February 21, 2011
PCHR Organizes Workshop Entitled “Enforcement of Economic and Social Rights” in al-Bureij Refugee Camp
PCHR Organizes Workshop Entitled “Enforcement of Economic and Social Rights” in al-Bureij Refugee Camp

 

Ref: 4/2011 

 

On Monday, 21
March 2011, the Economic and Social Rights Unit of the Palestinian Centre for
Human Rights (PCHR) organized a workshop entitled “Enforcement of Economic
and Social Rights” in cooperation with the Union of the Palestinian
Women’s Struggle Committees (UPWSC) and the Union of the Palestinian Students’
Struggle Committees (UPSSC) in central Gaza. The workshop was held in the UPWSC
and UPSSC offices of in al-Bureij refugee camp with 20 participants in
attendance, including students and graduates who are members of the two
associations.

 

Khalil Shaheen,
Director of PCHR’s Economic and Social Rights Unit, welcomed the participants
and noted that the workshop was a part of a series of workshops that the Economic
and Social Rights Unit organizes within the framework of coordination and
cooperation between PCHR and other civil society organizations in the Gaza Strip. 

 

Shaheen
reviewed the international human rights system and its international
development, including the reasons that led to the adoption of the
International Bill of Human Rights. He addressed a number of economic, social
and cultural rights mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. He
discussed the situation of economic and social rights in the Gaza Strip and the
obstacles facing the realization of these rights, especially the illegal
Israeli-imposed which violates these rights. Shaheen presented PCHR’s
experience in activities relating to these rights, including observing and
documenting violations against Palestinians. He pointed to PCHR’s legal
activities in this area, including the provision of legal advice to the victims
of such violations.

 

During the
course of the workshop, participants engaged in discussions about the situation
of the right to health, the right to education, the right to work, the right to
social security and the right to an adequate standard of living in view of the
deteriorating human rights in the OPT. The participants also addressed the
problem of unemployment among university graduates in the Gaza Strip, lack of
job opportunities and inability to participate in development in view of the
deterioration of the economic and social situation in the Gaza Strip.