Giving Meaning to Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights

2. From Division to Integration: Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights as Basic Human Rights

2 From Division to Integration: Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights as Basic Human Rights c h i s a n g a p u t a - c h e k w e a n d n o r a f l o o d . . . may you live, and all your people. I too will live with all my people. But life alone is not enough. May we have the things with which to live it well. For there is a kind of slow and weary life which is worse than death. —Chinua Achebe, Arrow of God Introduction More than fifty years ago the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognized that an individual requires certain civil, political, economic, and social freedoms in order to ‘‘live life well.’’ The Universal Declaration did not attach relative values to the rights that it recognized—each right was identi- fied as an essential ingredient of dignified personhood.∞ However, since the adoption of the Universal Declaration the protection of civil and political rights has systematically been given priority over the protection of economic , social, and cultural rights. As a result, the potential of the Universal Declaration to promote the betterment of human existence has not been fully realized. Between one-fifth and one-quarter of the world’s population lives in absolute poverty, without adequate food, shelter, and health care. The marginalization of economic, social, and cultural rights has thus served to marginalize further the poorest, most vulnerable groups in society. Misconceptions about the nature of economic, social, and cultural rights have directly contributed to the diminished respect for these rights in international and domestic arenas. Indeed, such misconceptions influenced the decision to entrench these rights in a covenant distinct from that which entrenches civil and political rights. The existence of a separate covenant has, in turn, served to perpetuate the belief that economic, social, and cultural rights are different both in value and in kind from civil and political rights. This chapter examines the motivating factors behind the creation of a separate international covenant to protect economic, social, and cultural rights. It demonstrates how the decision to create the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)≤ was the product of conflicting political ideologies and misconceptions about the nature of human rights, rather than the necessary consequence of fundamental differences between groups of rights. The chapter illustrates how the protection of economic, social, and cultural rights is as vital to the promotion of 40 Chisanga Puta-Chekwe and Nora Flood human dignity as the protection of civil and political rights. Finally, it summarizes recent efforts to increase respect for, and understanding of, the rights entrenched in the ICESCR and illustrates how one nongovernmental organization, Oxfam International, has attempted to promote respect for these rights through its humanitarian efforts. The Recognition of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights From Civil and Political Rights International human rights law emerged during the latter half of the twentieth century. In the aftermath of World War II, members of the United Nations determined that the protection of human rights should be one of the primary goals of their newly created organization. There was recognition that the political upheavals preceding the war had been spurred by widespread unemployment and poverty.≥ As a result, in addition to recognizing civil and political rights, the United Nations Charter recognized the need to promote economic progress and social development.∂ In order to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms, the United Nations created the Commission on Human Rights in ∞Ω∂∏. The commission ’s mandate was to draft an ‘‘International Bill of Human Rights’’ that would consist of a nonbinding declaration, a convention, and a document of implementation.∑ On December ∞≠, ∞Ω∂∫ the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations. The Universal Declaration enumerated both civil and political rights and economic , social, and cultural rights and identified all of these rights as essential for human dignity and development.∏ After the adoption of the Universal Declaration, the Commission on Human Rights began drafting a human rights covenant with provisions that would be legally binding on member states. During its fifth session, in ∞Ω∑≠, the Commission concluded that additional time was required to define the normative content of economic, social, and cultural rights. The initial draft of the covenant was thus limited to civil and political rights, the content of which could be more easily defined due to the existence of relevant domestic jurisprudence. Viewing the draft as the...