To Monitoring

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Indonesia

• ESC rights related issues are some of the most pressing in today’s economic, social and political environment.

• No pressure on most Governments in the world to fulfill ESCR obligations.

• How International Human Rights Instruments can be used to strengthen local advocacy efforts?

• Using the opportunity that Indonesia is reviewed in May 2014 to develop a civil society alternate report

• To strengthen the work of human rights organisations in Indonesia

Setting the Context

Why are We Here?

• Diverse views get consolidated

• Represents the larger civil society interest

• Less duplication of effort and better use of resources

• Is credible source of information for CESCR members

• Gets more used as is time saving for CESCR members

Collective Process

Why work in a Collective

• Short term– Civil Society report

• Long term– A Collective voice that monitors ESCR in

Indonesia

Goals for a Collective Process

Collective on ESCR

How Can PWESCR Help

• PWESCR can assist Indonesian civil society in 4 ways:• • 1. Build capacity to develop a good alternate report• 2. Provide Technical assistance for all UN Procedures

• Accreditation• Visa• Submissions

3. During CESCR Review in Geneva• Oral Statement• Lunch briefing with CESCR members• Meeting with Rapporteur• Lobbying

4. Follow up • Implementation of Concluding Observations

Partnership with PWESCR

• Indonesia ratified ICESCR in 2006

• Indonesia first review before CESCR May 2014

• Indonesia was also reviewed by the UN CEDAW in 2012, and UPR 2012.

Indonesia and CESCR

Working Methods of the Committee on ESCR

• The Covenant on ESCR has 31 articles and 21 General Comments

• 18 members elected for a term of 4 years, and there is a Chairperson.

• States that have ratified have to submit an initial report in two years of ratification and then report every 5 years subsequently– The State report is a public document and should be

available easily

UN Procedures

Working Methods of the Committee on ESCR

• Pre Sessional Working Group – Identify in advance a list of questions for the State representative.– State has to give the Committee a response in writing to these questions– Secretariat prepares a country file (OHCHR)

• It provides background material to the Committee members

• State Reports before the Committee (ref. to reporting guidelines in the binder) (TAG 5)

– Committee considers the report in clusters of articles (usually 1-5, 6-9, 10-12, 13,15)– Committee members will ask the State representative various questions– State has to reply immediately to all questions that don’t require further research– Pending questions are taking up in subsequent meetings

• Concluding Observations

UN Procedures

Working Methods of the Committee on ESCR

• Pre-Sessional Working Group: – Ngos can submit list of issues– Make oral presentations– Send all kinds of information in form of photographs, videos, text, news clippings to

the Secretariat to provide information to the Committee

• Session at Which a State party is Scheduled for consideration:– Shadow report/alternate report sent to the Secretariat– Oral presentation before the Committee and Lunch briefing– Observe the dialogue between the State party and the Committee

• Follow-up to the Committee’s Concluding Observations– Submission of information to the Secretariat on the implementation of the Concluding

Observations of the Committee in the State Party concerned.

Civil Society Participation

Some Suggestions

• Collaboration between various NGOs is recommended. – Produce a single consolidated submission representing broad consensus

to give Committee a clearer picture of current status of implementation– Joint submission eliminates duplication and contradictory information– Committee cannot give adequate attention to multiple reports

• All information should be specific to the Covenant only– concise and succinct– Documentation of facts with proper references– Reliable and not abusive

• Kinds of submission– Besides shadow reports Ngos can submit any type of information to the

Secretariat such as press clippings, NGO newsletter, video, reports, academic publications, studies, joint statements etc.

Civil Society Participation

Content

• Organizing the Content– Organizing by articles rather than issues indicates an

understanding of the treaty and respect for Committee’s time.– Identify and prioritize issues in the Collective– Gather documentation and evidence to illustrate the issue

• This can include statistics, legal cases, testimonies, news clipping, etc.• Statistics are most useful if they are disaggregated

– Identify major obstacles and recommend approaches to removing them

– If government has entered reservation suggest changes that would allow for withdrawal.

– Provide the Committee with clear questions to raise regarding each article.

– Be practical: Report should be focused and provide framework to develop specific lobbying points.

Civil Society (Shadow/Alternate) Report

Structure

• Organizing the report for maximum impact:

– Organize the information according to the articles and not issues– Limit report to not more than 30 pages– Committee members have limited amount of time in which they

want to get information about the most pressing issues in a concise format.

– Provide a Table of Content and Executive Summary– Describe the problem, show the evidence, and the specific

suggestion for change. Indicate who in the government is responsible.

– Prioritize issues. Committee will be able to focus only on few issues.

Alternate Report

Structure Structure for each chapter: (Examples from India and Sri Lanka)

•List of issue—gap in dejure and defacto and what is missing in government report

•Provide the evidence, empirical data, statistics to make a very good case

•List of question for the UN Committee to ask Indian Government in Context of these rights

•List of recommendation for the UN Committee to make to the Government in terms of how to fulfill their obligation (use past Concluding Observations from UPR,CEDAW)

Approach•Intersectionality approach •Commitments not fulfilled •Dark areas the report fails to mention

CESCR and Indonesia

ICESCR

• Article 1Right to self determination• Article 2.1 Commitment of State parties to achieve

progressively the full realisation of rights enshrined in the Covenant

• Article 2.2 Non-discrimination• Article 3 Right of men and women to the equal

enjoyment of ESCR rights• Article 4 Limitations in enjoyment of rights only for

promoting the general welfare of a democratic society

ICESCR• Article 5 Non-derogation from the rights enshrined in

the Covenant; no person, group or government has the right to destroy any of these rights

• Article 6 Right to Work• Article 7 Right to just and favourable conditions at

work• Article 8 Right to form and join trade unions without

restriction• Article 9 Right to social security• Article 10 Rights of the family and its members,

including special protection for mothers, children and young persons

ICESCR• Article 5 Non-derogation from the rights enshrined in

the Covenant; no person, group or government has the right to destroy any of these rights

• Article 6 Right to Work• Article 7 Right to just and favourable conditions at

work• Article 8 Right to form and join trade unions without

restriction• Article 9 Right to social security• Article 10 Rights of the family and its members,

including special protection for mothers, children and young persons

List of Articles• Article 1-5:

– Right to self determination– Progressive realization, maximum available resources – Non discrimination– Equality between men and women– International coorporation and Aid

• Article 6-9– Right to work– Rights at work: Conditions of work : fair wages, decent living, safe healthy

work environment, promotion, and rest.– Trade union rights– Right to social security and social insurance

ICESCR

List of Articles• Article 10-12:

– Rights in a family, Marriage with free consent, Protection for mothers (incl. maternity benefits), Child labour

– Right to adequate standard of living (food, clothing and housing)– Right to health

• Article 13 -15– Right to education– Cultural Rights

CESCR

State Obligations•Article 2.1 ICESCR

“Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take steps, individually and through international assistance and cooperation, especially economical and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the rights recognized in the present Covenant by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures.”

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

• Enhancement of capabilities and freedom from Want/Needs

• Involve an identifiable ‘core content’ or ‘core obligation’ • ( the survival kit)

• Include a prohibition against retrogressive measures

Maximum available resources

• The question of resources is understandably a complex one. Suggested five categories of resources: human resources, technological, information, natural resources, and financial resources. It is recommended to keep scope open-ended as the nature of resources can change over time and differ depending on the context.

• Financial resources alone from among all possible categories of resources may encompass various policy parameters such as government revenue, monetary policy and financial regulations, debt and deficit financing and development assistance.

Obligations of States parties

education & information campaigns for public awareness

Respect (refrain from direct or indirect interferance)

Protect (prevent third parties from interfering)

Fulfil (core obligations and progressive realization)

Provide Facilitate Promote

positive measuresfor those unable to do so

Obligation to respect

• To respect human rights means not to interfere with their enjoyment– For instance, States should refrain from

carrying out forced evictions and not arbitrarily restrict the right to vote or the freedom of association

State Obligation

Obligation to protect

• To protect human rights means to take steps to ensure that third parties do not interfere with their enjoyment– For example, States must protect the

accessibility of education by ensuring that parents do not stop girls from going to school.

State Obligation

Obligation to fulfill

• To fufill human rights means to take steps progressively to realise the rights in question. (subdivided into)

• obligations to facilitate: obligation of the state to engage proactively in activities that would strengthen people’s ability to meet their own needs, for instance, creating conditions in which the market can supply the health care services that they demand.

• The obligation to provide goes one step further, involving direct provision of services if the rights concerned cannot be realised otherwise, for example to compensate for market failure or to help groups that are unable to provide for themselves.

• The obligation to promote looks at education & information campaigns for public awareness.

State Obligation

ESCR Frame work

• Availability

• Accessibility- Economic (Affordability),

Physical and Information

• Adequacy

• Quality

3 AQ

Right to Education

• Availability: – financial allocations matching human rights

obligations

– teachers (education, training, recruitment, labour standards related to teachers)

Example

• Accessibility: – elimination of legal and administrative barriers– elimination of financial obstacles– identification and elimination of discriminatory

practices– elimination of obstacles to compulsory

schooling ( fees, geographical access, schedule)

• Adequacy• schools equivalent to school aged children• No. teachers in proportion to students

Quality

– Language of instruction

– Enforcement of minimum standards (such as quality, safety, environmental health)

– Recognition of children as subjects of rights

Cross Cutting IssuesCrosscutting issues that will be in all our chapters:  

Lessons from India•Gender (Women focus) •Livelihood & Labour •Dignity •Implementation (failure of government to implement) •Marginalization – Inclusion & equality (Dalit, indigenous and all other minorities) •Budget •Impunity (violators getting away) •Entitlements •Indivisibility of rights

 

CESCR and Indonesia

Time LineReport needs to be in Geneva by March 2014 (will get the exact dates)

  1st draft of all chapters:

National consultation to review chapters:

Finalisation of chapters: Research of dataediting

Submission to OHCHR in Geneva

Civil Society Delegation to be in Geneva: fundraisingidentifying who should goAccreditationVisa

 

CESCR and Indonesia

Time LineIndonesia Before CESCR April 30th 3:00 PM and May 1st (morning and afternoon sessions)  

Preparation before ReviewPress conferenceMeet various governments

Civil Society Delegation to Reach Geneva by April 29th

Training in Geneva on April 29th for Oral statements

Open Day April 28th

you can make a statement

Review: April 30th and May 1st

Lunch Briefing with Committee Members on April 30thPrepare Lobby NoteMeeting with the Rapporteur May 1st/2nd.

 

CESCR and Indonesia