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Training Course on Monitoring Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

11-15 May 2009
Geneva, Switzerland

 

In recent years, monitoring economic, social and cultural rights has become the modality to mainstream the realization of these rights as equally important to that of civil and political rights and thus rightly acknowledge their status as integral part of human rights law. This five-day training course answered to the increasing need of organizations to acquire know-how and enhance their capacity and knowledge in order to effectively pursue the monitoring of economic, social and cultural rights.

 

Course Aim and Objectives
The course provided staff from small and medium organisations with the know-how to get started in monitoring economic, social and cultural rights (ESC rights), and the in-depth knowledge to enhance their ESC rights monitoring work.


Program
The course program covered the following topics:

  • History of ESC rights; Content and scope; Justiciability; Progressive realisation.
  • Human rights monitoring; Using indicators to document violations; Data sources.
  • Making data talk: presenting findings in an engaging and appealing way.
  • Defining an advocacy strategy; Overview of the UN human rights mechanisms relevant to ESC rights and how to interact with them, including the Treaty Bodies, Special Procedures and the Human Rights Council.
  • Substantive case studies on: the right to food, the right to housing, the right to education; the right to health, and other ESC rights.
  • Discussions with experts, including UN Treaty Body members and Special Rapporteurs; visit to a session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.


Training methods
A dynamic combination of lectures with hands-on practical work on real country situations, facilitated by experts experienced in ESC rights work at both UN and grassroots level.

 

Practical information
The second annual session of this five-day intensive training course was held at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, from 11 to 15 May 2009.

The course was held in parallel with the May session of the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in Geneva. This allowed course participants to observe the Committee in session.

 

Course Organizers

The course was hosted and organized by the Project on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, in conjunction with HURIDOCS (Human Rights Information and Documentation Systems International).

 

Certification

Participants who successfully completed the course received a certificate of participation from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights.

 

 

What previous participants have said about the course

“The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies / HURIDOCS course provided an opportunity to explore new developments in ESC rights, identify new resources, and reflect on how NGOs in the area can shape their work to best capture these developments. Above all it provided a space to share learning with others in development and human rights fields, and discover the wealth of work that has already been done and that can be easily accessed.”
Rosalind McKenna
Coordinator, Human Rights Based Approaches (HRBA) Project
Amnesty International (Irish section)

 

“The course generally was a very strong learning experience … Course contents were relevant and well illustrated by practical examples.  I can absolutely justify the expense and time out from the office to follow this course – well done all involved!”
Anonymous feedback from a course participant, 2008 program

 

“Thank you very much – It was a very exciting and motivating week and very good in terms of networking and discovering new sources of info and deepening my knowledge on ESC rights.”
Anonymous feedback from a course participant, 2008 program

 

“As a campaigner, I don’t often need to get into monitoring but it was great to get a better and deeper understanding of ESCR and it definitely satisfied my intellectual curiosity at many levels!”
Anonymous feedback from a course participant, 2008 program