ECSRs and youths

Just how much human life costs may send trains of concerns in many people’s minds since there is no standardised price for it. But from the chemical point of view, it is worth quite a bit. According to chemists’ estimates, the value of the proteins, DNA, amino acids and bio-chemicals within the human body makes a person worth billion pounds. Perhaps that is why Christianity claims that the value of human life could be ‘understood’ by the death of Jesus Christ to pay the price. It is said to be infinite.
Satirically, with the high levels of poverty in most social set ups, human life has lost its decency. Intricacies of poverty and misery have circumvented the serenity of the real value of mankind. In Zambia for example, government has paid little attention in respecting the rights of mankind with the divinity they deserve.
At the high of such pandemonium, advocates of human welfare have proposed the inclusion of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) in the Zambian Constitution’s Bill of Rights lexicon, to enable citizens at different levels taste good life.
The demand to incorporate Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is rooted on the respect for the dignity of the human being.
As the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) director, Peter Henriot argues it, respecting the dignity of the human being economically, culturally and socially signifies the worth of being human, which is not constituted by any human declaration or institution, but rather given by God, and is a universally shared reality.
What are ESCR anyway? These are rights which mandate that social conditions are adequate for meeting physical, moral and biological requirements for every category of people.
They aim at ensuring that everyone has access to resources, opportunities and essentials for an adequate standard of living; such as education, health, food, safe water and sanitation, housing, employment, and clean environment.
This entails providing citizens an opportunity to fully develop in an environment that legally recognises, respects, protects and assures a standard of living worthy of human dignity.
Bright reasoning, isn’t it? But where does the controversy arise? Shouldn’t human beings get the self-esteem they merit?
Often, those in public office are suspicious of any maneuvre that champions their operations-a watchdog of any kind is a prowl to them.
Most of the public officials argue that with such rights in place, unnecessary demands would arise from anyone with little knowledge about the law to the dismal of national development.
In the eye of ESCR opponents, fundamental human rights and freedom of an individual, which are currently recognised in the constitution, are enough for an ordinary citizen.
The current Directive State Policy of Article 112 (Part IX), which contains fundamental human rights states that government, shall provide, at will, clean and safe water, equitable educational opportunities at all levels, adequate health facilities, decent shelter for all persons and development of a person’s culture and custom.
However, Article 111 states that these shall not be justifiable or be legally enforceable in any tribunal, court or administrative institution or entity.
This means government can not be forced to provide these for rights (citing a shortage of funds) or because they are not part of the priorities.
But, Fr Henriot charges that there could be no development without a provision of economic, social and cultural rights as ignorance of rights would limit the effectiveness of other players of the economy.
And Freedom House director of programmes, Robert Harman adds that citizen empowerment could not be fully attained when the economic, social and cultural rights of citizens are denied.
Dr Harman said lack of such rights put most citizens at a disadvantage especially where accessing information for such empowerment programmes was embedded into complicated legalities.
He added that civil rights go hand and glove with ESCR as they supplemented each other in bridging developmental gaps in every economy.
“Citizens can not fully enjoy the right to vote when they are not enlightened on the key issues that affect their well being vis-à-vis the issues each candidate articulates on in the campaign message. They are likely to vote on the basis of how a particular candidate appeals to their emotions, rather than merit,” he said.
He added that education was cardinal in such instances, if citizens were to fully enjoyment of the right to vote.
Mr Harman however, said ESCR could not be enjoyed over night because of lack of resources, but government should ensure that there was universal access to basic rights like health care, education or water and sanitation among other key ones.
He argued that governments were obliged to endure that people’s rights are adhered to, but where the most of the citizens were not aware of such rights, the enlightened few take advantage and abuse others.
On the parallel, Mr Harman said fulfilling ESCR could be very challenging without an independent judiciary as political ambitions often interfered with human rights fulfillment.
“Judges are part of the economic system, and they should interpret laws rightly to ensure that universal access to health care and education are attained, as they are cardinal in the attainment of most human rights,” he said.
Proponents of ESCR are not bargaining for a legislation that would put leaders in tight corners, but are seeking parliamentary approval on the enactment of legislation which provides measures that are reasonable in order to achieve the progressive realisation of these rights.
Fr Henriot charges that there was need for a legal guarantee for example by parliament to ensure that every person have the right to basic education by ensuring that government progressively make available post-secondary, technical and vocational education.
He said programmes like citizen empowerment could be more meaningful when the majority of the citizens were enlightened on how to integrate the funds provided by the government in their daily lives.
As the old maxim says, “the one who holds information rules,” without the right to education, which the ESCR seek to address, most Zambians would not benefit from such well meant programmes as the paper work involved in accessing the funds that are meant to improve their well being would hinder them pursue the funds to the end.
Only the knowledgeable few would benefit from such national programmes while the masses would everlastingly be in indispensable poverty and ignorance.
Fr Henriot added that parliament was the major player in ensuring that the ESCR were fulfilled because of the power vested in it.
He said parliament could be used as a watchdog in utilisation of national resources that were meant to empower the citizenry in collaboration with the courts of law where the aggrieved should seek redress when they felt their ESCR were perpetually abused.
“This calls for an independent judiciary, a judicial system that stands for what is right, not serving the power that appoints,” he said.
The ESCR seek the inclusion of major rights that enabled people to claim other rights to fulfill the value of humanity they human kingdom deserves, the right to be recognised and to demand for the fulfillment for those rights.
Indeed, intricacies of poverty and misery would continue circumventing the celestial value of mankind if the people are not empowered to claim what belong to them after equipping them the quality of education that enlightens them as they live.