Social and Economic Rights

Social and economic rights encompass a number of rights such as rights to food, to social security, housing, education, an adequate standard of living, and to health. The key human rights treaty addressing these rights is the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) also includes a number of economic and social rights.

Resources listed on this section of the WHRR database discuss the range of social and economic rights as they affect women and also address the question of interdependence between social and economic rights on the one hand, and civil and political rights -- guaranteed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) -- on the other.

Canadian resources included on the database for this topic address a number of issues such as rights to poverty, social assistance and other social programmes, and the Canadian Government's reports to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Search Tip: To find Canadian social and economic rights resources using the database search page, limit your search to the "Social and Economic Rights" topic and enter "Canada" into the keyword field.

Visitors using this database to research social and economic rights may also be interested in resources on Property Law and Housing Rights and on Economic Globalization