Campaign for the Ratification of OP-CESCR promotes actions in the 2016 ASEAN People’s Forum

The NGO Coalition for the Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, represented by IWRAW-AP as a member of the Steering Committee of the Coalition, together with Forum-Asia, and other regional and national allies, participated in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) People’s Forum, to be held from August 2-5 in Dili, East Timor. 

This conference, which brings together civil society organizations and representatives from ASEAN member States, represents an opportunity to promote access to justice and share strategies with social organizations working for the realization of  economic, social, and cultural rights in the region.  

The Coalition held a workshop called “Enhancing Access to Justice on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in ASEAN,” where participants discusses the current state of ESCR in the region, the increase in violations of ESCR that affect the most disadvantaged groups, especially women, and the the lack of legal protection in several countries in the region. The workshop’s objective were to highlight progress in the international human rights framework, whose norms and mechanisms could have a positive impact on the fulfillment of these rights in the region and offer spaces for State accountability.

Additionally, this workshop sought to lay the groundwork to continue building solidarity in the Asian region for the promotion and ratification of the ICESCR and OP-ICESCR as tools to claim economic, social, and cultural rights.  See the Report here.