Support to LitigationAs mentioned in our last update, the SLWG was exploring the possibility of new third party interventions before the UN Committee on ESCR (CESCR). A request for intervention was granted in September on a case involving unpaid care work, social security and indirect as well as intersectional discrimination in Ecuador. SLWG members, working in partnership with members of the Women and ESCR Working Group, including AI (international), ACIJ (Argentina), CESR (international), FOCO (Argentina), GI-ESCR (international), Hakijamii (Kenya), IWRAW-AP (international), LRC (South Africa), SRAC (Canada), Professor Lilian Chenwi (South Africa) and Viviana Osorio Pérez (Colombia), presented this intervention to the CESCR. This will be the fourth intervention submitted to the CESCR by the SLWG. Further information and the collective intervention are available here. The intervention follows the process established by the Guidance on Third Party Interventions (in English), released by the CESCR in September 2016. Next Steps: As the SLWG looks towards 2018, we would like to facilitate a discussion among members to evaluate recent strategic litigation efforts and explore ongoing and potentially new directions for collective action. We hope that you will join this discussion, and will email shortly about proposed dates. Please be in touch with Susie Talbot at: stalbot@escr-net.org, who will work with Joie Chowdhury to coordinate collective member efforts. Implementation of Human Rights Decisions and Institutional DevelopmentOn 5 September, several member organizations of the Strategic Litigation Working Group of ESCR-Net (SLWG), including CEMDA (Mexico), DPLF (regional), FUNDAR (Mexico), CEJIL (regional), FIAN (international), AIDA (regional), and HIC-LA (regional), gathered in Mexico City to discuss strategies for improving the implementation of recommendations issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Such strategies relate to, for example, the current system of classification of compliance levels, and the effectiveness of work meetings held by the Commission. Next steps will include participation in the First Inter-American System of Human Rights Forum (Washington, DC) on 4 December, involving a member meeting, as well as an online discussion with the new Special Rapporteur on ESCER in late December. SLWG members also plan to engage in evolving discussions with Commissioners next year. This project would benefit from and ideally contribute to engagement with other regional systems, while potentially strengthening collective efforts to advance corporate accountability, indigenous land rights and ESCR more broadly. If you would like to get involved in our planned meetings on 4 December or just generally with this project, please contact Joie Chowdhury at: jchowdhury@escr-net.org, who will be facilitating member engagement with Alexandra Montgomery. At the international level, SLWG members are continuing to engage with the CESCR and are supporting the efforts of Observatorio DESC and other Spanish allies to advance implementation of the second positive CESCR decision on the right to housing. The project is part of a broader initiative to strengthen implementation through institutional development. This case provides openings to deepen civil society participation in the follow up to Views process, recently established by the CESCR, and to apply the principles of reasonableness and non-repetition to the implementation of the CESCR’s general recommendations under the individual communications procedure. Next Steps: The SLWG will facilitate an online strategy discussion in December 2017 with Spanish organizations and social movements leading implementation efforts, in order to review the case and explore concrete openings for engagement. Members interested in this first strategy session, include, CESR (international), Jackie Dugard (South Africa), FOCO (Argentina), GI-ESCR (international), HLRN (Egypt), IWRAW-AP (international), Just Fair (UK), Malcolm Langford (Norway), and YUCOM (Serbia). If you would like to join this first webinar and/or get involved, please contact Joie at: jchowdhury@escr-net.org, who will be coordinating member engagement with Francesca Feruglio. Publications, ESCR-Justice Newsletter, and the Caselaw DatabaseIn the last three months, new case summaries have been added to ESCR-Net’s Caselaw Database on women’s rights to property, Roma children’s right to education and equitable distribution of funds for education in English, Spanish, French and Arabic. We continue to welcome contributions from SLWG members regarding recent positive and final (non-appealable) decisions on ESCR. Decisions are posted on the database and released through our monthly newsletter. Please contact Joie at: jchowdhury@escr-net.org if you would like to discuss the publishing of particular rulings. GOVERNANCE UPDATESThe Steering Committee met on 13 October in order to support a smooth transition and prepare for evaluation and planning at the end of the year. Gabriela Kletzel (CELS), Salima Namusobya (ISER), Urantsooj Gombosuren (CHRD) and Diana Guarnizo (Dejusticia) were present on the call. Bruce Porter (SRAC) was supporting a simultaneous call on the OP-ICESCR and potential events to promote the tenth anniversary of its adoption in 2018. In the coming period, Susie Talbot, legal director, and Joie Chowdhury, program facilitator, will be coordinating collective member action in relation to strategic litigation and implementation with the support of other secretariat staff. NEW MEMBERS!The Endorois Welfare Council (EWC) became an ESCR-Net member in 2017. As part of SLWG involvement in implementation of the Endorois case, we are currently in evolving discussions with EWC to hold a second workshop—co-facilitated by the ESCR-Net Women and ESCR Working Group—with emerging Endorois women leaders, together with a wider strategic exchange among indigenous and grassroots women leaders involved in land struggles. MEMBER PROFILEInterview with Salima Namusobya, Executive Director, Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER), Uganda 1. Could you highlight one recent impact that ISER has celebrated in terms of advancing of ESCR? We have contributed towards the draft CESCR General Comment (GC) on State obligations with respect to business activities, and in February 2017, participated alongside other ESCR-Net members in a Day of General Discussion in Geneva on the draft GC. As a litigator, it is very clear to me that GCs have an important role to play in shaping our understanding of State obligations. A strong GC in relation to business and human rights will reinforce protections for people against rights abuses perpetrated by corporations. It will enable us in the future to coordinate effective third party interventions before the Committee on these issues. 2. What alliances, if any, were important? Working with other network members has been very helpful. For example, GI-ESCR, another ESCR-Net SLWG member, helped coordinate our participation in Geneva. 3. Would you have any examples where collective action with ESCR-Net members complemented your work or where it might do so in the future? To assist our national litigation efforts in Uganda, ACIJ from Argentina, another ESCR-Net SLWG member, shared their expertise on the use of budget analysis in litigation. We found this really useful. Strategic sharing of experience, cases and expertise across the network can be very important to advance work at the national level. Collective work is also key in terms of accessing certain spaces. For example, in relation to accreditation needed at the UN, being a member of the network can help organizations connect more seamlessly to relevant international systems. As regards the future, it would be good for the network to take a strategic and collective approach towards ensuring capacity building for local organizations in relation to case identification. The Strategic Litigation Working Group aims at ensuring accountability for violations of economic, social and cultural rights by strengthening access to competent adjudication and effective remedies within domestic, regional and international systems, developing contextualized models on implementation and making resources available to advocates.
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