Our strategic presence in Geneva sets us apart as the sole NGO exclusively committed to economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights. This permits us to play a pivotal role in promoting and protecting these rights globally.
Statement to Human Rights Council on Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation
UN Human Rights Council 27th sessionSeptember 2014, Geneva Oral Statement given by the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights In relation to Item #3, Clustered Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on Water and Sanitation and Special Rapporteur on Hazardous Wastes
Lucy McKernan, GI-ESCR UN Liaison addresses the Human Rights Council
The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights would like to congratulate the Special Rapporteur on water and sanitation on her term as mandate holder which she has conducted with great energy, passion, rigor and dedication. We congratulate her on the outstanding contribution she has made to the advancement of the rights to water and sanitation both in terms of their substantive content and their prominence in the work of the Council. We pay tribute to her excellent work on good practices, stigma, private sector participation, sustainability and her strong advocacy on the inclusion of human rights standards and monitoring mechanisms in the post-2015 development agenda and eliminating inequalities in that context.
We also welcome the Special Rapporteur’s report on ‘Common violations of the human rights to water and sanitation’ which provides useful practical guidance to States and other actors on what violations look like, how to avoid them and how to remedy them. We commend the constructive tone of the report and its invitation to participatory dialogue with States and the emphasis on assisting States with prevention.
The Report reaffirms the ‘comprehensive understanding of violations’ of to the rights to water and sanitation: an approach which is equally applicable to other economic and social rights, and is supported by the language of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This comprehensive approach says that violations include:
interferences with the right, such as the impact of the Gaza Blockade and recent assault on Gaza on water and sanitation infrastructure and facilities in Gaza;
failures to provide the minimum essential levels of the right, such as the large scale disconnections of water services from poor households in Detroit, US earlier this year;
failures to take positive steps to realize the right, such as in Turkana county in Kenya where 80% of the population practice open defecation, yet the government has allocated discriminatory allocation of water or sanitation services, such as is seen in the appalling conditions of urban slums all around the world.
A comprehensive understanding of violations is critical to addressing structural and systemic violations involving the ‘greatest number of victims’ and ‘the most intolerable deprivations’ and to helping us to identify and prevent violations.
We invite States to welcome this important Report and to review their implementation of the rights to water and sanitation in their country through the lens of a comprehensive violations framework.
The Report can be accessed HERE
Lucy McKernan Geneva Representative, Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. P: +41 (0)79 103 7719 W: www.globalinitiative-escr.org
The right to education guarantees that everyone should enjoy a quality education, free from discrimination and exclusion. This right, as UNESCO has recognized, is “… a powerful tool by which economically and socially marginalized adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and participate fully as citizens.”[1] While important progress has been made in ensuring that the right to education is enjoyed by all, today millions of children remain deprived of educational opportunities, and globally the UN estimates that 123 million young people between the ages of 15-24 do not have basic reading and writing skills (61 percent of whom are young women).
Amidst this backdrop of continuing inequality, the global landscape when it comes to education is also rapidly changing. One of the most notable of these changes is the recent trend towards privatization in education in many countries. The detrimental impacts related to private investment in provision of health care, water and sanitation infrastructure, and land, including ‘land-grabbing’, have increasingly been documented in recent years. Privatization of education appears to be the new horizon that profit making investors are rushing into.
This trend is proving to have significant implications for the enjoyment of the human right to education, both in terms of quality and accessibility to education. As the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education highlighted in a recent report about the Millennium Development Goals Post-2015 Framework: “in many parts of the world inequalities in opportunities for education will be exacerbated by the growth of unregulated private providers of education, with wealth or economic status becoming the most important criterion to access a quality education.”[2]
In particular, concern has been raised that privatization in education can lead to greater discrimination and that “[m]arginalised groups fail to enjoy the bulk of the positive impacts and also bear the disproportionate burden of the negative impacts of privatisation [in education].”[3] Wealth inequalities, between those who can afford to pay for private education providers and those who cannot, but also spatial inequalities, are just reinforced by privatization, further pushing into poverty already vulnerable groups.
Besides, privatization implies that States are no longer themselves providing education to the general public, and instead allow this role to be filled by non-State entities and institutions. However, under the international human rights framework, States are the duty-bearer when it comes to respecting, protecting and fulfilling the right to education, and they must ensure that there is no retrogression when it comes to the advancement and enjoyment of this right. Besides, privatisation questions and weakens the role of the State in one of the most essential social services, affecting issues from democratic participation to accountability and also impacting many other human rights.
Further discussion and dialogue are needed within international human rights circles to shed light on these issues, and to highlight people’s experiences where privatization in education is taking place. To help advance the discussion, the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and its partners, with the support of the Privatization in Education Research Initiative have engaged in national and international advocacy on the topic.
The list of issues on Morocco raised by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child after the GI-ESCR's advocacy is available here: http://goo.gl/4P5Lch (French).
See also
The website of the Privatisation in Education Research Initiative contains a lot of resources on the topic: www.periglobal.org/
The website of Education International, which represents organisations of teachers and other education employees across the globe, and is engaged on privatisation http://www.ei-ie.org/
Odindo Opiata passed away in Nairobi, Kenya on 16 August. Opiata was a leader in the field of human rights and social justice not only in Kenya but globally. He joined the Board of Directors of the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2013 after serving on our International Advisory Council and attending our initial Strategy Meeting in 2011. We will always be incredibly grateful for his wisdom, insights and support of our work. Opiata was always such an inspiration to us and we'll always know how lucky we were to have him as a friend.
Opiata was one of the earliest leaders in the economic, social and cultural rights movement in Kenya and beyond. He was a driving force behind work to combat forced evictions, as a lawyer for Kituo Cha Sheria carrying out litigation against forced evictions even when he knew the chances of success were minimal, and then as the founder of Hakijamii - the Centre for Economic and Social Rights - which he founded in 2005 and which pioneered the work of facilitating the mobilisation of activists in informal settlements around the struggle for the realisation of their rights to housing, water and sanitation and other economic and social rights. He was also involved in the work of ESCR-Net for many years, including on the Steering Committee of the Working Group on Strategic Litigation.
We know that Hakijamii and all of the others organizations and persons he's influenced over the years will carry on his work, and his legacy will only grown.
For more information on the contributions of Odindo Opiata, see HERE.
Twenty years ago, when the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action was adopted, the international community reaffirmed that “All human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated. The international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing, and with the same emphasis.” Today, that vision is just as vital as it was then, as human rights advocates work to transform a world wherein close to one billion persons live without inadequate housing, wherein over one billion persons lack access to clean water, and wherein over 840 million persons are chronically hungry.
In 2013, at Vienna +20, we are proud to say that we and other representatives of the global community once again reiterated “the importance of affording the same standard of protection to economic, social and cultural rights and to civil and political rights.” In today’s world, the interconnection and interdependence of all human rights is readily apparent and acknowledged. Yet, so too are the gaping inequalities which continue to exist in our ever more technologically advanced, yet ever more ecologically fragile, world. To advance on the most pressing questions which plague humanity today, we believe a human rights lens is key.
In 2013, the Global Initiative continued to raise its voice on behalf of ESC rights, and we have sought to work in close collaboration with our civil society partners, grassroots advocates and others throughout the world who are on the front lines of human rights advocacy within their communities. We are happy to have this opportunity to make a valuable contribution together with them, and are proud to say that we have achieved significant outcomes from our work – outcomes we see laying the foundation for transformative impact on the ground. In 2013, these outcomes were realized across all of our strategic priority areas – namely strategic litigation and legal advocacy; advancing women’s and ESC rights; and human rights and development.
Our work in strategic litigation, for example, has significantly strengthened international jurisprudence related to extra-territorial human rights obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and also led to the first ever complaint filed before the Human Rights Committee dealing with extra-territorial obligations. Extra-territorial obligations are those obligations a State has to respect, protect and fulfill human rights outside of its own boarders.
These achievements continue to advance the scope of ESC rights protection at the international level by expanding human rights accountability mechanisms to examine extra-territorial human rights violations. These results are part of our continued efforts to ensure that those that violate certain aspects of social rights – including those related to housing and water – are held accountable by the UN Human Rights Committee as violations under the ICCPR.
These successes before the UN Human Rights Committee have ensured that the principle of indivisibility of rights has real meaning and has expanded avenues for social rights enforcement under the ICCPR, including for social rights violations by States or corporate actors abroad. A range of human rights advocates are now using this expanded space for human rights accountability and remedies in their own respective advocacy, and we are proud to have helped pave the way.
Our organization also continues to play a vital role in the advancement of women’s economic, social and cultural rights with a particular focus on women’s rights secure rights to land and other productive resources. We believe that these rights are fundamental to improving women’s lives and to ensuring gender equality. Here, we have sought to create and strengthen a coherent set of progressive norms and standards which can be used by advocates to orchestrate change related to women’s rights to housing, land and other productive resources at various levels.
In 2013, we hosted a Thematic Briefing for the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) on women’s rights to land and other productive resources and later were invited to give a keynote presentation during the CEDAW Committee’s Day of Discussion on the rights of rural women. We also facilitated the participation of our international and national partners to attend and participate during this important session. The background paper, keynote address and partners’ participation all further informed the draft General Recommendation on the rights of rural women which will be adopted by the CEDAW Committee.
The Global Initiative also worked closely with partners to lead a campaign that successfully resulted in the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights adopting a landmark resolution on women’s rights to land and other productive resources. That resolution – the first of its kind – urged African States to fully comply with their obligations and commitments to ensure, protect and promote women’s right to land and property. This resolution now lays the foundation for continued work towards a General Comment to Maputo Protocol on these rights.
In the area of human rights and development, we have continued to advocate for a post-2015 development paradigm that fully incorporates the human rights framework, and ESC rights in particular. As we noted above, in 2013, the Global Initiative participated in the Vienna + 20 Conference and helped draft the CSO Declaration that resulted in the official Vienna + 20 Outcome Document calling for the entire body of human rights to be at the core of the post-2015 development framework. The Global Initiative also joined forces with other organizations to call for human rights as the core of the post-2015 development framework, including leading a consortium of groups that pushed for the recognition of rights related to access to, use of and control over land and other productive resources as a key component of the development agenda.
2013 also brought new organizational growth and increased capacity. A UN Liaison, based in Geneva, was welcomed to our team and has made a wonderful contribution to our work. Our on-the-ground presence in Geneva has allowed us to amplify not only our own voice, but also the voice of partners and advocates from around the world who would otherwise not have access to the UN’s human rights mechanisms. For example, the Global Initiative and its partners made a joint intervention at the Human Rights Council calling for a clear statement by the international community acknowledging the human rights obligations of international financial institutions and the extra-territorial obligations of their Member States. This intervention lays the foundation for future work at the Council aimed at leading to a full panel discussion of this issue at a forthcoming session of the Human Rights Council.
Finally, at the end of our second full year of operation, we are happy to report that we have ended the 2013 fiscal year on a sound financial footing which lays the foundation for organizational growth in 2014 and beyond. We are extremely grateful to our donors for the financial support we receive, and for their shared vision. We look forward to the Global Initiative’s continued work and engagement with our partners worldwide to ensure that all of the gains we have achieve so far continue to move us toward the transformative impact we seek.
By Mayra Gomez and Bret Thiele, Co-Executive Directors,Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Advocacy Update on Rights to Housing, Land and Access to Productive Resources
The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is pleased to announce the second in a series of updates highlighting in particular important advancements in the areas of housing, land and access to productive resources, as well as touching upon other social rights such as the human rights to water, sanitation, food and education. This publication, on Advocacy Update on Rights to Housing, Land and Access to Productive Resources, is meant to help inform advocates, policy makers, civil society organizations and other stakeholders about recent developments in the field, and draw attention to emerging areas of work.
It also includes a special ‘IN FOCUS’ section on ‘The impact of privatization on the human right to education.’
We hope that this publication will be a useful resource for you and that it helps to raise awareness of the many advancements that are taking place at international, regional and national levels.
Access the current Advocacy Update on Rights to Housing, Land and Access to Productive Resources HERE.
The previous Advocacy Update on Rights to Housing, Land and Access to Productive Resources can be found HERE.
ESC Rights Update from Geneva: 26th of the UN Human Rights Council, Summer 2014
10 – 27 June 2014
The 26th session of the Human Rights Council saw States considering a broad range of economic, social and cultural rights and associated issues.
Special Procedures mandate holders in relation to the Right to Health, the Right to Education and Extreme Poverty and Human Rights all reported to the Council. One of the most hotly debated topics was the two competing resolutions on business and human rights put forward by Norway (and core group) and Ecuador (and South Africa), the latter of which proposed an inter-governmental working group to begin drafting a new treaty on transnational corporations.
Other ESC rights issues that received attention were the rights of peasants, the protection of the Roma population and human rights in post disaster and post conflict situations.
This session also involved a very welcomed number of resolutions and events on women’s rights including a large event on women’s economic empowerment, discussions about negative gender stereotyping, combating FGM, eliminating child early and forced marriage and the annual resolution on violence against women.
For a detailed report on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at the 26th session of the Human Rights Council see HERE.
Report Highlights how Privatization of Education Negatively Impacts Girls in Many Parts of the World
Thirteen organizations today highlighted the discriminatory impacts of privatizing education on women and girls. The organizations submitted a brief to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to inform its discussion on girls’ and women’s right to education. The organizations argue that privatization exacerbates gender discrimination and that States must ensure the full enjoyment of the right to education for all through a fully-accountable public education system.
Press release
Geneva, 7 July 2014
Today the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) held its General Discussion on the Right to Education for Girls and Women, the aim of which is to commence the Committee’s process of elaborating a “General Recommendation on girls’/women’s right to education.” The purpose of the general recommendation is to provide authoritative guidance to States on the measures they should adopt in order to respect, protect and fulfill the right of women and girls to education.
Thirteen organizations from around the world presented a written submission to CEDAW on ‘Privatization and its Impact on the Right to Education of Women and Girls,’ highlighting evidence from a range of countries showing that more boys are enrolled in schools than girls, a problem that is exacerbated by the increasing privatization of education. Privatization in many cases deepens gender discrimination in education because already marginalized and vulnerable groups, including women and girls, are more disadvantaged by private provision and are the least able to pay for services.
Lucy McKernan, UN Liaison with the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, one of the 13 organizations which today delivered a joint statement to the Committee, told Committee members that “for poor families, even low-fees charged by private schools are a massive disincentive to educating girls. This problem is also further compounded by problems such as lack of regulation and oversight of private educational institutions, which can result, in some cases, in a lack of accountability for sexual assault of girls by school teachers and administrators, promotion of gender stereotypes, and lack of access to sexual and reproductive health education, which also have disproportionate impacts on girls.”
The organizations also highlighted that to redress structural discrimination, States must provide quality, accessible, free public schooling so parents are not forced to choose between their daughters and sons, in line with their international human rights obligations
Privatization of education is on the rise globally, particularly within the context of economic crisis and the move by many States to implement austerity measures and make significant cuts to social services. It is this increasing trend that makes it an opportune moment for the CEDAW Committee to offer guidance around issues of privatization of education, and its potentially detrimental impacts for women and girls.
Research shows that this trend is putting at risk children’s right to education in many countries. Research projects such as the Privatization in Education Research Initiative have been documenting in the last years the risks posed by this privatization trend in terms of social justice, and this topic has been the subject of a side-event at the last session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva as well as of growing scrutiny from UN human rights bodies.
Response to Report on corporate liability for gross human rights abuses
The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights submitted a written response to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in response to the recent report entitled Corporate liability for gross human rights abuses: Towards a fairer and more effective system of domestic law remedies by Dr. Jennifer Zerk (the Zerk Report) and the report's call for consultations. The Zerk Report is aimed at furthering development of the business and human rights framework, but risks taking a too conservative and narrow approach that doesn't reflect the current state of international human rights law. The Global Initiatives response focused on five key areas of the report, namely:
Definition and limitations of ‘gross human rights abuses’ (section 2);
Role of civil society organisations (section 3)
Extra-territorial aspects of the State ‘duty to protect’ (section 4);
Extra-territorial jurisdiction as a barrier to corporations’ home State law enforcement (section 5); and
Treaty-based initiatives (section 6).
It is hoped that as the area of business and human rights continues to be developed that the framework includes within its scope violations of all human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights, as well as the extra-territorial obligations of States to ensure that corporate actors don't violate human rights abroad and, if such violations occur, provide accessible accountability mechanisms and effective remedies to victims of those violations.
As the report concludes: "In our view the solution to the problem of corporate accountability for human rights abuses will be a long-term, multi-pronged project involving extensive efforts to build domestic legal systems and capacities, increased home State regulation of business entities operating abroad, improved access for foreign victims to home State legal systems and an international instrument which imposes enforceable obligations on business entities including those operating across State borders."
The Global Initiative's submission can be found HERE.
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights scrutinizes China regarding extra-territorial obligations
The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights welcomes the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights' Concluding Observations on China, which include strong and detailed language on the issue of extra-territorial obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights successfully intervened with a Parallel Report laying out the extra-territorial obligations under the ICESCR and requesting that the Committee include scrutiny on those obligations within the periodic review of China. The Parallel Report relies in part on the Maastricht Principles on Extra-Territorial Obligations, which provide the clearest and most comprehensive reaffirmation of extra-territorial obligations under international human rights law. The Parallel Report was supplemented by a joint Parallel Report by the Global Initiative and theInternational Human Rights Clinic at Western New England University School of Law which provided factual examples of violations of China's extra-territorial obligations.
In its Concluding Observations, the Committee called upon China to adopt a human rights-based approach to its policies of international cooperation, by:
"(a) Undertaking a systematic and independent human rights impact assessment prior to making funding decisions;
(b) Establishing an effective monitoring mechanism to regularly assess the human rights impact of its policies and projects in the receiving countries and to take remedial measures when required; and
(c) Ensuring that there is an accessible complaint mechanism if violations of economic, social and cultural rights occur in the receiving countries."
The Committee also addressed the extra-territorial obligation to protect in the context of corporate accountability, expressing its concern "about the lack of adequate and effective measures adopted by the State party to ensure that Chinese companies both State-owned and private, respect economic, social and cultural rights, including when operating abroad" and recommending that China:
"(a) Establish a clear regulatory framework for companies operating in the State party to ensure that their activities promote and do not negatively affect the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural human rights; and
(b) Adopt appropriate legislative and administrative measures to ensure legal liability of companies and their subsidiaries operating in or managed from the State party’s territory regarding violations of economic, social and cultural rights in their projects abroad."
According to Bret Thiele, Co-Executive Director of the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, "The Committee has made clear that the ICESCR includes extra-territorial obligations to respect, protect and fulfill human rights, including by regulating and otherwise holding corporations accountable to those obligations for their activities abroad and ensuring that any international cooperation and development cooperation includes systematic and independent human rights impact assessments prior to making funding decisions as well as the provision of an accessible complaint mechanism if violations of economic, social and cultural rights occur in the receiving countries."
Thiele added that "the Concluding Observations not only touch upon the extra-territorial obligation to respect by directly refraining from human rights violations and the extra-territorial obligation to protect in the context of corporate activities abroad, but should be interpreted as also addressing the extra-territorial obligation to fulfill by ensuring that human rights impact assessments also focus on how best to further the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights through bilateral and multilateral international cooperation and development assistance."
The Global Initiative hopes these conclusions and recommendations are followed by all States Parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and urges the Committee to apply similar scrutiny of extra-territorial obligations on a regular basis during periodic reviews.
The Global Initiative’s Parallel Report regarding the List of Issues can be found HERE
The List of Issues can be found HERE
The Global Initiative’s Parallel Report on the legal analysis for the periodic review can be found HERE
The Joint Global Initiative – International Human Rights Clinic at Western New England University School of Law factual Parallel Report can be found HERE
The Global Initiative’s oral intervention can be found HERE.
The Committee's Concluding Observations can be found HERE.
Ana Clara works as a Programme Officer on Public Services with the Global Initiative for Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. She holds a master’s degree in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action from Sciences Po in Paris, where she focused on economic, social, and cultural Rights, and Latin American and gender studies. She holds a Bachelor of Laws from Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso in Brazil.
Ana Clara previously worked on litigation claims concerning the right to social security and the right to health at the Public Defender’s Office and Federal Court of Justice in Brazil. She also supported the work of the Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Recently, she worked on strategic litigation before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as part of the team of the Center for Justice and International Law.
Ana Clara, country is Brazil (Based in Paris).
ASHINA MTSUMI
PROGRAMME OFFICER -PUBLIC SERVICES & REPRESENTATIVE FOR AFRICA
Ashina works as the Programme Officer for Public Services and Representative for Africa with the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. She is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, with an LL.B degree from the University of Nairobi, Kenya, and an LL.M (with distinction) in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa from the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Passionate about social justice, she has worked in the human rights sector for over six years at the intersection of global and national struggles for just systems of public service delivery to ensure everyone can enjoy their socio-economic rights, first at the Economic and Social Rights Centre-Hakijamii in Kenya and then at GI-ESCR. In particular, she has led and supported research and advocacy at local, national and global research and advocacy focused on the human rights legal framework relating to the rights to land, housing, education, health and water, for marginalised communities. Her research interests also include human rights and economic policy and the contribution that human rights obligations can make to the formulation and implementation of economic policy.
Ashina is based in Nairobi, Kenya.
BELÉN QUELLET
SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER
Belén has a BA in International Relations. She lived in India and the Philippines just after graduating where she volunteered for three years in health and education projects. Upon her return to Argentina, where she is native from, she joined Red Solidaria as volunteer and international aid coordinator. She worked as a journalist and program manager at La Nación newspaper foundation in Buenos Aires, to later become Social Media information specialist at the US Embassy in Buenos Aires. She acted there as Liaison Officer with other sections and became Grant Officer representative. She was selected to become HelpArgentina's Executive Director to help expand fundraising opportunities abroad for NGOs from other Latin American countries, and successfully transitioned the organization into PILAS, Portal for Investment in the Latin American Social Sector. From there she moved on to working at a new media startup, RED/ACCION, as Engagement Editor and Membership coordinator before joining us as Communications Officer.
Belén is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
LORENA ZENTENO
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
Lorena Zenteno is a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh. Her primary research interests include the human rights dimensions of climate change and environmental impacts, climate change justice, gender, and the judiciary’s role in the climate change crisis. Lorena has worked for several years in Chile, as a judge, as a law clerk, in the Court of Appeal of Concepcion, Santiago and in the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Chile. She is a member of the Environment and Human Rights Commission of the National Association of the Chilean Judiciary, dedicated to study and discuss climate change and environmental impacts on human rights. Lorena is the Chilean National Rapporteur on Global Climate Litigation database for the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law of Columbia University.
She was a senior researcher for the former UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights, Karima Bennoune, from September 2018 until September 2021. Supported and assisted the UN Special Rapporteur to fulfil his mandate to the UN General Assembly and UN Human Rights Council.
She holds an LL.B. from Universidad de Concepcion, a LL.M. in Environmental Law from the University of Davis, California, and a Master in Business Law from the University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. Lorena is a member of the the Global Network for the Study of Human Rights and the Environment.
Lorena is based in Geneva, Swiss.
ZSUZSANNA NYITRAY
PROGRAMME OFFICER -RIGHT TO EDUCATION
Zsuzsanna works as Right to Education Officer with the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Prior to joining GI-ESCR, she assisted in the drafting process of the Abidjan Principles on the Right to Education and the development and publication process of the Commentary of the Abidjan Principles as a consultant. Previously, she has worked with the Open Society Justice Initiative as an Aryeh Neier Fellow on issues such as equality and non-discrimination, Roma rights, the right to education, economic justice, access to justice and the rule of law. She has also worked as a lawyer with the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union on educational segregation, Roma rights and hate crimes. She holds an LL.M in Public International Law from the University of Edinburgh and a Law Degree from the Eötvös Loránd University Budapest.
Zsuzsanna is based in Budapest, Hungary.
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MAGDALENA ROCHI
PROGRAMME OFFICER - CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
Magdalena works as Programme Officer on Climate and Environmental Justice for the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. She is an international lawyer working on the intersections between human rights, environmental and economic law. Prior to joining GI-ESCR, she worked dealing with the protection of economic and social rights in Argentina, at an NGO focused on strategic litigation and as a clerk in the judiciary. She holds an LL.B. and a JD from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she specialised in International Law and an LL.M from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Switzerland.
Magdalena is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
ASHINA MTSUMI
OFICIAL DE PROGRAMA - SERVICIOS PÚBLICOS Y REPRESENTANTE PARA ÁFRICA
Ashina es oficial del Programa para los Servicios Públicos y Representante para África de la Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Es abogada de la Corte Suprema de Kenia, egresada (LL.B) de la Universidad de Nairobi, Kenia, y con un máster (LL.M) en derechos humanos y democratización en África, completado con honores, en el Centro para los Derechos Humanos de la Universidad de Pretoria en Sudáfrica. Ashina es una apasionada de la justicia social, y ha trabajado en el área de los derechos humanos en el marco de las luchas nacionales y mundiales por sistemas más justos de prestación de servicios públicos, que garanticen a todos el disfrute de sus derechos socioeconómicos. Primero trabajó en el Economic and Social Rights Centre de Hakijamii, Kenia, y luego, en el GI-ESCR. Concretamente, ha dirigido y apoyado la investigación y la defensa, a nivel local, nacional y mundial, del marco legal de derechos humanos para los derechos de las comunidades marginadas a la tierra, la vivienda, la educación, la salud y el agua. Sus intereses en la investigación se orientan también a los derechos humanos y las políticas económicas, así como a la contribución que el cumplimiento de los derechos humanos hace a la formulación y ejecución de las políticas económicas.
Ashina reside en Nairobi, Kenia.
ZSUZSANNA NYITRAY
OFICIAL DE PROGRAMA - DERECHO A LA EDUCACIÓN
Zsuzsanna es oficial del Programa de Derecho a la Educación de la Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Antes de unirse a GI-ESCR, colaboró, como consultora, en la redacción de los Principios de Abiyán sobre el derecho a la educación, así como en la elaboración y publicación del Comentario de los Principios de Abiyán. Previamente, Zsuzsanna trabajó con la Open Society Justice Initiative como becaria de la Aryeh Neier Fellowship, en temas como la igualdad y la no discriminación, los derechos de los romaníes (Roma Rights), el derecho a la educación, la justicia económica, el acceso a la justicia y el estado de derecho. También ha trabajado como abogada con la Hungarian Civil Liberties en la segregación educativa, los derechos de los Romaníes y los crímenes de odio. Tiene un máster (LL.M) en derecho público Internacional por la Universidad de Edimburgo y una licenciatura en Derecho por la Universidad Eötvös Loránd, Budapest.
Zsuzsanna reside en Budapest, Hungría.
BELÉN QUELLET
SENIOR AGENT DE COMMUNICATION
Belén est titulaire d’un BA en relations internationales. Juste après avoir obtenu son diplôme, elle a vécu en Inde et aux Philippines, où elle s'est portée volontaire pendant trois ans pour des projets de santé et d'éducation. À son retour en Argentine, d'où elle est originaire, elle a rejoint Red Solidaria en tant que volontaire et coordinatrice de l'aide internationale. Elle a travaillé comme journaliste et responsable de programme à la fondation du journal La Nación à Buenos Aires, pour devenir ensuite spécialiste de l'information sur les médias sociaux à l'ambassade des États-Unis à Buenos Aires. Elle y a joué le rôle d'agent de liaison avec les autres sections et est devenue représentante des agents de subvention. Elle a été choisie pour devenir la directrice exécutive de HelpArgentina afin d'aider à développer les possibilités de collecte de fonds à l'étranger pour les ONG d'autres pays d'Amérique latine, et a réussi la transition de l'organisation vers PILAS, le portail d'investissement dans le secteur social latino-américain. Elle a ensuite travaillé pour une start-up de nouveaux médias, RED/ACCION, en tant que rédactrice chargée de l'engagement et coordinatrice des membres, avant de nous rejoindre en tant que responsable de la communication.
Belén vit à Buenos Aires, en Argentine.
ANA CLARA CATHALAT
OFICIAL ASOCIADO DE PROGRAMA- SERVICIOS PÚBLICOS
Ana Clara Cathalat colabora como socia en la Global Initiative for Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, mientras prosigue con su máster en derechos humanos y acción humanitaria en la Universidad Sciences Po, París. Allí centra su interés en los derechos económicos, sociales y culturales y en estudios de género en América Latina. Tiene una licenciatura en derecho por la Universidad Federal de Mato Grosso, Brasil.
Previamente, Ana Clara trabajó en reclamaciones judiciales relacionadas con el derecho a la seguridad social y el derecho a la salud en la Oficina del Defensor Público y el Tribunal Federal de Brasil. Asimismo, apoyó la labor del Relator Especial en Derechos Económicos, Sociales, Culturales y Ambientales de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos. Recientemente, trabajó en litigios estratégicos ante la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, como miembro del equipo del Centro por la Justicia y el Derecho Internacional.
Ana Clara, Brasil. (Reside en París).
LORENA ZENTENO
INVESTIGADORA ASOCIADA
Lorena Zenteno es estudiante de doctorado en la Universidad de Edimburgo. Entre sus principales intereses de investigación se encuentran el impacto del cambio climático y su efecto ambiental sobre los derechos humanos, la justicia ambiental, el género y el papel del sistema de justicia en la crisis por el cambio climático. Trabajó varios años en Chile como jueza y como asistente jurídico en la Corte de Apelaciones de Concepción, Santiago, y en la Sala Constitucional de la Corte Suprema de Chile. Es miembro de la Comisión de los Derechos Humanos y Ambientales de la Asociación Nacional de Magistrados y Magistradas de Chile, la cual se dedica a estudiar el impacto del cambio climático y su efecto ambiental sobre los derechos humanos. Lorena es la relatora nacional chilena de la base de datos de los litigios por el cambio climático del Sabin Center for Climate Change Law de la Universidad de Columbia.
Trabajó como investigadora principal para la Relatora Especial sobre los Derechos Culturales de las Naciones Unidas, Karina Bennoune, desde septiembre de 2018 hasta septiembre de 2021. Apoyó y asistió al Relator Especial de las Naciones Unidas en sus labores ante la Asamblea General y el Consejo de Derechos Humanos de las Naciones Unidas.
Tiene una licenciatura en derecho por la Universidad de Concepción, un máster en derecho ambiental por la Universidad de Davis, California, y un máster en derecho empresarial por la Universidad Pompeu Fabra en Barcelona, España. Lorena es miembro de la Global Network for the Study of Human Rights and the Environment.
Lorena reside en Ginebra, Suiza.
MAGDALENA ROCHI
PROGRAMME OFFICER - CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
Magdalena works as Programme Officer on Climate and Environmental Justice for the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. She is an international lawyer working on the intersections between human rights, environmental and economic law. Prior to joining GI-ESCR, she worked dealing with the protection of economic and social rights in Argentina, at an NGO focused on strategic litigation and as a clerk in the judiciary. She holds an LL.B. and a JD from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she specialised in International Law and an LL.M from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Switzerland.
Magdalena is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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OFICIAL DE PROGRAMA - SERVICIOS PÚBLICOS Y REPRESENTANTE PARA ÁFRICA
Ashina es oficial del Programa para los Servicios Públicos y Representante para África de la Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Es abogada de la Corte Suprema de Kenia, egresada (LL.B) de la Universidad de Nairobi, Kenia, y con un máster (LL.M) en derechos humanos y democratización en África, completado con honores, en el Centro para los Derechos Humanos de la Universidad de Pretoria en Sudáfrica. Ashina es una apasionada de la justicia social, y ha trabajado en el área de los derechos humanos en el marco de las luchas nacionales y mundiales por sistemas más justos de prestación de servicios públicos, que garanticen a todos el disfrute de sus derechos socioeconómicos. Primero trabajó en el Economic and Social Rights Centre de Hakijamii, Kenia, y luego, en el GI-ESCR. Concretamente, ha dirigido y apoyado la investigación y la defensa, a nivel local, nacional y mundial, del marco legal de derechos humanos para los derechos de las comunidades marginadas a la tierra, la vivienda, la educación, la salud y el agua. Sus intereses en la investigación se orientan también a los derechos humanos y las políticas económicas, así como a la contribución que el cumplimiento de los derechos humanos hace a la formulación y ejecución de las políticas económicas.
Ashina reside en Nairobi, Kenia.
ZSUZSANNA NYITRAY
RESPONSABLE DE PROGRAMME - DROIT À l’ÉDUCATION
Zsuzsanna travaille actuellement en tant que responsable du droit à l'éducation pour l'Initiative mondiale pour les droits économiques, sociaux et culturels. Avant de rejoindre GI-ESCR, elle a participé, en tant que consultante, au processus de rédaction des Principes d'Abidjan sur le droit à l'éducation et au développement et à la publication du Commentaire des Principes d'Abidjan. Auparavant, elle a travaillé avec l'Open Society Justice Initiative en tant que boursière Aryeh Neier sur des questions telles que l'égalité et la non-discrimination, les droits des Roms, le droit à l'éducation, la justice économique, l'accès à la justice et l'État de droit. Elle a également travaillé en tant qu'avocate pour l'Union hongroise des libertés civiles sur la ségrégation scolaire, les droits des Roms et les crimes haineux. Elle est titulaire d'un master en droit international public de l'Université d'Édimbourg et d'un diplôme de droit de l'Université Eötvös Loránd de Budapest.
Zsuzsanna vit à Budapest, en Hongrie.
ANA CLARA CATHALAT
CHARGÉE DE PROGRAMME ASSOCIÉE – SERVICES PUBLICS
Ana Clara Cathalat collabore actuellement, dans le cadre d’une bourse, à l’Initiative mondiale pour les droits économiques, sociaux et culturels, tout en préparant un master en droits de l'Homme et action humanitaire à Sciences Po Paris, où elle se spécialise en droits économiques, sociaux et culturels, ainsi qu’en études de genre et latino-américaines. Elle a une licence de droit de l’Université Fédérale du Mato Grosso au Brésil.
Ana Clara a auparavant travaillé sur des actions en justice relatives au droit à la sécurité sociale et au droit à la santé auprès du Bureau de l’aide juridictionnelle et de la Cour de justice fédérale du Brésil. Elle a également appuyé les travaux de la Rapporteuse spéciale sur les droits économiques, sociaux, culturels et environnementaux de la Commission interaméricaine des droits de l'Homme. Elle a récemment travaillé sur des actions en justice dans des cas stratégiques auprès de la Cour interaméricaine des droits de l'Homme, au sein de l’équipe du Centre pour la Justice et le Droit International (CEJIL).
Ana Clara, le pays est le Brésil (Basée à Paris).
LORENA ZENTENO
ASSOCIÉE DE RECHERCHE
Lorena Zenteno est doctorante à l’Université d’Édimbourg. Ses principaux thèmes de recherche sont les dimensions du changement climatique et des problèmes écologiques relatives aux droits de l'Homme, la justice climatique, le genre, et le rôle de la Justice dans la crise du changement climatique. Lorena a travaillé pendant plusieurs années au Chili, comme juge et comme légiste, auprès des Cours d’appel de Concepción et Santiago et de la Chambre constitutionnelle de la Cour suprême du Chili. Elle fait partie de la Commission de l’environnement et des droits de l'Homme de l’Association nationale de la magistrature chilienne, dont la mission est d’étudier et de débattre des conséquences du changement climatique et des problèmes écologiques sur les droits de l'Homme. Lorena est la Rapporteuse nationale chilienne sur la base mondiale des actions en justice climatiques pour le Centre Sabin pour le droit du changement climatique de l’Université de Columbia.
Elle a occupé le rôle de chercheuse principale pour l’ancienne Rapporteuse spéciale sur les droits culturels de l’ONU, Karima Bennoune, entre septembre 2018 et septembre 2021. Elle a appuyé et soutenu la Rapporteuse spéciale de l’ONU dans l’accomplissement de son mandat conféré par l’Assemblée générale de l’ONU et le Conseil des droits de l'Homme de l’ONU.
Elle a une licence de droit de l’Université de Concepción, un master en droit de l’environnement de l’Université de Davis (California) et un master en droit des affaires de l’Université Pompeu Fabra de Barcelone (Espagne). Lorena fait partie du Réseau mondiale pour l’étude des droits de l'Homme et de l’environnement.
Lorena vit à le Chili, basé à Genève.
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Si vous aimez notre travail, pensez à faire un don !
Aucun montant n'est trop petit. Votre contribution nous aidera à lutter pour un changement transformateur afin de mettre fin aux problèmes endémiques d'injustice sociale et économique.
L'Initiative mondiale pour les droits économiques, sociaux et culturels est une organisation à but non lucratif 501(c)(3). Les dons sont déductibles des impôts dans de nombreux pays, y compris aux États-Unis.
BELÉN QUELLET
SENIOR OFICIAL DE COMUNICACIONES
Belén es licenciada en Relaciones Internacionales. Apenas se graduó, vivió en la India y en Filipinas, donde fue voluntaria durante tres años en proyectos de salud y educación. Al regresar a su nativa Argentina se incorporó a la Red Solidaria como voluntaria y coordinadora de ayuda internacional. Trabajó como periodista y gestora de programas de la fundación del diario La Nación en Buenos Aires, para luego convertirse en especialista en información de medios sociales en la Embajada de Estados Unidos en Buenos Aires. Allí actuó como oficial de enlace con otras secciones y se convirtió en oficial representante de los programas de subvenciones. Fue seleccionada como Directora Ejecutiva de HelpArgentina con la función de ampliar las oportunidades de recaudación de fondos internacionales de las ONG de otros países latinoamericanos, y logró la transición exitosa de la organización hacia PILAS, Portal para la Inversión Social en Latinoamérica. De allí pasó a trabajar en una nueva empresa de medios de comunicación, RED/ACCION, como editora y coordinadora de membresías, antes de unirse al equipo de la GI-ESCR como oficial de comunicaciones.
Belén reside en Buenos Aires, Argentina.
CAMILA BARRETTO MAIA
DIRECTORA EJECUTIVA
Camila cuenta con más de 14 años de experiencia en abogacía a niveles nacional, regional y multilateral, especializándose en la supervisión de investigaciones y litigios sobre diversos temas de derechos humanos. Ha residido en Buenos Aires, donde trabajó en el Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS), coordinando esfuerzos internacionales durante cuatro años. Camila posee una maestría en Administración Pública y Política Pública de la Fundación Getulio Vargas en San Pablo y una licenciatura en Relaciones Internacionales de la Universidad de Brasilia.
Camila reside en Brasilia, Brasil. .
ANA DI FILIPPO
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
Ana Emilia Di Filippo is currently pursuing the qualifying Master’s to become a lawyer in Spain at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. She also holds two undergraduate degrees, having graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from IE University and with a Bachelor of Science in Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics (Major in Comparative Law) from the University of Amsterdam. During her studies, she specialised her research on International Tax Law, particularly focusing on its transformative power and its potential to achieve social justice worldwide. In this framework, her latest research assessed the potential of the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation to advance procedural and substantive justice in the international tax regime.
Ana is based in Madrid, Spain.
ANA DI FILIPPO
INVESTIGADORA ASOCIADA
Ana Emilia Di Filippo está cursando actualmente el Máster habilitante para ejercer como abogada en España en la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. También posee dos títulos de grado, habiéndose graduado con un Grado en Derecho de IE University y con un Grado en Ciencias en Política, Psicología, Derecho y Economía (con especialización en Derecho Comparado) de la Universidad de Ámsterdam. Durante sus estudios, se especializó en investigación sobre Derecho Fiscal Internacional, enfocándose particularmente en su poder transformador y su potencial para lograr justicia social a nivel mundial. En este marco, su investigación más reciente evaluó el potencial de la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas sobre Cooperación Fiscal Internacional para promover la justicia procedimental y sustantiva en el régimen fiscal internacional.
Ana reside en Madrid, España.
ANA CAROLINA GONZÁLEZ ESPINOSA
BOARD MEMBER
Ana Carolina is the Senior Director for Programs at NRGI. She works closely with thematic and regional program staff to advance strategic priorities, specially on just transitions and fair and sustainable economic and energy transition pathways in fossil fuel producing countries. She oversights strategy and implementation in the engagement with women, youth and communities around social and environmental governance, as well as in approaches to capacity development and influencing. Ana Carolina has more than 20 years of academic and professional experience in development, especially in relation to resource governance, communities’ participation, climate change and the energy transition.
She has been a visiting researcher at Columbia University in New York and at the Universidad Católica in Peru. She is currently an associate researcher at the Universidad Externado de Colombia. She has worked as a research and project consultant with the United Nations Development Programme, the International Finance Corporation, the Inter-American Development Bank, Transparency International—Colombia, NRGI and the Stockholm Environment Institute. She was a member of the international board of directors of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and the national EITI committee in Colombia, and she co-founded a coalition of civil society organizations and a non-governmental organisation in the field of governance. Most recently, Ana Carolina worked as a senior program officer of the natural resource and climate change program of the Ford Foundation, where she managed grantmaking monitoring and convening activities for the global initiative. She actively contributed to donor collaborative platforms working on climate change, communities’ land rights, transparency, accountability and energy.
Ana Carolina is from Colombia. She holds a Ph.D. in political science and two master’s degrees—in development and in comparative politics—from the Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) in Paris, France, as well as a bachelor’s degree in government and international relations from Universidad Externado de Colombia. She is fluent in English, French and Spanish.
SARA ALESSI
INTERN
Sara is currently working with the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as an intern. She holds a master's degree in law from the University of Turin in Italy, where she specialised in International Law and her thesis was entitled 'Rape as a War Crime: the Case of the Conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina', focusing on the legal and humanitarian dimensions of armed conflict and accountability mechanisms. Additionally, Sara is an LL.M. candidate from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. Prior to joining GIESCR, she volunteered with an Ugandan NGO to contribute to the educational and emotional well-being of children by valuing the importance of the right to education.
Sara is based in Geneva.
ANGÉLICA ZAMORA
BOARD MEMBER
Angélica Zamora is a social justice expert with more than a decade of experience in political philanthropy supporting human rights, feminist, racial and intersectional justice movements globally. She served as a manager at the Open Society Foundations (OSF), where she led regional and global programs advancing human rights and democratic values across diverse political contexts. She has designed and directed initiatives in areas such as citizen security and violence reduction, human rights and democratic resilience, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to her tenure at OSF, Angélica was a researcher and activist supporting Colombia’s peace process and served in the country’s reparations and humanitarian assistance agency, where she engaged with communities affected by historical inequality and violence to co-design and implement programs focused on victims’ rights and access to state services in conflict-affected territories.
Angélica is from Colombia. She obtained her law degree from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, her LL.M. from American University's Washington College of Law and a degree in Transparency, Corruption and Accountability from the Centro de Derechos Humanos at the Universidad de Chile.
BENEDETTA PANAGIA
INTERN
Benedetta is currently an intern at the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. She holds a master’s degree in law from Roma Tre University in Italy, where she specialised in international law. Her thesis, “International Sanctions and Humanitarian Action in Light of UNSC Resolution 2664”, focused on the impact of sanctions on economic, social and cultural rights and on the humanitarian dimension of sanctioning regimes. Benedetta is also an LL.M. candidate at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights.
Benedetta is based in Geneva.
TATIANA ZINN
INTERN
Tatiana is a human rights researcher from the United States pursuing an M.A. in Human Rights Studies at Columbia University. Her work focuses on gender-based violence, conflict-related sexual violence, and international human rights law. Her current research examines ISIS’s use of sexual violence in Iraq and the role of gender-based violence in armed conflict.
Tatiana graduated with honors from UCLA with a B.A. in Global Studies. She has experience in survivor advocacy, human rights education, and research on issues related to gender, conflict, and international justice.
