WUNRN
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:
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.
___________________________________________________
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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