Economic, social and cultural rights are fundamental building blocks for achieving sustainable development

Erbil – Access to adequate food and water, housing, education, health, a decent job, and freedom to practice one’s culture are basic human rights that are essential to sustainable development.   To empower relevant stakeholders to monitor legislative policies and budget processes that can guarantee these rights, the UNAMI Human Rights Office (HRO) in Erbil conducted a one-day training on 20 September 2022 for 27 men and women comprising journalists and civil society organisations working on humanitarian, development, women, and girls’ rights issues.

Annette Lyth, UNAMI’s Senior Women’s Protection Adviser in Erbil, said that the objective of the training was to empower participants with the right tools for monitoring laws enacted to ensure citizens access their economic, social, and cultural rights.  “You need the required knowledge and skills for monitoring the fundamentals of economic, social and cultural rights as well as identifying its violations. This training will also provide you with the right tools to hold meaningful engagement with the government and other actors that support and enhance protection of these rights that advance the sustainable development goals, ensuring that we leave no one behind.”

Tarah Saadaldin, a Monitoring and Evaluation officer at the Emma Organisation for Human Development, works on monitoring sexual and reproductive health rights for females within youth groups in schools. “There is a lack of transparency of information for these rights, and we would like to use the tools we acquired today to provide that accessibility to information for vulnerable populations”, Ms. Saadaldin said in an interview at the end of the training.

To achieve these rights, civil society organisations and the media will need to foster an effective and functioning alliance to network and collaborate on monitoring the rights of citizens.

Surkew Mohammed, Chief of Peregraf Website, an independent online news outlet, appreciates the importance of partnerships in monitoring and identifying human rights violations. He said that his institution has mounted a legal challenge against the three presidencies (KR President, KR Prime Minister and KR Speaker of the Parliament) demanding access to information regarding the fiscal budget. Mr. Mohammed shared his experience with the other participants on how to advocate for the right to obtain information.   He said, “Today’s workshop was crucial to build sustainable partnerships between the civil society organisations and the media so that we can work together to have better awareness on how to engage with the authorities to enhance transparency, respect for human rights, and the rule of law.”

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