SCN News No 36 - UNSCN

www.unsystem.org/scn PROGRAMME NEWS 69
Optional Protocol on ICESCR
FIAN
Good news for the children, women and men who are hungry, malnourished, ill, or who do not have access to clean
water, sanitation, education and other ESC rights due to national and international public policy actions or omissions.
The UN Human Rights Council - in a historical decision – approved by consensus on June 18th, the Optional Protocol
for the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The most important step was taken
towards the establishment of an international recourse mechanism for the investigation and redress of violations of the
IESCER. Once approved by the UN General Assembly, economic, social and cultural rights will finally have equal standing
with civil and political rights in face of the International Human Rights System.
The Optional protocol is the result of several decades of work by governments, civil society , experts and UN human rights
bodies. The ICESCR was one the few major human rights treaties which did not count with a mechanism for the presentation
of petitions related to violations. An intergovernmental working group had been working on the draft since 2004.
With the adoption of the Protocol, governments recognize the competence of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
rights to receive and investigate communications of violations from individuals and groups; to request the governments to
adopt urgent cautionary measures to avoid further and irreparable damage to victims of potential violations; to investigate claims
of serious and systematic violations received from reliable sources, related to ESC rights. The text of the protocol establishes as
well that States should guarantee that individuals presenting such claims are not harassed or intimidate from presenting them.
The entry in force of the Protocol, in the year that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights completes 60 years, is an
important step towards the effective incorporation of the Human Rights paradigm into economic and development policy.
Individuals and groups, affected by violation of any of the rights included in the Covenant, will be able to hold their governments
accountable, as well as the international community, towards the effective realization of these rights. The full
implementation of the Protocol will certainly strengthen the push for more participation, transparency, public accountability,
policy coherence and adequate budget allocation, with the participatory establishment of goals, benchmarks and
timelines, suitable for adequate public monitoring of the implementation and impact of public policies on the realization
of ESC rights for all, in special traditional excluded and discriminated against individuals, groups and communities.
Contact: valente@fian.org
PMNCH
Countdown to 2015 Conference 17-19 April, Cape Town
The mission of the Countdown to 2015 for maternal, newborn and child survival is to track progress made towards the
achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals 1, 4 and 5 in 68 Countdown priority countries and
promote evidence-based information for better health investments and decisions by policy-makers regarding health
needs at the county level.
The second Countdown to 2015 Conference was held in Cape Town, South Africa from 17-19 April 2008 in conjunction
with the 118th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). One of the highlights of the Conference was the Countdown/IPU
Special Session in which a delegation of IPU parliamentarians actively participated, together with 14 Ministers
and country delegations from 61 out of 68 Countdown priority countries. The special session was an advocacy exercise
to sensitize IPU parliamentarians and all participants to maternal, newborn and child survival and to have them take action
in their countries to reach the goals for MDGs 1, 4 and 5.
Nutrition was among topics discussed at the Countdown to 2015 Conference, as reflected in a presentation by Dr Robert
Black of John Hopkins University on the findings and key messages from the Lancet Nutrition Series (see full agenda
with presentation material here) as well as in the final Statement of commitment concerning maternal, newborn and child
survival. This statement takes note that "adequate nutrition, and food security, water and sanitation should be a priority
at all levels and in particular at the family level, given their strong relationship to overall health, productivity and ultimately
to social and economic development". In "affirming that the achievement of the MDGs must be based on a strong
commitment of all governments, organizations, and partners to protecting the human rights of women, children and adolescents",
the Ministers, parliamentarians and all participants present at the Countdown to 2015 Conference committed
themselves to "an intensive effort to:
• Sustain and expand successful efforts to achieve high and equitable coverage of effective and high-impact interventions
that save lives and improve the health of mothers and children, and thereby contribute to the fight against poverty;
• Integrate efforts to address undernutrition with broader maternal and child health strategies;
• Support initiatives to stop early marriage, early childbirth and harmful practices, to keep adolescent girls in schools
and to promote good health-seeking behaviour among them;
• Strengthen primary health care, linked to the achievement of measurable results;
• Invest in strengthening health systems, including efforts to improve the quality, accessibility, affordability and coverage
of essential health services, with a particular focus on priority periods within the continuum of care and strengthening
links with interventions addressing HIV/AIDS;
• Invest in infrastructure development and human resources in relation to ethical recruitment and training of health
workers, particularly skilled attendants, at all levels, assuring a committed and motivated health workforce;
• Allocate more resources to research, monitoring and evaluation for maternal,
back to contents SCN NEWS # 36