A/HRC/14/33 35. Activities carried out in relation to economic, social and cultural rights in the field included monitoring, support to legal protection and legal reform, support to the development and implementation of national policies and programmes, capacity-building and awareness-raising. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the right to development also offered entry points for field presences to engage in work on economic, social and cultural rights. 36. Several field presences monitored cases of violations of economic, social and cultural rights. For example, as part of its programme on the right to adequate housing and land issues, OHCHR-Cambodia has been monitoring a number of cases of eviction and resettlement of communities. The Office worked with government authorities, United Nations agencies, development partners and NGOs to promote that evictions and relocations are conducted legally and uphold United Nations resettlement standards. In rural areas, OHCHR-Cambodia has continued to monitor the impacts of the sale or lease of land for agro-business purposes on communities’ economic, social and cultural rights. The Office continued to monitor and investigate cases of threats and arrests of community members and civil society actors in relation to land-related activism, providing advice to relevant authorities to comply with the due process of law. Furthermore, OHCHRCambodia prison reform programme systematically monitored prisoners’ economic, social and cultural rights, such as access to food, to health services, to adequate drinking water and sanitation and to education or vocational training. 37. OHCHR-Colombia paid special attention in 2009 to the protection of rights of indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombian communities, in particular with respect to the implementation of the 2009 Constitutional Court orders on the situation of internally displaced persons. The Office participated in a public hearing in Congress about a judicial order regarding indigenous people and provided analysis and made recommendations regarding the implementation of an order on Afro-Colombian communities. 38. In 2009, Guatemala again faced a food crisis caused by climate and economic phenomena resulting in harvest losses and higher basic grain prices. The crisis affected an estimated population of 2.5 million people, particularly in the “dry corridor”, including an undetermined loss of lives of children due to acute malnutrition. OHCHR-Guatemala carried out missions to monitor the situation, focusing specially on the right to food. 39. OHCHR-Mexico followed several cases on economic, social, cultural and environmental rights, especially those of indigenous people. The Office had focused its attention particularly on human rights issues related to land and natural resources. Most of these cases are related to large-scale development projects. OHCHR-Mexico followed up on several cases by systematizing information, sending letters to relevant authorities, building up the legal capacity of communities, participating in different forums and seminars and sending information to special procedures. 40. OHCHR-Nepal paid close attention to land occupation and forced evictions, with the aim to ensure that the rights of those subject to eviction are respected. To this end, OHCHR developed eviction guidelines (in English and Nepali) in coordination with the National Human Rights Commission which set forth minimum standards for State authorities in relation to evictions. 41. After publishing a thematic report on the right to food at the end of 2008, the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Unit of the Human Rights and Transitional Justice Section of UNMIT (the United Nations Mission in Timor-Leste) conducted follow-up monitoring and reporting between February and June 2009. Some recommendations from the thematic report of 2008 were implemented at the district level, and awareness regarding Government-subsidized rice increased in the general population. GE.10-12597 9

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