primer on Women's Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The goal of this resource is to serve as an advocacy tool for engagement with the CEDAW and ESCR Committees to more explicitly recognize the implementation of ESCR as a strategy to increase women's equality. 

This Primer is available for download in English, French, Arabic and Russian below. Also available in Spanish here. Computer can increase type size for easier reading.

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Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights http://209.240.139.114/strategic-priorities/advancing-womens-economic-social-and-cultural-rights/

Advancing Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Today, women represent approximately 70 per cent of the 1.2 billion people living in poverty throughout the world.  Inequality with respect to the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights is a central fact of women’s lives in every region of the world.  Ongoing inequality in the sphere of economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights contributes to the continuing subordination of women and makes them especially vulnerable to violence, exploitation and other forms of abuse.

While all of the activity streams within work of the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights incorporate a gender-sensitive perspective, we feel it is vital to include a targeted focus on advancing women’s ESC rights.  We know that the realization of women’s ESC rights can itself be transformative, not only in ensuring that women’s immediate material needs are met, but also in fundamentally reshaping unequal power relationships between women and men.  Indeed, we know that certain rights are especially transformative from the standpoint of women’s empowerment, including equal rights over land, property, and rights to education, livelihood and health.  Here, the Global Initiative has a special interest in advancing women’s land and property rights.  For women, advancement on these critical issues is more than about poverty alleviation, it is about uplifting women’s lives in a fundamental way.

The Global Initiative works with its partners to raise the visibility of women’s ESC rights, and in particular land and property rights, at various international and regional forums, and to strengthen the enforcement of these rights.  More generally, we also see to provide gender-sensitive analyses of substantive ESC rights and their relationship to the fulfillment of women’s right to equality. Similar work can also be done at regional and national levels.  This includes identification of what the right means for women in terms of respect, protect and fulfillment of rights and what kinds of specific measures need to be considered by States for implementation, including for women facing intersectional discrimination.

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