Civil Society Dialogue with Candidates for IACHR's Special Rapporteur on ESCER

Publish Date: 
Tuesday, June 27, 2017

*Update: Following the event below, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) selected Soledad García Muñoz to be the first Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights (ESCER).

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) will elect a Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights during its July session in Lima (next month). Prior to the final vote, the Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF), the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), and ESCR-Net will facilitate an event with the final four candidates: Ligia Bolívar Osuna (Venezuela), Alexandre Brasil Carvalho da Fonseca (Brazil), Ana María Díaz (Colombia), and Soledad García y Muñoz (Argentina).

Participants will be able to pose questions to the candidates regarding their positions on the main challenges to be addressed by the Special Rapporteur; the financial crisis facing the Inter-American system; the relationship between the Rapporteur and civil society; as well as the role of the Rapporteur in relation to the monitoring, litigation, and implementation of economic, social, cultural and enviromental rights, among others.

The primary objective for this event is to create more transparency and promote participation of civil society organizations in the region in this election process. The event is also an opportunity to listen to the candidates and to inform them of the key concerns of organizations in the region in relation to the above issues.

The event will take place from 10:30am to 12:30pm, on 3 July 2017, at the Hotel Melia Lima (Av. Salaverry No. 2599, San Isidro, Lima), and will also be livestreamed for those who would like to view it remotely here.

We invite all members of ESCR-Net in the region to send questions which you feel are important to pose to the candidates. Questions should be sent via the following virtual platform here, which will be accessible from 26 June to 30 June 2017. It will not be possible to present all the questions received during the event; however, all of them will be submitted to the candidates, as we feel it is critical that the future Rapporteur is cognizant of the key concerns of civil society, and, ultimately, prioritizes these issues within her/his agenda.