Corruption and economic, social and cultural rights 06 December 2008

The International Strategy Meeting on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and ESCR-net General Assembly meeting was held in Nairobi, Kenya on 1-4 December 2008. The event brought together some 200 key human rights, social justice and grassroots’ activists from around the world. The organising body ESCR-net is an international network of human rights organisations from the Americas, Africa and Asia promoting economic, social and cultural rights.

As part of the event, Research Director Magdalena Sepúlveda was moderating a discussion on the impact of corruption on economic, social and cultural rights, especially as these relate to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in society. The workshop was organised in collaboration with the Center for Legal and Social Studies (Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales, CELS), a non-governmental organisation working for the promotion and protection of human rights and to strengthen the democratic system in Argentina. The workshop was one of the activities to disseminate the findings of the Council’s project on the links between corruption and human rights for representatives of the human rights and the anti-corruption movement.

The project will produce two reports. The first report, to be published this year, examines the ways in which corrupt practices may violate specific human rights in particular economic, social and cultural rights. It also explores the possibilities of collaboration between human rights and anti-corruption organisations, and where such collaboration will create opportunities and obstacles. It provides some recommendations for human rights organisations that wish to work on corruption. It is hoped that, if the links between corruption and human rights are made clear, organisations and agencies working in the field of human rights may see the value of collaborating more closely with national and international anti-corruption agencies, and vice versa.