WSF Support for Permanent UN Forum on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Dionne Jackson Miller

Monday's WSF conference on human rights was wide-ranging as panellists touched on issues ranging from state repression of the trade union movement in Indonesia, to Israeli occupation of Palestine, to the urgent needs of millions of people for shelter.

One common area of focus, however, was the need for a permanent forum within the United Nations to deal with economic, social and cultural rights.

'The World Social Forum is not a decision making body,' said Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel. 'The permanent forum should be an extension of the World Social Forum, which should be able to influence its decisions.'

According to Esquivel, although the idea may sound idealistic, the precedent has been set by the creation of a forum within the UN that deals specifically with indigenous rights.

In 2000, the UN Commission on Human Rights had recommended that the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) establish a permanent forum for indigenous issues. The forum acts as an advisory group on indigenous issues relating to culture, economic and social development, health and human rights, and its creation was hailed as a major step forward in the struggle for the rights of native peoples.

The permanent forum on economic, social and cultural rights now being proposed would also be a subsidiary of the UN's ECOSOC, and would bring together representatives from civil society and governments, meeting to discuss global policies relating to these rights.

The forum would therefore handle implementation issues, and examine individual cases.

The Habitat International Coalition's representative and UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Miloon Kothari, supported the call for the establishment of a permanent forum, which he said could give economic, social and cultural rights a new prominence.

'So far these rights are still seen as aspirations, as goals, and many governments do not treat them as human rights. The creation of such a forum would perhaps help that process,' he said.

He urged, however, that even while attempts continue to establish the permanent forum, efforts be made to work within the existing structures of the UN.

'Most counties of the world have ratified one or more human rights instruments that deal with economic, social or cultural rights such as food, health, housing, and deal with the rights of specific people like children and women,' he told TerraViva.

'They have voluntarily signed these instruments and they are reporting to the UN on how they're implementing them. We think this is a very good way in which governments can be held accountable - and complimented - for progress that is made.'

In addition to the existing UN instruments, Kothari says another suggestion being proposed is that of a new complaint mechanism to hear violations of economic, social and cultural rights, a new optional protocol.

In his capacity as an expert on housing and shelter, Kothari had told the meeting that with 100 million people worldwide with no shelter, and 30 to 70 million children living on the streets, the problem of shelter has to be tackled through the framework of human rights principles.

Against this background, he presented his suggested definition of the right to adequate housing as the right of every woman, man, youth and child, to gain and sustain a secure home and community in which to live in peace and dignity.

Several other groups, including the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, made appeals for support at the forum.

The centre's representative, Raji Sourani, said that Israeli occupation forces and settlers have killed 934 Palestinians since September 2000, and 602 Palestinians in 2001.

'Palestinian social and economic development deteriorated significantly in 2001. Until measures are taken that impel the Israelis to desist from its military policies of siege, economic strangulation and assaults against Palestinians in the occupied territories, the decline in Palestine's social development will continue,' he said.

Also speaking was Muchtar Pakpahan, Indonesian trade unionist and vice-president of the World Confederation of Labour, who spoke of his government's repression of independent trade unions.

Pakpahan also threw his support behind the suggestion to establish a permanent forum, calling it an important idea.

Coumba Toure, from Mali's Institute for Popular Education agreed that the suggestions were significant ones.

'I think it was really interesting to have suggestions of permanent bodies because there have to be some structures that we build. At the same time, I believe that we have to fight on a daily basis to keep our ground, to not accept human rights violations, but at the same time we have to also work to build institutions and structures that support this in the long term,' she said.