Interrogating the Inadequacies of the Promotional and Protective Mandate of the African Charter’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Provisions

Abstract

There is a plethora of rights that are provided in different international and regional instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human and People’s Rights (UDHR) and the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The conspicuous nature of socio-economic and cultural rights is that they require immediate and progressive realisation and cannot be deferred. Economic, social and cultural rights include the right to education, social security, food, water, health and other rights that enable people to live a dignified life. It is a strand of human rights that require so much specifics to the extent that vagueness may culminate in misinterpretation and even the creation of crises. This paper seeks to deliberate on those economic, social and cultural rights (ESCRs) which are contained in the African Charter, and the extent to which the provisions of the African Charter fall short of international human rights standards in articulating these rights.

Keywords:Socio-economic and cultural rights; Universal Declaration; Promotional and Protective Mandate; African Charter; Human Rights

DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/14-2-01

Publication date:March 31^st 2024