Resources on economic, social and cultural rights: general principles
Guides and manuals
NEW:
MobileActive Strategy Guide #1: Using Mobile Phones in Elections and Voter Registration
This guide by Michael Stein is designed to equip organisations around the world with the know-how to deploy effective mobile campaigns for various types of activism and advocacy. Guide #1 covers the use of mobile phones in elections, both as voter registration and monitoring tools. They can also be used to educate citizens on candidates and their stances on issues and for fund raising in support of candidates. Read>>
Primer on Development and Aid Effectiveness
This primer sees the Paris Declaration as an unprecedented achievement for the international donor community and the partner governments, committing themselves to key principles for aid reform. Since the aid effectiveness agenda is narrowly focused on aid management and delivery, there is little knowledge of the issue among broader circles of the development community and even more so among civil society organisations, parliaments, media and the public in general. The Primer advocates that it is often not understood that the aid effectiveness agenda actually addresses the crucial issues of reforming relationships in development cooperation and aid which are as old as official development aid itself. Read>>
Litigating ESC Rights: A legal practicioners dossier
COHRE 2007
The 300 page COHRE Legal Practitioners Dossier provides a user-friendly but comprehensive reference guide for lawyers and advocates wanting to plead economic, social and cultural rights (`ESC rights') in courts and before other adjudicatory bodies.
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Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Activism: A training resource
Circle of Rights: Human Rights Resource Center, University of Minnesota
Contains materials on specific rights, a rights-based approach, strategies and tools for economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights activism and suggested training methodologies for ESC rights training programs.
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Human rights for human dignity: A primer for economic, social and cultural rights
Amnesty International (2005)
This primer provides an overview of economic, social and cultural rights, outlines their scope and content, and gives examples of violations and strategies to address them. It elaborates national and international obligations of governments, as well as the human rights responsibilities of a wider range of actors, including international organisations and corporations.
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Ripple in still water: Reflections by activists on local and national level work on economic, social and cultural rights
International Human Rights Internship Program (1997)
This study addresses the basic concepts and and action surrounding ESC rights, like the general principles of ESC rights activism, the content of international standards, education and mobilisation.
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Participatory training for human rights
Pambazuka
This is a CD-Rom composed of 2 parts:
(a) Dying to be free: the story for survival, justice and dignity by rice farmers in Mwea District, Kenya. It
highlights the indivisibility of human rights and interconnection between human rights and development; (b) Pambazuka: explains the methodologies used to conduct the investigations reported in (a). Issues
include: engaging with rural communities to tell their own experiences; how to organise them to claim
their rights; and participatory rural appraisal.
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Handbook for promoting and defending economic, social and cultural rights
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2000)
The Handbook discusses laws and practices for NGOs and others active in civil society who want to prevent or stop violations of economic, social and cultural rights and promote fulfilment of these rights at the national and international levels.
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Maastricht guidelines on violations of economic, social and cultural rights
Maastricht (1997)
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Montreal principles on women's economic, social and cultural rights
Montreal (2002)
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Practical guide to the World Trade Organisation
3D: Trade - Human Rights - Equitable Economy
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Fair Growth: Economic policies for Latin America’s Poor and Middle Income Majority
In this book, Nancy Birdsall Augusto de la Torre and Rachel Menezes present ‘tools’ to make life in Latin America more equitable and fair for the majority.
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Websites
United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
The Committee's website provides information on its work and structure; also general comments on ESC rights are included.
Visit Website>>
The webiste of the Centre of Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) has a useful tool on using the UN Committe for ESC Rights guideline.
