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reduction strategies. In December, a regional workshop on the justiciability of economic, social
and cultural rights was organized and hosted by OHCHR-Chile in partnership with the
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.
B. Enhanced human rights leadership
37. The Strategic Management Plan for the period 2006-2007 emphasizes the leading role
the High Commissioner plays, through greater interaction with relevant United Nations bodies
and actors, in identifying and analysing human rights problems and proposing solutions to close
implementation gaps. To fulfil this role, the Office has taken on board, as priority areas, the
work on economic, social and cultural rights, with a focus on legal protection and advocacy,
the creation of a women and gender unit and the strengthening of thematic expertise in a
number of areas, such as HIV/AIDS, indicators, the right to development and the rights of
minorities and internally displaced persons. The Plan also highlights the leading role that the
High Commissioner plays in efforts to advance poverty reduction and the Millennium
Development Goals.
38. In 2007, pursuant to Human Rights Council decision 2/104, OHCHR submitted a study on
human rights and access to water and sanitation. In the study, OHCHR reviewed international
human rights obligations related to the provision of safe drinking water and sanitation,
discussing their scope and content, nature and monitoring, and pointed to areas needing further
elaboration. The study ended with conclusions and recommendations to further strengthen and
implement human rights obligations in relation to those areas, including a recommendation that
access to safe drinking water and sanitation be considered a human right.
39. As part of its leadership activities, OHCHR has also analysed the human rights dimensions
of climate change, an issue of central concern for the international community in 2007. While
past analyses of climate change have traditionally focused on its economic and environmental
repercussions, human rights norms and standards provide a framework to consider its human
dimension, and to shed light on the impact it could have for present and future generations. The
preparation of a background document and the support for the Deputy High Commissioner’s
attendance to the Bali Conference in December 2007 helped to provide an overview of the
human rights dimension of climate change, while leading the way into much needed debate on
the measures that the international community need to take.
40. In her report to the Economic and Social Council (E/2007/82), the High Commissioner
focused on the concept of “progressive realization”, exploring its meaning and how the
treaties allow for gradual realization over time of economic, social and cultural rights while
imposing obligations requiring immediate implementation by States parties. In the report, the
High Commissioner also discussed some of the issues arising from the practical implementation
of obligations subject to progressive realization, commenting on measures and national strategies
to move towards progressive achievement of these rights. The essay by the High Commissioner
“Economic and social justice for societies in transition”, based on her speech of 25 October 2006
at the Second Annual Transitional Justice Lecture hosted by the New York University School of
Law Center for Human Rights and Global Justice and the International Center for Transitional
Justice, was in the same vein. By producing a series of such reports and essays, the Office aims
at deepening the conceptual understanding of these rights and at providing tools for their better
implementation.
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