Part I Defining the issues to be monitored Acts of omission • The failure to take appropriate steps as required under the Covenant. • The failure to reform or repeal legislation which is manifestly inconsistent with an obligation of the Covenant. • The failure to enforce legislation or to put into effect policies designed to implement provisions of the Covenant. • The failure to regulate the activities of certain individuals. Often, violations that result from failures to fulfil ESCR amount to acts of omission. These can be harder to show. Chapter 3 discusses how to frame research questions that comprehensively capture the various dimensions of the obligation to fulfil, as outlined above. 2.6. IN PRACTICE: CLARIFYING HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITMENTS After identifying the human rights issue or issues that will be the focus of your monitoring activity, it is important to understand exactly how the right is defined and what the Government has (or, in some cases, has not) committed itself to do in order to realize that right. As discussed in this chapter, information about the content of rights and obligations can be found in national, regional and international instruments, as well as in the jurisprudence and opinions of courts, international human rights bodies and other experts. It is very important to review these in the early stages of planning a monitoring activity. UPDATE FROM AHN Ahn knows that the right to health is protected in article 12 of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. But she wants to find out more about what it includes. So she looks to see how it has been interpreted. She finds that: • General Comment No. 14 on the right to health by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights sets out how the criteria of availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality apply in the context of health; explains what steps States are expected to take to fulfil the right to health; and identifies the minimum core components of the right to health, which include guaranteeing maternal healthcare. • The Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health has issued several thematic reports spelling out different aspects of States’ obligations (e.g. in relation to health workers, medicines, financing and so on), as well as a report specifically on maternal health. • OHCHR has published technical guidance on the application of a human rights-based approach to the implementation of policies and programmes to reduce preventable maternal mortality and morbidity. • CEDAW also requires the State to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of healthcare, and to ensure women have access to healthcare including family planning. After reading through these materials, Ahn is confident that she understands the full normative framework of the right to health and its relevance to the issue of sexual and reproductive health rights in her country. Chapter 2: Economic, social and cultural rights standards | 29