A/HRC/10/46
page 9
29. Several field presences monitored cases of violations of economic, social and cultural
rights. The field presences in Cambodia, Central Asia, Mexico, Nepal, Sudan and Timor-Leste
monitored the enjoyment of the right to food, adequate housing, education, health and work. The
Human Rights and Transitional Justice Section of the United Nations Integrated Mission in
Timor-Leste (UNMIT) designed a monitoring tool to review the enjoyment of the right to food
throughout the country, including the distribution of rice subsidies in various districts. On the
basis of OHCHR monitoring, the Government of Timor-Leste changed the distribution system
for subsidized rice so as to reach the most vulnerable groups which were left out of the
distribution scheme. The OHCHR Regional Office in Central Asia has been monitoring the
enjoyment of the right to adequate housing in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, with a
focus on forced evictions and homelessness. In the Sudan, the human rights component of the
United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) continued to monitor and report on forced relocation
and evictions related to the construction of two large-scale hydropower dams in the northern Nile
valley. OHCHR in Mexico has been monitoring cases of violations of the right to health, the
right to education and the right to work. As part of its ongoing work on the right to adequate
housing, OHCHR in Cambodia has been monitoring and investigating cases of threats and
attacks against community members and civil society actors in relation to land-related activism,
as well as trials of individuals advocating on issues related to forced evictions and land. In
Nepal, OHCHR monitored cases of caste-based discrimination against particular groups such as
the Haliyas and Kamaiyas, including forced evictions and lack of access to safe drinking water,
notably from the perspective of access to justice.
30. Research and assessments related to the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights
were conducted in various countries. In Timor-Leste, the UNMIT Human Rights and
Transitional Justice Section launched a report on the right to food in December 2008. The report
revised the existing legal framework for the protection of the right to food, along with challenges
to its realization, notably in relation to the availability and accessibility of food. The OHCHR
Office in Uganda has been carrying out research on housing, land and property restitution in
northern Uganda, looking at the existing legal framework related to restitution, as well as aspects
of the restitution process in post-conflict northern Uganda.
31. Human rights field presences have also supported processes of legal protection and reform
of legislation related to the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. In the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Human Rights Adviser provided assistance to the Ministry
of Labour and Social Policy in the drafting of a comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation
covering notably economic, social and cultural rights. OHCHR-Colombia revised the law
modifying the right to strike and the draft law aimed at including the right to water in the
Constitution. In addition, the Office also followed up on a number of judicial decisions which
impact on the enjoyment of the rights to work, health and social security. In Uganda, OHCHR
has been providing comments to the Land Amendment Bill in light of international human rights
obligations related to the right to adequate housing. The Uganda Office has also been
contributing to revising national legislation on mental health from the perspective of the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. OHCHR Office in Mexico participated in
the elaboration of a proposal for a constitutional reform on human rights, with a specific chapter
on economic, social and cultural rights.
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