Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Overweight people can experience discrimination in many settings including healthcare. The World Health Organisation is calling for a de-stigmatising approach in public policies to address obesity. How can human rights law help?

In Argentina the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the consequences that irregular migration brings in terms of access to housing, labour and social assistance. Regularisation policies have impacted on migrants’ lives in a context where xenophobic discourses dominate the agenda. Existing initiatives to mitigate this scenario should be accompanied by state actions to reverse such a trend.

People working in the sex industry have been severely affected by the social and economic crisis stemming from COVID-19. As a business generating immense profits worldwide, whether in person or online, it is time to bring this industry into the global debate over business and human rights, with a focus on gender and intersectional perspectives.

Food is a fundamental human right, yet it remains the most violated right of all. Despite UN efforts to end world hunger, the Russia-Ukraine crisis has led to sanctions and export restrictions, making food security all the more precarious.

As Nelson Mandela said: ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’. Reshaping the Balkans’ partitioned schools to focus on inclusion and human rights could help challenge societal divisions and prejudices.

As we celebrate having survived COVID-19, one distinct contrast remains—vaccination levels vary widely throughout the world. While most global north countries have hit their targets, Africa lags far behind, making it too early to abandon precautionary measures.

The COVID 19 pandemic has increased stigma and discrimination against persons with albinism in Ghana with negative effects on their health.

What are the true requirements for ending world hunger? Drawing lessons from community-driven food growing initiatives in South Africa, we advocate for a human rights-based approach to build communities with localised and participatory food systems.

In framing education as a ‘right’, we often displace ways of learning that are inherent and indigenous to our everyday lives. Through counterculture pedagogy that thinks of kindness and imagination as forms of intelligence, education can be a collective endeavour where each of us are interconnected and knowledgeable in abundant ways.

Contrary to common wisdom, social rights are not twentieth-century additions to the human-rights corpus. A foray into their deeper history reveals the factors that have impeded the human rights project over the centuries, with vital lessons for today.