ESC Rights: Optional Protocol to ICESCR - Australia Urged to Support Negotiation of Text
On 13 March 2008, the Centre wrote to the Attorney General, the Hon Rob McClelland MP, calling on the Australian Government to strongly support the negotiation and adoption of an effective, comprehensive complaints and inquiries mechanism for the ICESCR. The UN Working Group on the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is meeting in Geneva from 31 March to 4 April 2008 to further negotiate the text of this draft instrument. The Working Group is aiming to finalise negotiation of the text by December 2008 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.