Part I Defining the issues to be monitored Right Description Provision Social security The right to social security includes assistance and protection for all. Social security benefits should support all citizens, especially individuals experiencing unemployment, disability, ill-health, maternity or old age. ICESCR: Articles 9 and 10 CRC: Article 26 ICERD: Article 5 CEDAW: Article 11 CRPD: Article 28 ICMW: Article 27 Water and sanitation The right to water and sanitation includes access to safe drinking water and affordable sanitation services. ICESCR: Articles 11 and 12 CRC: Article 24 ICERD: Article 5 CEDAW: Article 14 CRPD: Article 28 Work The right to work includes an individual’s right to employment. It also includes rights at work, such as fair wages, safe working conditions and the right to join a union. ICESCR: Articles 6-8 ICERD: Article 5 CEDAW: Article 11 CRPD: Article 27 At the regional level, human rights mechanisms have been established in Africa, the Americas and Europe. Although not directly applicable in the Asia Pacific, these mechanisms have also produced jurisprudence which has contributed to the normative development of ESCR. 2.2. HOW ARE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RIGHTS FRAMED DOMESTICALLY? ESCR are widely recognized in domestic legal systems, although not always to the same extent as civil and political rights. There are a number of ways that national constitutions can and do address ESCR. The constitutions of numerous countries in the Asia Pacific explicitly recognize as least some ESCR as fully justiciable rights. This means that individuals can go to court when their rights have been violated. The right to own property, the right to form trade unions and the right to freedom from discrimination, for example, are commonly justiciable, including in India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, the Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal and Papua New Guinea. In some cases, an even larger number of ESCR, including healthcare, education and social security are justiciable. In other countries, the protection and promotion of ESCR are included as general State duties under the constitution. This is the case in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam, among others. General State duties impose obligations on the Government in relation to ESCR but do not give individuals the right to go to court if the Government fails to meet these obligations. Nevertheless, some courts have been willing to incorporate ESCR standards when defining the scope of justiciable civil and political rights. For example, the Indian Constitutional Court has interpreted the right to life to include the right to an adequate standard of living. In addition, virtually all countries in the region have general laws that incorporate elements of ESCR, even if they are not explicitly framed in human rights terms. For example, urban planning legislation affects the rights to housing and to water and sanitation, while laws governing pensions and unemployment benefits have an impact on the right to social security. Depending on how these laws are framed, individuals may have the right to go to court to dispute particular issues. Similarly, anti-discrimination laws are often justiciable and can be used to advance the ESCR of particular groups. Chapter 2: Economic, social and cultural rights standards | 19