1

The optional protocol to the

International Covenant on

Economic, Social and Cultural

Rights.

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) is widely considered as the central instrument of protection for the right to health. To date it has been ratified by 160 States Parties.

On December 10, 2008, the General Assembly unanimously adopted an Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OP-ICESCR). This will enable individuals whose rights have been violated to submit com-plaints. Up to now, 30 countries have signed. It will enter into force when it is ratified by 10 States.

WHO-OHCHR lunch time dialogue series

In February 2009, the WHO Director-General and the UN High Commissioner for

Human Rights agreed that WHO and the Office of the High Commissioner for

Human Rights (OHCHR) should identify a few areas of technical and institutional

cooperation between the two organizations.

As a follow-up, on September 7 and November 26, 2009, high-level officials from

both WHO and OHCHR, engaged in discussions towards developing a shared un-

derstanding about the linkages between health and human rights and in particular

about how to advance the right to health.

EventsEventsEventsEvents

The lack of a complaints mechanism to the ICESCR contributed to relegating economic, social and cultural rights to a second-class status of rights for a long time. This was clearly against the principle of indivisibility, interdependence and the equal value of all human rights, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The adoption of an OP-ICESCR will help to change such percep-tions and realign economic, social and cultural rights on an equal footing with civil and political rights.

For WHO, it is interesting to note that the Committee of the ICESCR, which exam-ines the complaints, has been given the mandate to consult specialized agencies, such as WHO, as well as recommend technical advice or assistance to support States Parties in achieving progress in implementation of the right to health.

On 10 December 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights, which has become a universal standard for the pro-

motion and protection of human rights worldwide. This year on 10 December, the

international community celebrates Human Rights Day to mark the 61st anniversary

of the adoption of the Universal Declaration. The theme for this year’s celebration is

non-discrimination.

The prohibition against discrimination is a fundamental principle of international

human rights law. The WHO Constitution (1946) is the first international instrument

to recognize the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health as a funda-

mental right of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political be-

lief, and economic or social condition. Subsequently, everyone’s right to health on a

non-discriminatory basis has been recognized by a number of human rights treaties.

With this first newsletter WHO celebrates Human Rights Day by highlighting key

developments, over the past year, relating to Health and Human Rights.

Key Developments on the UN Human Rights AgendaKey Developments on the UN Human Rights AgendaKey Developments on the UN Human Rights AgendaKey Developments on the UN Human Rights Agenda

Human Rights Day 2009Human Rights Day 2009Human Rights Day 2009Human Rights Day 2009 10 DECEMBER 200910 DECEMBER 200910 DECEMBER 200910 DECEMBER 2009 NO. 1NO. 1NO. 1NO. 1 Health and Human Rights Health and Human Rights Health and Human Rights Health and Human Rights NewsletterNewsletterNewsletterNewsletter

In this issue:In this issue:In this issue:In this issue:

• Human Rights Day 2009

• Events

• Key Developments on

the UN Human Rights

agenda

• Capacity Building

• Regional Activities

• Tools

• Recent WHO Publica-

tions

• People Coming and

Going

For more information: World Health Organization Health and Human Rights Department of Ethics, Equity, Trade and Human Rights. Email: humanrights@who.int Website: www.who.int/hhr

2

Work of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health

Mr Anand Grover, a practicing lawyer in the Bombay High Court

and the Supreme Court of India, took up his functions as UN

Special Rapporteur on 1 August 2008.

Poland May 5 - 11, 2009, focusing on ac-cess to health care and underlying determi-nants of health, sexual and reproductive health rights and harm reduction policies.

November 23 - December 4, 2009 Mr Grover’s mission to Australia focused on indigenous health and access to healthcare in detention establishments, including those for asylum-seekers, refugees and prisoners.

In addition to these country missions, Mr Grover issued thematic reports, one on access to medicines and intellectual prop-erty rights and the other on informed con-sent.

For more information: http://www2.ohchr. org/english/issues/health/right/

Mr Anand Grover, United Nations Spe-

cial Rapporteur on the right of everyone

to the enjoyment of the highest attain-

able standard of physical and mental

health, met the Director-General,

Dr Margaret Chan, on June 6, 2009.

Mr Grover recognized the constructive

and fruitful collaboration in the past be-

tween WHO and his predecessor,

Mr Paul Hunt, since the mandate was

established in 2002. He looked forward

to continued collaboration with WHO.

The Director-General assured Mr Grover

that WHO will continue to support his

mandate.

Mr Grover conducted a mission to

to be equal in dignity; to education; to

be free to seek, receive, and impart

information; to enjoy the benefits of

scientific progress; to freedom from

discrimination; and to enjoy the highest

attainable standard of physical and

mental health, including sexual and

reproductive health. Furthermore, the

resolution stresses that a human rights-

based approach makes efforts against

maternal mortality and morbidity more

effective and sustainable. WHO is in

the process of providing input to the

study commissioned by the Office of

the High Commissioner for Human

Rights to examine the human rights

dimensions of preventable maternal

mortality and morbidity, and how the

Council can contribute to addressing

this problem.

Other health-related resolutions

adopted this year include access to

medicines, toxic waste and the protec-

tion of human rights in the context of

HIV and AIDS.

Key Resolutions adopted by the UN Human

Rights Council (HRC)

The UN Human Rights Council

adopted a resolution on June

17, 2009 that recognizes pre-

ventable maternal mortality and

morbidity as a human rights is-

sue. Over 70 UN member states

co-sponsored this resolution, led

by Colombia and New Zealand.

By signing on to the resolution,

governments recognize that the

elimination of maternal mortality

and morbidity requires the effec-

tive promotion and protection of

women and girls’ human rights,

including their rights to life;

WHO at the special session of the HRC

WHO participated as a panellist at the tenth Special

Session of the UN Human Rights Council on the

Impact of the Global Economic Crisis and Financial

Crises on the Universal Realization and Effective

Enjoyment of Human Rights, February 20 and 23,

2009, drawing attention to the challenge this crisis

poses to health.

For more information: http://www.who.int/hhr/news/

WHO%20Statement_20Human_Rights_ Commis-

sion%2020Feb.pdf

3

African Region

A workshop, organized by WHO and InWEnt Capacity Building, Germany, was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on April 22-23, 2009 for alumni from the African Region of the E-learning course on Health and Human Rights. The workshop was aimed to:

• Share and consolidate experiences gained so far in African countries of how human rights have been operationalized in health programmes

• Consider and discuss existing tools and methodolo-gies on how to integrate human rights in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of health policies, strategies and programmes

• Identify future challenges and opportunities to build and strengthen capacity on human rights-based health programming in the African Region.

The course was attended by 34 participants, representing a broad range of alumni from ministries of health, national human rights institutions, development agencies, civil society, WHO and other UN agencies.

Bahrain

The Kingdom of Bahrain in collabora-tion with UNDP and WHO held a train-ing on health and human rights May 13-14, 2009 which aimed to familiarize participants with the meaning of a Hu-man Rights-Based Approach to Health and the practical methodologies for its application. The training was attended by approximately 100 senior level offi-cials from the Ministry of Health, other government entities and civil society organizations.

Iraq

WHO-Iraq, in collaboration with the Ministry of

Health and the Ministry of Human Rights of

Iraq, organized a Workshop on Health and

Human Rights in Amman, Jordan, November

16-19, 2009. The UN Office of the High

Commissioner for Human Rights also collabo-

rated in conducting the Workshop. Representa-

tivers from different governments, ministries

(health, human rights, women’s affairs,

planning, education) attended along with parlia-

mentarians and NGOs. The Workshop raised

knowledge and awareness of health and human

rights in relation to the challenges facing Iraq

and concluded with concrete recommendations

for future actions.

Workshop Iraq, with Farah Elzubi– HR &Gender officer (far left back), Juana Sotomayor OHCHR focal point on Right to Health

(far left front), Naeema Al-Gasseer-WR Iraq (middle in front) and Helena Nygren Krug - Human Rights Adviser WHO (at the back).

Workshop Tanzania with Yehenew Walilegne (top far

right) and Helena Nygren-Krug (middle row, second

from right)

Organizing committee of training Bahrain with Yehenew Walilegne (far left) and Annelie Rostedt (far right) of the HHR

team in WHO HQ.

Capacity BuildingCapacity BuildingCapacity BuildingCapacity Building

4

The International Diploma on Mental Health Law and Hu-man Rights entered its second year in October 2009. The Diploma, which was launched in 2008, is a collaboration between WHO and the ILS Law College in Pune, India. The course builds the capacity of students to advocate for human rights and to influence national legislative and pol-icy reform in line with the UN Convention of

Mr Emmanuel Kamonyo, from UNDP, presented an example on "Enhancing the Accountability of

Duty-bearers to Respect, Protect, and Fulfil the Right to Health: A Case Study of ARV Medication in Western Bahr el Ghazal State". This explored the lack of avail-ability and accessibility of ARV drugs in the Western Bahr el Ghazal State of Southern Sudan, where many health centers do not have ARV drugs, and the ones

that do have them are few and far between. This raises the issue of whether the lack of available ARV treatment constitutes a violation of the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan. The report suggests actions to assist the Sudanese government in fulfilling health and human rights standards, and close collabo-ration with the Southern Sudan Hu-man Rights Commission and local civil society organizations.

"Enhancing the Accountability of Duty-bearers to Respect, Protect, and Fulfil the Right to Health: A Case Study of ARV Medication in Western

Bahr el Ghazal State"

Workshop Tanzania

International Diploma on Mental Health Law and

Human Rights

For the 4th year, WHO is running an E-learning course with InWEnt. The 5 module course on Health and Human Rights started

on 2 November 2009.

This online training intends to generate increased clarity and understanding about the important synergy between

health and human rights. It is developed with a broad target audience in mind comprising public health and human

rights practitioners, WHO staff and other UN agencies, government officials,

NGOs, students etc.

For further information see: http://www.who.int/hhr/

news/2009_2010_course_announcement.pdf

Mr Mbuagbaw Esongmbi,

from the Ministry of Jus-

tice in Cameroon, pre-

sented an initiative

f rom Cameroon on

“Sensitisation, education

and advocacy: a three

dimensional approach to

empower rights-holders to

claim their rights and hold

government accountable”.

Prevalent societal factors

such as discrimination,

stigmatization and

corruption often negatively

affect individuals' ability to

claim their right to health.

An advertising campaign

using various elements of

the popular media and a

tool to address capacity

gaps was presented to

reduce human rights

violations by increasing

awareness of human

rights and the right to

health.

“Sensitisation, education and advocacy: a three dimensional approach to empower rights-holders

to claim their rights and hold government accountable”.

At the Workshop in Tanzania, alumni presented exam-

ples of operationalizing a Human Rights Based

Approach in health.

the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other key human rights standards. Students and the expert faculty comprise service us-ers, government officials, health professionals, lawyers and human rights defenders. For more infor-mation visit http://www.who.int/mental_health/policy/whatsnew/en/index.html

5

New project to develop guidance on national public health laws

In collaboration with WHO, the International Development Law Organization

(IDLO), the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at George-

town University and the World Bank, a project has been initiated to develop

guidelines for countries on how to develop national public health laws.

This project was initiated at a workshop in Rome, Italy, April 26-28, 2009,

hosted by IDLO. The consultation was co-sponsored by WHO and by the

O’Neill Institute. Twenty-two experts in public health law attended the consul-

tation, from a wide range of countries and development agencies.

Workshop Rome, (from l to r) Law-

rence Gostin (O’Neill Institute),

Helena Nygren-Krug (WHO) and

David Patterson (IDLO).

Regional ActivitiesRegional ActivitiesRegional ActivitiesRegional Activities

patients (Argentina and Mexico). Recent resolutions and technical documents with a human rights based approach discussed and approved by the Member States include plans of action on:

• healthy ageing;

• young people’s health;

• gender equality; and

• mental health PAHO is currently collaborating with Member States in the reform of national policies, plans and laws using the human rights norms and standards ratified by Governments.

PAHO continues to collaborate with the regional human rights bodies such as the Inter-American Commis-sion on Human Rights. Recently PAHO presented technical informa-tion and participated in specific hearings to discuss the right to health and other related human rights in the context of malnutrition and HIV. Further, PAHO has been empower-ing and training organizations of civil society with the UN and OAS human rights instruments in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Venezuela, Panama, Guatemala and El Salvador.

Activities AMRO PAHO

In 2009 PAHO’s project on human

rights and health conducted capacity

training workshops specially designed

for public health personnel and other

governmental officials in the context of

the right to health and other related

human rights of older persons (Brasil,

Chile and Mexico); persons with men-

tal disabilities (Argentina and Ja-

maica); persons living with HIV with

emphasis on LGTB young people

(Guatemala and Honduras); sexual

and reproductive health of indigenous

women (Peru) and organizations of

ToolsToolsToolsTools

Tool on Human Rights and Gender Equality in Health

Sector Strategies

WHO (the Department of Ethics, Eq-

uity, Trade and Human Rights and

the Department of Gender, Women

and Health), the UN Office of the

High Commissioner for Human Rights

(OHCHR), and the Swedish Interna-

tional Development Cooperation

Agency (Sida) have developed an

analytical tool on Human Rights and

Gender Equality in Health Sector

Strategies.

If human rights and gender

equality commitments are to be

effectively implemented, they

need to be consistently and sys-

tematically addressed in legisla-

tion, national plans, institutional

framework and sectoral strate-

gies. The tool aims to support

health policy-makers/planners

and development partners in

understanding the practical impli-

cations of incorporating a human

rights-based approach and gen-

der mainstreaming in the design

of health sector strategies.

During the process of tool develop-

ment, 2008-2009, there have been

three formal peer reviews involving a

broad range of partners in several

departments, offices and countries.

Consultations and field tests have

also taken place in Uganda, Zambia

and Yemen.

The tool will be available for use in

countries in the beginning of next

year.

For more information see:

www.who.int/hhr

6

People Coming and GoingPeople Coming and GoingPeople Coming and GoingPeople Coming and Going

RIIKKA RANTALA

Riikka Rantala joined SEARO as Health and Human Rights officer in June 2009. Riikka is a Junior Professional Officer from Finland, and she will continue the work initiated by her predecessor Mr

Samuli Seppanen. SEARO already has a sound programme foundation for HHR, with several initiatives for in-stance in environmental health and maternal and neonatal health areas. Riikka will further try to strengthen the HHR network with the country offices, support the HHR activities that the countries want to pursue in the coming biennium, and hopefully strengthen the HHR work in the region by creating a regional strategy and guidelines for HHR mainstreaming.

Riikka Rantala

MITRA MOTLAGH

Mitra Motlagh has worked for WHO

on health and human rights for the

past four years. She has spent three

years as JPO at the Mozambique

country office where she mainly pro-

vided technical assistance to various

Ministries and to the Parliament on

human rights issues, facilitated part-

nership with the UN Special Proce-

dures and implemented various ac-

tivities to raise awareness on the

right to health. After three years in

Africa she joined WHO WPRO for a

year. She is now starting a new as-

s i gnmen t w i t h

UNDP as human

rights specialist for

the Regional Bureau

for Arab States.

Mitra Motlagh

Recent WHO Publications Recent WHO Publications Recent WHO Publications Recent WHO Publications Factsheet Uganda

Together with the Ministry of Health of Uganda, the WHO Country Office issued a fact sheet on Health and Human Rights in Uganda this year. The fact sheet provides an overview of Uganda's commit-ment to the right to health, the integration of human rights in health policies and plans, and capacity building efforts at national level. promoting a human rights-based approach to health. WHO will con-tinue working with the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders to ensure attention to human rights in the design and implementation of health policies and programmes.

ANNELIE ROSTEDT

Annelie Rostedt

has worked

w i t h W HO

since 2005, first

with the WHO

Country Office

in Uganda, and

subsequent l y

with the Health

and Human Rights Team at WHO/

HQ. In Uganda, Annelie supported

awareness raising and capacity

development on health and human

rights in collaboration with the Min-

istry of Health, the Uganda Human

Rights Commission, civil society

organizations and OHCHR. At HQ,

Annelie has contributed to several

key activities, including the devel-

opment of a tool for human rights

and gender equality analysis of

national health sector strategies. In

January, Annelie will take up a new

assignment as Special Assistant to

the UN Resident Coordinator in

Zambia.

The Obalanga Human Rights And

Health Care Association in Amuria dis-

trict (Uganda) is a rare example of a

grass root organization advocating for

health rights.

Annelie Rostedt

FAUSTINE MAISO

Dr Faustine Maiso is a Ugandan Medical Doctor and on a 12 months contract with WHO Uganda as a HHR Officer since June 2009. He previously worked with the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) to establish the Right to Health Unit with a focus on Neglected Tropi-cal Diseases. There is a strong partnership established between UHRC, OHCHR, the Ministry of Health and WHO. This is sup-porting activities and information

sharing. Steps have been initiated to incorporate HHR education into the curricula of health training institutions. In the next 6 months focus will be on capacity building for health professionals to imple-ment the right to health.

Faustine Maiso

RUEDIGER KRECH

Dr Ruediger Krech has studied educational sciences, medi-

cine and public health and holds a doctoral degree in public

health. He was previously the Director for social security in

India at the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and

speaker of GTZ’s projects and programmes in the area of

health and social protection in Asia and Central and Eastern

Europe. He has been in charge of GTZ’s social protection

work from 2003 to 2008. Before joining GTZ, he has held vari-

ous management positions at the World Health Organization

(WHO) in the fields of health systems, health policies, health

promotion and ageing. He re-joined WHO as the Director for

Ethics, Equity, Trade and Human Rights as of October 1,

2009.