The Future of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

A Discussion with Catarina de Albuquerque

Economic, social and cultural rights have gained enormous recognition over the last 25 years and are more important than ever in the light of increasing inequalities. Catarina de Albuquerque will present a stocktaking of past efforts, assess where we stand today, and discuss what is needed from the next generation of economic, social and cultural rights advocates to guide the implementation of human rights. How can we make economic, social and cultural rights a reality? How can we do so on the basis of the indivisibility of all human rights? And how can we ensure that no one is left behind in the process?

Catarina de Albuquerque has been as the forefront of the socio-economic rights movement for the last decades and will draw on that experience for her talk. Beginning her career in the Portuguese Foreign Service, she became the Chairperson-Rapporteur to negotiate the Optional Protocol to the Social Covenant. She served as Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation from 2008 to 2014 and subsequently took on the role of Executive Chair of the Sanitation and Water for All Partnership.