Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

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.

COVID-19 arrayed the prospects and challenges that come with digital technologies. Going forward the development of healthcare standards with such technologies calls for a mindful approach that recognises the digital divide between countries.

An artistic experience that encourages union, creativity, imagination and empathy can mitigate the impact of war. But, most importantly, it gives a friendly and safe floor for the expression of emotions, a necessity in times of emergency.

While developed nations are on track in immunising their citizens against COVID-19, Africa lags far behind. The continent needs more supplies but governments and scientific institutions must try harder to dispel widespread public mistrust causing high levels of vaccine hesitancy.

Lockdown-induced restrictions due to COVID-19 have taken a toll on education. With remote teaching being the only feasible way to impart knowledge, underprivileged learners have been disadvantaged. Catch-up classes may be a way to achieve realisation of the right to education.