Country: Norway

After the periodic submission of the reports by the states of Austria, Belgium and Norway to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) on November 2013, FIAN sections in these countries have welcomed the concluding observations by the UN  Committee about the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

In Austria, the UN Committee recommended to the government “to adopt a human rights-based approach to its policies on official development assistance and on agriculture and trade”. At the domestic level, some additional recommendations to Austria related to the concerns pointed out by FIAN Austria during the session include: 1) taking concrete measures to guarantee asylum-seekers’ right to adequate standard of living; 2) intensifying the State’s efforts to assure equal employment for both women and men; and 3) guaranteeing the right to adequate food for people living in poverty to support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security, by adopting a comprehensive, long-term strategy to combat poverty, based on a thorough examination of its root causes.

On the other hand, the Committee asks Belgium for more aid, less agrofuels, and a specific support to small-scale farmers. Responding to the concerns expressed by FIAN Belgium of the decrease of small farming and the increasing suicide rate by small peasants reported by trade unions in this country, the Committee’s recommendations to Belgium include to protect small farming, specially the youth peasants, and also to adopt the Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Food and the Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land to preserve small peasants. Similarly, the Committee also noted that Belgium has not fulfilled yet its commitment to raise the Official Development Aid (ODA) up to 0, 7% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is concerned that the ODA has even decreased in the last years.

In terms of Norway, the Committee expressed concerns about the various steps taken by the State in the context of the social responsibility of the Government Pension Fund Global – globally the largest sovereign wealth fund with investments in more than 7000 companies worldwide – which, according to the Committee, has not included the institutionalization of systematic human rights impact assessments of its investments. For this reason, some of the recommendations to Norway include: 1) ”to introduce a management tool that systematically assesses the human rights impacts before and after investments in third countries; 2) to adopt policies and other measures to prevent human rights contraventions abroad by corporations based in Norway. 

All three countries were also encouraged by the Committee to consider ratifying the OP-ICESCR.

For more information, please find below the press releases and the concluding observations by the CESCR to Austria, Belgium and Norway, as well as other useful links:

UN Treaty Webcast (watch here the Concluding Observations sessions by country)

ETO Consortio website for human rights beyond borders. Read here the news article on the topic.

Press Release by FIAN Austria (available in German)

Press Release by FIAN Belgium (available in French)

Press Release by FIAN Norway (available in Norwegian)

The parallel reports, in which FIAN sections in each country played an essential role, complement the information submitted by the respective member states and give the CESCR the opportunity to have diverse information for its constructive dialogue with the national authorities.

On November 7, Belgium NGOs, including FIAN, reported the role of the State party on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), requesting it should be applied as part of the national legal order; informed the Committee on the discussions concerning the establishment of a National Human Rights Institution in accordance with the Paris Principles; and asked how rights conferred by the Covenant can be guaranteed to everyone residing in Belgium emphasizing in the situation of peasants. Main concerns on ETO’s included European Union (EU) agro-fuels regulations, specifically surpassing the negative human rights implications, and the lack of access to adequate food and nutrition by local communities undermined from agro-energy projects co-financed by Belgium. See the Belgium parallel report here.

Similarly, The Austrian WSK Platform presented its report submitted in September in the frame of an NGO and a lunch briefing with Committee’s members in preparation to the formal review, which is taking place today. The report states that economic, social and cultural rights are insufficiently protected by the law in this country, which disregards mechanisms for marginalized and disadvantaged people to defend their human rights violations. It also addresses the lack of transparency of democratic institutions and the lack of resources’ allocation into basic human rights services including education, health, professional care, and others. In terms of Austria’s ETOs, the statement emphasizes that the State must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the EU acts in accordance with the country’s international human rights obligations, specially the current EU policies on agro-fuels and agricultural export subsidies, both of which undermine the right to adequate food and nutrition in third countries. See Austria’s parallel report here.

Lastly, FIAN Norway is also participating in diverse NGO briefings to the Committee to advocate for the right to food and related ESCR. Civil society representatives demand justiciability of the Convenant rights, ratification of the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR, participation of civil society, and protection of human rights by establishing a National Institution, in accordance with the Paris Principles, that can combat human rights violations and guarantee social and cultural rights to all. FIAN Norway’s ETOs report focuses on the specific impacts of projects financed by the State and a private Norwegian fund, which have caused substantial negative impact in communities of Guatemala (Marlin Mine), Sierra Leone and Mozambique (Niassa). The report requests the Government to regulate funds investing in land abroad and adopt effective mechanisms that ensure protection of the right to food and adequate standard of living for the affected communities.

Read more