ESCR-Net Newsletter - September / October 2013

September/October 2013

The International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR-Net) involves over 250 Members in 68 countries, together building “a global movement to make human rights and social justice a reality for all.”

Lourdes Bascary, of CELS (Argentina), speaking in Uruguay Chapters in Spanish of Women's Guide: Claiming Women's ESC Rights

using OP-CEDAW and OP-ICESCR

The Corporate Accountability Working Group delivered an intervention to the UN Working Group during their civil society meeting on August 28, in Medellín, Colombia, before their UN Regional Forum for Latin America and the Caribbean on Business and Human Rights.

ESCR-Net’s Working Group on Adjudication, the NGO Coalition for the OP-ICESCR, and key Uruguayan organizations discuss new possibilities for the protection of ESCR under the OP-ICESCR.

Indigenous communities in Paraguay and Ecuador sign a declaration to promote enforcement of decisions related to the right to land.

Working Group on Women and ESCR holds a meeting of Latin American members and pilots Spanish chapters of its Guide: Claiming Women’s ESC Rights Using OP-CEDAW and OP-ICESCR during a workshop in Uruguay.

ESCR-Net expands the System of Solidarity and Support (SOS) and successfully pilots first member-initiated Urgent Action appeal via its new website, mobilizing ESCR-Net Members and partners in collective solidarity to support human rights defenders in the Philippines.

Human rights critiques of the POSCO-India project continue to unfold following the launch of a fact-finding report (in English) in June, as eight independent human rights experts of the United Nations call for a halt of the project and a new video (in English and Korean) addresses the human rights responsibilities of POSCO and its investors, generating substantial media coverage.

On September 16-17, ESCR-Net joined the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights in Geneva for a consultation on fiscal policy, taxation and human rights, and later joined strategy meetings organized by Center of Concern to further Righting Finance. The UN Special Rapporteur invites additional civil society input via a questionnaire by the 2nd of December.