Economic Social And Cultural Rights

ESCR campaign of WOREC is aimed at ensuring human’s economic, social and cultural rights.

WOREC Nepal has been advocating and promoting economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) of women, marginalized and vulnerable communities from the right-based approach from grassroot to national level. The campaign aims at ensuring the rights of women to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical, mental and reproductive health, right to food and right to mobility for sustainable livelihood and dignified lives.

The government of Nepal is obliged to respect, protect and fulfill the rights realized under the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), as it has not only ratified the covenant but has also incorporated some of these rights as fundamental rights in the interim constitution of Nepal. The lack of accessible, affordable, acceptable and quality health services has deprived women’s access to health facilities thereby compelling them to live with various health problems. The food insecurity rampant in the country has made severe effect on the life of the people living mostly in remote and hilly regions of the country. The lack of work opportunities, access to resources and economic crisis has made people displaced internally and externally for the search of better livelihood options, which often leads to trafficking, sexual exploitation and other forms of violence both in origin and destination countries.

Due to social barriers and discriminatory cultural and traditional norms and values women and marginalized communities have always been suffering. Economically, women do not have access and control over resources like land, house, earned money, farms, community forest and other natural resources. Culturally, women are the one who has to eat last in the family; and socially women are deprived of nutritious food, education, participation in decision making and social security. These socio-economic, socio-cultural and socio-political practices make women vulnerable to different kinds of nutritional, reproductive and productive dilemma. At this alarming situation, the ESCR campaign of WOREC is aimed at ensuring human’s economic, social and cultural rights and is focused to make the state accountable to its actions and operating in regard to ESCR from women’s perspective.