Defending Dignity A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions on Monitoring Economic, Social and Cultural Rights EXERCISES The aim of these exercises is to refresh your memory about relevant national and international documents related to ESCR, as well as where to find them online. 1. Has your country signed and/or ratified the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights? If so, in which year? 2. Has your country signed and/or ratified the Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights? If so, in which year? Which other countries in the Asia Pacific have ratified the Optional Protocol? 3. Review your country’s constitution. Does it protect any ESCR? If so, which ones? Are they fully justiciable? 4. Go to the OHCHR website and find the general comments of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. What number is the general comment on health? What number is the general comment on forced evictions? 5. Find a general comment/general recommendation from another treaty body that relates to ESCR. What does it say? 6. Find the annual reports of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. In what year did the Special Rapporteur report on the importance of social protection measures in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)? REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING Amnesty International (2014), Human rights for human dignity: A primer on economic, social and cultural rights (2nd ed.) Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 3 (1990) on the nature of States parties’ obligations Equitas (2008), Equality for Women: A Handbook for NHRIs on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights International Commission of Jurists (1997), The Maastricht Guidelines on Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights International Human Rights Internship Program (2000), Circle of Rights: economic, social and cultural rights activism – a training resource The Limburg Principles on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1987 OHCHR (2005), Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: A Handbook for National Institutions The Maastricht Principles on the Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 2011 The Montreal Principles on Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 2002 UN Women, Progress of the World’s Women 2015–2016, Chapter 1 30