"SHIFT FOCUS FROM POLITICAL AND CIVIL RIGHTS TO SECR," CHILINYA COUNSELS THE MEDIA

In its continued efforts to promote dialogue and advocate for the inclusion of economic social and cultural rights in Zambia’s constitution, FIAN International Zambia, a human rights organization which advocates for the right to adequate food and nutrition, held a training on these rights in Lusaka the capital city of Zambia on the 31 August 2022.

The training which was facilitated by legal experts attracted about 25 participants from various media and Civil Society Organisations-CSOs.

During the training, participants were brought to speed on, the importance and why the economic social and cultural rights must be included in the Bill of Rights of the Zambian constitution.

WHAT ARE ESCR?

Economic, social, and cultural rights are the freedoms, privileges, and entitlements that individuals and communities require to live a life of dignity. 

These human rights include the rights to food, housing, health, education, cultural identity, and more. Although some economic, social, and cultural rights cannot be immediately implemented, States that have ratified the relevant treaties nonetheless have the obligation to guarantee these rights.

Specifically, states have an obligation to respect, protect, and fulfil economic, social, and cultural rights. The obligation to respect means States cannot interfere with the enjoyment of the right. 

The obligation to protect requires the State to reasonably prevent other actors from interfering with the enjoyment of the right. The obligation to fulfil mandates that the State actively take steps to create the conditions necessary for individuals’ full enjoyment of the right. See,

 e.g. http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/FactSheet33en.pdf 

Below are some of the video clips on the issues raised by Participants during the workshop. 

Speaking in her presentation during the training, a Lusaka-based lawyer Kabanda Lopa Chilekwa highlighted that it is important to protect Social, Economic and Cultural Rights and advocate for their inclusion in the constitution because their gross violation can be the root cause of civil unrest and conflicts in a country.

She cautioned that neglecting some social economic and cultural rights such as the right to health does not only have some social repercussions but also negatively impacts other rights such as the right to life.

"I know every one of us was affected when we began getting news from South Africa that foreigners were being attacked(xenophobia). Some of us had friends .....relatives in South Africa and we were really panicking when we started seeing the videos we couldn't understand why are human beings behaving this way. Getting tares and burning people to death, does this make sense? When you interrogate this issue a little, you will find that one of the biggest problems that brought that about, was the indigenous South African saying these foreigners are getting our job. So it was actually an issue of employment. Now because employment was affected. These couldn't get the food that they needed....and they were then suffering poverty which made them rush out..leading to civil unrest and conflicts. Therefore if we focus on ensuring that we protect these rights..we fulfil them.. , and we find ourselves, we get in a position where we minimise, not remove.... the potential for such conflicts within our societies. Most importantly the denial of these particular rights can actually lead to violation of other rights. So we might be sitting here saying let's just pay attention to Civil and Political rights but you will find that if the right to health is neglected it impacts the rights to life,...if the right to education is neglected it impacts our ability to fully express ourselves as we demand other rights," she said.

"As highlighted in the name social, economic and cultural rights, these rights are actually broken down into economic rights, social rights and cultural rights. Economic rights include the right to work, the right to a fair wage...and safe working conditions and the right to form a trade union... Social rights include the right to family.

Speaking during the official opening of the meeting, FIAN International Zambia expressed concern that the right to food does not enjoy constitutional recognition but also the fact that the constitution does not provide protection for Economic, Social and Cultural rights.

FIAN Zambia Board Chairperson, Angela Mulenga explained that the right to food does not, therefore, enjoy Constitution recognition.

Mrs Mulenga affirmed that FIAN as a human rights organization was committed to ensuring that it continued to monitor human rights violations and ensure that states were accountable through the national regional and human rights system.

"You might want to know that the Republic of Zambia ratified the International covenant on economic, social and cultural Rights in 1984. Zambia, therefore, has an obligation under the covenant and specifically with respect to this report a duty to respect protect and fulfil the right to food," she said.

"Zambia has a constitutionally enshrined Bill of rights which comprises fundamental rights and freedoms traditionally known as civil and political rights. The Constitution, however, does not expressly provide for the protection of economic, social and cultural rights. The right to food does not, therefore, enjoy constitutional recognition. It is worth noting that Zambia practices duality with respect to international treaty obligations. International treaty obligation this only have the force of law after domestication ."

Mrs Mulenga said their organisation would like to forge alliances with fellow CSOs and the media so that together they can promote the advancement of social, economic and cultural rights including the right to food in Zambia.

At the same event, FIAN Zambia Country Coordinator Vladimir Chilinya challenged the media to shift their focus from Political and Civil rights to Social, Economic and Cultural Rights.

"We could also be happy to see you profiling social, economic and cultural rights violations, so that these rights are given the same attention as civil and political, so that when we hear of people having their land being taken away, this should receive adequate attention from the government, from the media and others. This is why we are here so that we can discuss this and look at what is provided for in the constitution and begin to challenge the government and promote the debate so that eventually the government can enshrine the economic social and cultural rights in the republican constitution."

"Why do we only have civil and political rights in the bill of rights, why can't we have the economic social and cultural rights in the constitution, How is it important to have freedom of assembly and not my right to food? So we must balance the two," he said

Mr Chilinya hoped that at the end of the workshop alliances could be developed to help in challenging the narrative so that these rights can be enshrined in the country's constitution for the benefit of all citizens especially those affected by land displacements.

He added that "we hear about this all the time ....a big investor come and take over the streams, the wetlands that are used as water sources for their livestock. This is happening in some parts of the country.. and we, therefore, hope that the media could give us space to discuss and highlight these cases so that there is adequate debate and eventually the government can realise that this is important."