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Visualizing Rights CAMBODIA CESR Center for Economic and Social Rights fact sheet no. 7 In light of Cambodia’s appearance before both the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council in 2009 and the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in May 2009, this fact sheet looks at the realization of the right to an adequate standard of living in Cambodia. It focuses on the rights to health, food, education, housing and water and possible policy failures in these areas. Its aim is to graphically illustrate background information to help assess compliance of the state of Cambodia with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other international standards it has ratified. Since the end of internal armed conflict in the 1990s, Cambodia has made steady social progress, including reducing child mortality and increasing the num- ber of children enrolled in school. Serious concerns remain, however, given that the majority of Cambodians still live in grinding poverty and the gaps both between rich and poor and between urban and rural areas are wide. Eighty-five percent of Cambodia’s population lives in rural areas and is dependent on agriculture (Pov- erty Profile 2006), but the vast majority of rural dwellers do not own the land they cultivate and are vulnerable to food insecurity. Analysis of rising levels of inequality shows that the richest 20 percent of the population now controls half the country’s income (World Bank 2008), while the poorest 20 percent’s share has declined to under seven percent. Data analyzed in this factsheet suggest that Cambodia’s efforts to address these patterns of deprivation and inequality have been inadequate. Cambodia’s GDP per capita continues to rise steadily which suggests that more resources are now available for addressing economic and social rights. However, government expenditure on health and education is comparatively very low, as are direct tax revenues, as a proportion of its GDP. These raise questions about whether the government is dedicating the maximum available resources to realizing economic, social and cultural rights. In education, progress has been made in enrolling more primary students, but expenditure per pupil has declined. In health, Cambodia has the highest private health expenditure as a percentage of GDP of all low income countries (World Bank 2008). The data and graphs in this factsheet point to possible failures by the state to put in place policies needed to reduce disparities in the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights and to ensure these rights are realized progressively according to maximum available resources. They are based on government statistical data from Cambodia’s 2000 and 2005 household surveys and the 2003/2004 Cambodia Socio-economic Survey. International comparisons are made with the latest avail- able comparable data from the World Bank World Development Indicators. Visualizing Rights

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Page 1: CESR - Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for ... · Visualizing Rights Cambodia CESR Center for Economic and Social Rights fact sheet no. 7 in light of Cambodia’s appearance

Visualizing Rights

Cambodia

C E S RCenter for Economic and Social Rights fact s h e e t n o. 7

in light of Cambodia’s appearance before both the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council in 2009 and the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in may 2009, this fact sheet looks at the realization of the right to an adequate standard of living in Cambodia. it focuses on the rights to health, food, education, housing and water and possible policy failures in these areas. its aim is to graphically illustrate background information to help assess compliance of the state of Cambodia with the international Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other international standards it has ratified.

Since the end of internal armed conflict in the 1990s, Cambodia has made steady social progress, including reducing child mortality and increasing the num-ber of children enrolled in school. Serious concerns remain, however, given that the majority of Cambodians still live in grinding poverty and the gaps both between rich and poor and between urban and rural areas are wide. Eighty-five percent of Cambodia’s population lives in rural areas and is dependent on agriculture (Pov-erty Profile 2006), but the vast majority of rural dwellers do not own the land they cultivate and are vulnerable to food insecurity. analysis of rising levels of inequality shows that the richest 20 percent of the population now controls half the country’s income (World bank 2008), while the poorest 20 percent’s share has declined to under seven percent.

data analyzed in this factsheet suggest that Cambodia’s efforts to address these patterns of deprivation and inequality have been inadequate. Cambodia’s GdP per capita continues to rise steadily which suggests that more resources are now available for addressing economic and social rights. However, government expenditure on health and education is comparatively very low, as are direct tax revenues, as a proportion of its GdP. These raise questions about whether the government is dedicating the maximum available resources to realizing economic, social and cultural rights. in education, progress has been made in enrolling more primary students, but expenditure per pupil has declined. in health, Cambodia has the highest private health expenditure as a percentage of GdP of all low income countries (World bank 2008).

The data and graphs in this factsheet point to possible failures by the state to put in place policies needed to reduce disparities in the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights and to ensure these rights are realized progressively according to maximum available resources. They are based on government statistical data from Cambodia’s 2000 and 2005 household surveys and the 2003/2004 Cambodia Socio-economic Survey. international comparisons are made with the latest avail-able comparable data from the World bank World development indicators.

Visualizing Rights

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Infant mortality is much higher in provinces with less access to maternal health careThere are vast regional disparities in availability of reproductive health services in Cambodia. Women giving birth in the capital Phnom Penh are over six times as likely to be assisted by a skilled birth attendant than women in the regions of mondol Kiri and Rattanak Kiri. This graph suggests that where there is more skilled birth attendance in a province, fewer infants die, raising questions about the government’s efforts to ensure the equal enjoy-ment of the right to health for Cambodian women and children.

Child vaccination is much lower in more economically-marginalized provincesone of the most important measures to combat child mortality is ensuring immunization against the most prevalent diseases. Children from rural Pursat, however, are almost half as likely to be vac-cinated as children from the more industrialized province of Kandal. While just 47 percent of chil-dren in Pursat have vaccination cards, 83 percent of children in Kandal do. The wide disparities in vaccination coverage across Cambodia suggest that there is an inequitable distribution of avail-able resources.

The average Cambodian spends more private income on health care than in other low-income countriesCambodians are more likely to pay out-of-pocket for health care than people in other low-income asian countries. almost six percent of all health expenditure as a percentage of GdP comes from private sources. despite a significant increase in GdP per capita, public health expenditure has declined in recent years, from 37 percent of GdP in 2003 to less than 30 percent the following year (World bank 2009). This indicates a lack of gov-ernment commitment to providing needed health care resources and to invest in progressive realiza-tion of the right to health.

“Concern is expressed that the State party’s infant mortality and under-five mortality rates remain among the highest in the region.” (CRC Concluding Observa-tions 2000)

Phno

m P

enh

Kand

al

Take

oBa

ttam

bang

/Kr

ong

Paili

nKr

ong

Prea

h Si

ha-

nouk

/Kao

h Ko

ngKa

mpo

ng C

ham

Kam

pot/

Kron

g Ke

p

Kam

pong

Chn

ang

Bant

eay

Mea

n Ch

ey

Purs

at

Svay

Rie

ng

Krat

ie

Siem

Rea

p

Prey

Ven

g

Kam

pong

Tho

m

Kam

pong

Spe

u

Otda

r Mea

n Ch

ey

Mon

dol K

iri/

Ratt

anak

Kiri

Prea

h Vi

hear

/St

eung

Tren

g

Source: World Bank 2008

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

Skilled birth attendance Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births)

Figure 1 Skilled Birth Attendance and Infant Mortality Rates Cambodian Provinces 2005

Figure 2 One-year-olds with Vaccination Card, by Province, 2005

Kandal

0 50 100 150 200 km

Battambang Pailin

BanteayMean Cheay

Oddâr Méanchey

Siem Reap

Pursat

Koh Kong

Kampot

Kampong Speu

Krong Preah Sihanouk

Preah VihéarStung Treng

Mondol Kiri

Râtana Kiri

Kratié

Takeo

Kompong Thom

KampongChnang

Svaay Rieng

Kampong Cham

PreyVeaeng

Krang Kep

Phnom Penh

40–49%

50–59%

60–69%

70% +

Source: DHS 2005

Figure 3 Private Health Expenditure as % of GDP, Low-income Countries, 2006

0.5 1.7

1.9

2.0

2.9

4.2

4.2 4.5

5.8

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Cambodia

Vietnam

Nepal

Afghanistan

PDR Lao

Bangladesh

Myanmar

Pakistan

DR Korea

Source: World Bank 2008

The RighT TO healTh

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Gender disparities in the realization of the right to education at primary, secondary and tertiary levelsonly 34 percent of female students enroll in sec-ondary school, compared with 43 percent of males. The female to male enrollment ratio in primary school is 93 percent, but declines to 78 percent in secondary school, and to 50 percent at the tertiary level. This raises questions as to why male stu-dents are more likely to continue their education than female students, and why disparities increase at each subsequent education level.

Women are more likely than men to have no education, and lack of access to education is highest in Mondo Kiri and Rattanak KiriNearly 60 percent of women and 40 percent of men in mondol Kiri and Rattanak Kiri have no education, compared to less than 15 percent of women and five percent of men in Phnom Penh. in the province of Svay Rieng, girls are almost three times less likely to attend school than boys. This reflects wide gender and rural-urban disparities in access to education.

Since 2001, more children are enrolled in primary education but expenditure per student has declinedWhile Cambodia has made progress with the steady increase in primary enrolment rates since 2000, it is troubling that Cambodia’s expenditure has not risen to match the increase in the number of students. Since 2001, Cambodia’s expenditure per student has fallen from almost seven percent of GdP per capita to 5.6 percent in 2004 (latest available data). This decrease in expenditure per student raises concerns about the quality of edu-cation in Cambodia.

“The Committee . . . urges the State party to immediately take all appropriate measures . . . to eliminate the disparity in school enrolment rates and to achieve universal primary education for girls in accordance with article 10 of the Convention [on the elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women].” (CeDaW Concluding Observations 2006)

Figure 5 Percentage Distribution of Male and Females with No Education by Cambodian Province 2005

6050403020100

Phno

m P

enh

Batt

amba

nf/K

rong

Pai

lin

Kam

pong

Tho

m

Kand

al

Kam

pot/

Kron

g Ke

p

Take

o

Kam

pong

Chh

nang

Prey

Ven

g

Kam

pong

Spe

u

Krat

ie

Svay

Rie

ng

Bant

eay

Mea

n Ch

ey

Kam

pong

Cha

m

Purs

at

Prea

h Vi

hear

/St

eung

Tren

g

Kron

g Pr

eah

Siha

nouk

/Kao

h Ko

ngOt

dar M

ean

Chey

Siem

Rea

p

Mon

dol K

iri/

Ratt

anak

Kiri

Source: DHS 2005 Female Male

Figure 6 Expenditure per Student and Primary Gross Enrollment Rates, 2000–2004

School enrollment, primary (% gross)Expenditure per student, primary (% of GDP per capita)

5.0

5.2

5.4

5.6

5.8

6.0

6.2

6.4

6.6

6.8

7.0 130

125

120

125

110

105

100

95

90 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Expe

nditu

re p

er st

uden

t, pr

imar

y (%

of G

DP

per c

apita

)

Scho

ol e

nrol

lmen

t, pr

imar

y (%

gro

ss)

Source: World Bank 2008

Figure 4 Gross School Enrollment by Level and Gender Cambodia, 2006

117.7

33.6

3.0

126.5

42.6

6.0

120

100

80

60

40

20

0G

ross

Enr

ollm

ent

%

Source: World Bank 2008

Female Male

School enrollment, primary (% gross)

School enrollment, secondary (% gross)

School enrollment, tertiary (% gross)

The RighT TO eDuCaTiOn

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2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

GDP per capita PPP (constant 2005 international $) Urban population with access to improved water source (%) Source: DHS 2000 and 2005

61

60

59

58

57

56

55

1500

1450

1400

1350

1300

1250

1200

1150

1100

1050

1000

Figure 8 GDP per capita Growth and Urban Access to Improved Water Source, 2000–2005

Figure 7 Percentage of Population with Access to Potable Drinking Water by Cambodian Province, 2004.

Kandal

0 50 100 150 200 km

Battambang Pailin

BanteayMean Cheay

Oddâr Méanchey

Siem Reap

Pursat

Koh Kong

Kampot

Kampong Speu

Preah VihéarStung Treng

Mondol Kiri

Râtana Kiri

Kratié

Takeo

Kompong Thom

KampongChnang

Svaay Rieng

Kampong Cham

PreyVeaeng

Phnom Penh

10–20%20–30%30–35%35–40%40–45%45–51%80–95%

Source: UNDP HDR 2007

Krong Preah Sihanouk

Krang Kep

The right to water is not enjoyed equally by all Cambodians, and access to potable water is much lower in rural areasLess than 12 percent of residents in Pursat province have access to potable drinking water, compared to more than 90 percent of Phnom Penh and Prey Veng residents. These disparities among prov-inces raise concerns about Cambodia’s efforts to ensure equal enjoyment of the basic human right to water.

Proportion of urban people with access to safe water is declining, despite significant economic growthCambodia’s income (as measured by GdP per cap-ita) is increasing, but the proportion of urban resi-dents with access to safe water has been steadily declining. This may reflect a lack of investment in water infrastructure in urban areas to keep up with the rising number of Cambodians migrating to urban areas. almost 80 percent of Cambodia’s urban residents live in urban slums (UN Habitat 2008/2009), where access to safe water is much lower than in other urban areas. This suggests a failure to invest adequate levels of resources in the realization of the right to water.

The RighT TO WaTeR “The Committee recommends that the State party address the issue of childhood morbidity and mortality by taking a multi-sectoral approach recognizing the critical role of . . . lack of clean water supplies . . . in the current pattern of childhood ill-nesses.” (CRC Concluding Observations 2000)

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Figure 10 Documentation of Land Sales, Selected Urban and Rural Cambodian Provinces 2000–2005

% Urban (Phnom Penh )

% Urban (Siem Reap)

% Rural (Kompong Cham, Kompong Thom,

Sihanoukville, Takeo)

% Rural (Kompong

Chnang)

Source: Ballard 2008

100%90%80%70%60%50%40%30%20%10%0%

Documented by contract between buyer and seller only Documented at province level Documented at village, district or communal level (below province level)

Figure 11 GDP per Capita and Rural Access to Improved Sanitation, Low-income Countries 2006

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Impr

oved

sani

tatio

n fa

ciliti

es, r

ural

(%

of r

ural

pop

ulat

ion

with

acc

ess)

GDP per capita PPP (constant 2005 international $)

Cambodia

Papua New GuineaLaos

Vietnam

Bangladesh

Source: World Bank 2008

200 700 1200 1700 2200

Source: UN Habitat 2008/2009

Slum, 78.9

Non-slum, 21.1

Figure 9 Percentage of Urban Population Living in Slums, 2005

Almost four in five urban Cambodians live in urban slums without access to adequate housinga high proportion of Cambodia’s urban popula-tion lives in squalid conditions in urban slums. Slums do not meet the requirements of the right to adequate housing, characterized in part by legal security of tenure; availability of facilities and infra-structure (including water and sanitation); afford-ability; habitability (CESCR General Comment 4). The lack of legal security of tenure heightens vul-nerability to forced or arbitrary eviction (amnesty international 2008; CoHRE et al 2008).

Inadequate documentation of land and housing sales contributes to insecure tenure and forced evictionsThe vast majority of land and housing sales are not formally documented at the provincial level. most sales are documented informally, or at vil-lage or communal levels. Without documentation at the provincial level, land ownership can be easily disputed by provincial and national officials, leav-ing Cambodians vulnerable to land-grabbing and forced eviction. Failure to promote official proce-dures suggests the government is not doing enough to ensure security of tenure (ballard 2008).

Rural Cambodians have much lower rates of access to sanitation than those living in comparable countriesaround 85 percent of Cambodia’s population lives in rural areas, but only 19 percent of rural dwellers have access to improved sanitation facilities. Such a low rate is below the average for low-income countries, raising questions about Cambodia’s commitment to use maximum available resources to improve access to adequate sanitation.

The RighT TO hOuSing“Failure to enforce the land law... has undermined the realization of adequate housing for thousands of families in urban and rural areas, as has the absence of national housing policies and legislation that take into proper account the rights and livelihoods of the rural and urban poor who do not have access to adequate housing or the means to secure it.” (Spe-cial Rapporteur on adequate housing, Cambodia country visit, March 2006)

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Figure 13 Child Malnutrition, 2005, by Province

Source: DHS 2005Under height for age Under weight for age Under weight for height

Phno

m P

enh

Kand

al

Kam

pot/

Kron

g Ke

p

Bant

eay

Mea

n Ch

ey

Svay

Rie

ng

Batt

amba

ng/K

rong

Pai

lin

Kam

pong

Spe

u

Kron

g Pr

eah

Siha

nouk

/Kao

h Ko

ng

Krat

ie

Kam

pong

Cha

m

Kam

pong

Chh

nang

Prey

Ven

g

Take

o

Kam

pong

Tho

m

Prea

h Vi

hear

/St

eung

Tren

g

Otda

r Mea

n Ch

ey

Siem

Rea

p

Mon

dol K

iri/

Ratt

anak

Kiri

Purs

at

65554535251550

Figure 14Mortality Gaps for Children Under-5 between Urban and Rural Populations, Cambodia and Selected Neighbors, Latest Available Data

Source: WHO 2008 Vietnam 2002 Indonesia 2003 Cambodia 2005

Rural Urban

115105958575655545352515

Num

ber o

f und

er-5

de

aths

per

1,00

0 liv

e bi

rths

35.6

64.7

111

16.2

42.3

75.7

Realization of the right to food is a serious problem in rural areasover 20 percent of Cambodia’s population lives below the national food poverty line, unable to afford the minimum essential calorie requirement of 2,100 calories/day, and the vast majority (95 percent) live in rural areas. The majority of Cam-bodia’s poor and food insecure depend on agri-culture, but only 16 percent of the poorest Cam-bodians own land, reflecting Cambodia’s highly unequal land ownership (Poverty Profile 2006).

Child malnutrition levels vary widely across the provincesalmost two out of three children in the Pursat prov-ince are chronically malnourished, compared with in five in Phnom Penh (measured by being under height for their age). While the Kandal province has a relatively low chronic malnutrition rate, over 11 percent of its children are acutely malnourished (measured by being underweight for height).

Child mortality is higher in rural areas; rural-urban gap is higher in Cambodia than its neighborsHigh levels of child mortality in rural areas are linked to high levels of food insecurity. Rural chil-dren are one and one half times more likely to die before they reach the age of five than their urban counterparts. This gap in Cambodia is wider than in its neighbors (for which data are available), sug-gesting a lower priority is given to rural investment in food and nutrition security, access to health care and other resources necessary for survival.

The RighT TO FOOD “The majority of Cambodia’s population lives in rural areas and depends heavily on land and natural resources as a source of livelihood. Thus the question of how Cambodia manages and distributes its land and natural resources, and for whose benefit, is one of the most pressing issues facing the country today. it is also critical to the ability of all Cambodians to benefit from equitable and sustainable develop-ment that respects and promotes their human rights.” (Report of the Special Rep-resentative for the Secretary general for human Rights in Cambodia, Jan 2007)0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24

Source: Poverty Profile 2006

% of population under the food poverty line

Phnom Penh

Other urban areas

Rural areas

1.0

11.4

22.2

Figure 12 Cambodians Living under the Food Poverty Line, Urban-Rural 2004

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Figure 17 Taxes on Income, Profits and Capital Gains (% of Total Taxes) Low-income Countries, 2006

Source: World Bank 2008

Taxes on income, profits and capital gains (% of total taxes) Other taxes (including sales tax)

ZambiaPakistanUganda

Burkina FasoBenin

MadagascarMali

AfghanistanCote d'Ivoire

NepalKyrgyz Republic

CAMBODIA 13.6 14.1 16.0 17.7 18.0 18.1 18.6 21.8 23.7 27.1 30.0 42.4

86.4 85.9 84.0 82.3 82.0 81.9 81.4 78.2 76.3 72.9 70.0 57.6

Figure 15 GINI Index, Poverty Headcount and GDP per capita, Cambodia 1994–2004

GD

P pe

r cap

ita P

PP

(con

stan

t 200

5 in

tl $)

Source: World Bank 2008

1250

1150

1050

950

850

750

48

46

44

42

40

38

36

34

GDP per capita, PPP (constant 2005 int’l 2005) GINI IndexPoverty headcount ratio at national poverty line (% of population)

GIN

I Ind

ex a

nd P

over

ty H

eadc

ount

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Figure 16 Government Expenditure as % of GDP Low-income Countries, 2006

3.5 5.5 5.9 5.9

7.3 8.4

8.8 8.8 9.0 9.3 9.6 9.9 10.0

10.4 10.6 10.9 11.1

11.8 12.1

13.1 13.4

14.7 15.3

16.3 17.7

18.9 22.0

29.3

Source: World Bank 2008

BurundiBurkina Faso

Kyrgyz RepublicGuinea-Bissau

KenyaUzbekistan

UgandaGhana

Sierra LeonePapua New Guinea

MalawiMozambique

PakistanCen. Afr. Republic

TajikistanZambia

MaliSenegal

Lao PDRHaiti

MadagascarNepal

Cote d'IvoireCongo, DR

VietnamChad

BangladeshCAMBODIA

0 5 10 15 20 25 30General government final consumption expenditure (% of GDP)

The rate of progress in poverty reduction is slowing as inequality risesafter elections in 1993, Cambodia experienced a rapid decline in poverty. This rate slowed since the 1998 elections, despite a steady increase in GdP per capita, suggesting that economic growth has not helped poverty reduction. indeed, economic growth has been accompanied by rising inequal-ity (GiNi index). This suggests that the benefits of growth and development are increasingly concen-trated in the hands of the rich.

Are maximum available resources being devoted to ensuring economic, social and cultural rights?The Cambodian government’s public expendi-ture is 3.5 percent of GdP, the smallest of all low-income countries. The government may thus be hindered in providing basic resources and services necessary for realizing ESC rights. Low expendi-ture reflects diversion of government resources through corruption, and low revenue generation resulting from a low or evasive tax base (Global Witness 2009).

Regressive tax policies put the burden disproportionately on the poorCambodia’s tax base is less than nine percent (of GdP), and less than 14 percent of all tax revenues come from direct income taxes, the lowest rate of any low-income country (for which data is avail-able). With taxes on exports declining from almost 12 percent of tax revenue in 2003 to below five per-cent in 2006 (World bank 2009), revenue genera-tion has become dependent on indirect taxes such as VaT, putting greater burden on the poor.

POveRTy & inequaliTy“While the Committee is aware that most of the State party’s infrastructure and social services were destroyed as a result of decades of war, it expresses its concern at the insufficient attention paid to the pro-visions of article 4 of the Convention con-cerning budgetary allocations to the ‘max-imum extent of . . . available resources.’” (CRC Concluding Observations 2000)

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ReFeRenCeSamnesty international. “Rights Razed — Forced Evictions in Cambodia.” February 2008.Ballard, Brett M. 2008. “From informal to Formal Land markets: Navigating Land Tenure in

Cambodia,” in CdRi annual development Review 2007-2008: Phnom Penh. http://www.cdri.org.kh/webdata/download/adr/adr03e0708.pdf

COhRe et al. Land and Housing issues: additional information and Supplementary Questions. Nov. 2008.

Committee on economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CeSCR). General Comment Number 4. “The Right to adequate Housing” [art.11 (1)]: 13/12/91. http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/ doc.nsf/(Symbol)/469f4d91a9378221c12563ed0053547e

Committee on the elimination of Discrimination against Women (CeDaW). Concluding Comments: Cambodia. January 2006.

Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Concluding observations: Cambodia. June 2000.

DhS 2000. Cambodia: Standard demographic and Health Survey. National institute of Public Health and National institute of Statistics. http://www.measuredhs.com

DhS 2005. Cambodia: Standard demographic and Health Survey. National institute of Public Health and National institute of Statistics.

global Witness. Country for Sale. www.globalwitness.org. 2009.Poverty Profile. “a Poverty Profile of Cambodia 2004.” Royal Government of Cambodia,

ministry of Planning. http://www.mop.gov.kh/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=5UwPSU9lqZY%3d&tabid=191&mid=611. 2006.

Special Rapporteur on adequate housing. Report addendum on the mission to Cambodia. http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNdoC/GEN/G06/119/37/PdF/G0611937.pdf. march 2006.

Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-general for human Rights in Cambodia. Yash Ghai. http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNdoC/GEN/G07/105/37/PdF/G0710537.pdf. January 2007.

unDP hDR. Cambodia Human development Report 2007. http://hdr.undp.org/en/reportsun habitat. “State of the World’s Cities 2008/2009: Harmonious Cities.” www.unhabitat.orgWorld health Organization (WhO). WHo Statistical informational System (WHoSiS)

2008. www.who.int/whosisWorld Bank. World development indicators. www.worldbank.org. 2008

about This Fact Sheet SeriesThis series is intended to contribute to the ongoing monitoring work of UN and other inter-governmental human rights mechanisms to monitor governments’ compliance with their eco-nomic, social and cultural rights obligations. it is also intended to contribute to strengthening the monitoring and advocacy capabilities of national and international NGos. drawing on the latest available socioeconomic data, the country fact sheets display, analyze and interpret selected human development indicators in the light of three key dimensions of governments’ economic and social rights obligations.

Firstly, indicators such as maternal mortality or primary completion rates are used to assess the extent to which the population is deprived of minimum essential levels of the right to health, education, food and other economic and social rights. Secondly, data tracking progress over time can help to assess whether a state is complying with its obligation to real-ize rights progressively according to maximum available resources. Comparisons within the same region provide a useful benchmark of what has been achieved in countries with similar resources. Finally, data disaggregated by gender, ethnicity, geographical location and socio-economic status is used to identify disparities and assess progress in eliminating discrimina-tion and unequal enjoyment of these rights.

The fact sheets are not meant to give a comprehensive picture, nor provide conclusive evidence, of a country’s compliance with these obligations. Rather, they flag some possible concerns which arise when development statistics are analyzed and visualized graphically in light of international human rights standards.

Board MembersVictor Abramovich, Inter-American

Commission on Human RightsPhilip Alston (Chairperson),

New York University School of LawLinda Cassano (Treasurer),

Commonwealth Bank of AustraliaSakiko Fukuda-Parr,

The New School, New YorkRichard Goldstone,

Harvard Law SchoolChris Jochnick, Oxfam AmericaAlicia Ely Yamin, Harvard Law School

Acting Executive Director: Ignacio Saiz

About CESRThe Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) was established in 1993 with the mission to work for the recog-nition and enforcement of economic, social and cultural rights as a power-ful tool for promoting social justice and human dignity. CESR exposes violations of economic, social and cultural rights through an interdisciplinary combination of legal and socio-economic analysis. CESR advocates for changes to economic and social policy at the international, national and local levels so as to ensure these comply with international human rights standards.

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We invite your comments and feedback: [email protected]

www.cesr.orgThis work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

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