RIGHTS: UN Concerned About Effects of Trade Liberalisation

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Dec 11 1999 (IPS) - The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights warned governments of the possible negative effects of structural adjustment measures and the liberalisation of trade on human rights.

The committee recommended that the government of Bulgaria keep in mind its commitment to respect and protect economic, social and cultural rights in its negotiations with multilateral lending institutions.

But the chief resolution approved by the committee’s final period of sessions this year, which concluded last week, consisted of a statement addressed to last week’s ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), held in the U.S. city of Seattle, Washington.

While the committee acknowledged the potential of free trade to generate wealth, it added that the freeing up of trade, investment and finances did not necessarily create nor lead to a setting favourable to respect for economic, social and cultural rights.

The wave of restructuring and downsizing of businesses in an increasingly competitive world and the dismantling of social security systems have generated unemployment, job insecurity and a worsening of labour conditions, thus giving rise to violations of basic economic and social rights, it stated.

The mission of the committee, made up of 18 independent experts, is to assess compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by signatory States. In its latest session, it discussed the cases of Bulgaria, Argentina, Armenia, Cameroon, Mexico and the Solomon Islands.

With respect to Bulgaria, the committee said it was disturbed by the persistence of alarmingly high levels of poverty and the deterioration of social safety nets. It urged that the government take into account the impact of reforms on poverty.

The committee also pointed to discrimination in the east European nation against Romanies (gypsies) in many areas, such as education, employment, social benefits and access to land.

In the case of Argentina, the committee concluded that the implementation of structural adjustment programmes had stood in the way of economic, social and cultural rights, especially for the most vulnerable sectors of society.

The resolution expressed concern over the high unemployment rate – nearly 15 percent – in the Southern Cone country, and especially over the large numbers of “new poor” who had previously formed part of the middle class.

Another problem was the number of workers shoved into the informal sector of the economy. Around 37 percent of workers in urban areas in Argentina are not registered, which means some three million workers – in a total population of 35 million – without social security.

The analysis of the situation in Cameroon acknowledged the West African nation’s difficulties in servicing its foreign debt, which absorbs around two-thirds of export revenues, and makes it impossible for the government to assign an adequate level of funding to social areas.

But the resolution also stated that certain cultural traditions, customs and practices in Cameroon continued to stand in the way of women’s full enjoyment of the rights contained in the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The practices mentioned included polygamy, forced early marriage and laws prohibiting women from inheriting land.

The committee criticised the government of Cameroon for failing to take adequate measures to combat, through educational programmes for example, the continuing practice of female genital mutilation, to which young women in the northern and southwestern parts of the country are frequently subjected.

The committee also complained of the lack of measures aimed at eradicating domestic violence, still deemed culturally acceptable by certain parts of society in Cameroon.

Nor have local authorities in the African nation passed laws prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace, a widespread practice according to reports submitted to the committee.

In its analysis of the situation in Mexico, the committee stated that the Latin American country had fallen short in its efforts to live up to the observations and recommendations set forth during its last period of sessions.

Mexico has made scarce progress in reducing poverty, and the State has unevenly tackled the range of economic and social problems in the region, as demonstrated by the most vulnerable and neglected sectors of Mexican society, it stated.

The committee also expressed concern over the continuing problems plaguing indigenous people in Mexico, especially in the states of Chiapas, Guerrero, Veracruz and Oaxaca. And rampant corruption has only fed into the problem of enforcing economic, social and cultural rights.

The committee added that it was disappointed with the information supplied by the Mexican State on the measures adopted to combat the serious problem of corruption in relation to the rights underlined in the Covenant.