Gap between rich, poor alarms Caritas Zambia

Gap between rich, poor alarms Caritas Zambia
Written by Masuzyo Chakwe
Monday, July 27, 2009 12:22:16 PM

CARITAS Zambia has stated that the gap between the rich and the poor has grown to alarming levels and the government must show commitment to reducing such inequalities.

Caritas stated that there could be no meaningful development if the majority of the people did not have access to basic human rights which in this case were promulgated in the economic, social and cultural rights.

"The legal mechanism, known as the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), will be presented to countries for their signature at the United Nations General Assembly meeting on September 24, 2009. The presentation of the Optional Protocol is a watershed moment for human rights advocates, who have fought for access to justice and effective remedies for economic, social and cultural rights (ESC rights) violations for the past several decades," it stated.

Caritas stated that ESC rights included the basic elements required to live a life of dignity and freedom from want.

It stated that among the ESC rights protected in the ICESCR, which was ratified by Zambia in 1984, were the rights to food, water, health care, education, shelter, decent work, and social protection.

"Under the ICESCR, a state that has ratified the treaty must ‘take steps . . . to the maximum of its available resources’ to achieve ESC rights for all of its citizens. The ICESCR itself has no provision to allow individuals to bring a complaint against their government for ESC rights violations. The Optional Protocol to the ICESCR fills this gap by creating a procedure to allow such a complaint," it stated.

Caritas stated that though the government of Zambia was duty-bound to implement the ICESCR through its domestic laws and policies, at present Zambia had no domestic legal remedy for ESCR violations.

It stated that the National Constitutional Conference was deliberating on whether to include ESC rights in the new Constitution's Bill of Rights, a move that would empower Zambians to bring ESC rights complaints before national courts.

Caritas Zambia called upon civil society to stand in solidarity with those who seek justice for economic, social and cultural rights violations by signing a petition to encourage the government to sign, ratify and implement the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR.