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Declaration of Human Rights and in several international treaties 28 and ILO
conventions, in particular Convention No. 102 (1952) concerning Minimum Standards
of Social Security.
51. Social protection is not, however, required only in order to give effect to these
two rights. A full range of other rights are relevant to social protection, such as the
right to the highest attainable standard of health, the right to education, the
protection of the family and maternity benefits, the right to work, the right to
protection of employment and the rights of elderly persons.
52. In addition to these economic and social rights, other human rights are relevant
when considering social protection measures and how they should be implemented,
for example, the right to participate in public life, the right to access to information
and the right to an effective remedy. The principles of equality, non-discrimination,
transparency and accountability are also relevant. These rights are essential to
ensure the effectiveness and appropriateness of social protection systems, for
example, by enabling participation in the processes of designing a country’s social
protection system and ensuring that individuals can claim their entitlements.
53. Civil and political rights also contribute greatly and provide protection against
certain risks and vulnerabilities, in particular, those caused by States such as
inhumane treatment, arbitrary arrest or detention or unreasonable restrictions on the
media and journalists.
C.
Obligations imposed by economic, social and cultural rights
54. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights imposed
several obligations upon States parties that are relevant in the establishment of
social protections schemes:
(a) The minimum core obligation to ensure the satisfaction of, at the very
least, minimum essential levels of all economic, social and cultural rights: the
minimum levels that must be attained aim to secure basic subsistence and medical
care for all members of society and provide protection to anyone without adequate
resources. In this regard, social protection measures can be seen as a response to
meeting basic minimum standards in relation to economic, social and cultural rights;
(b) The obligation to ensure the progressive realization of all economic,
social and cultural rights: States must devote the maximum of their available
resources to ensure progressive realization of these rights. It is important to note
that the allocation of resources is not left to the complete discretion of States. States
must grant a degree of priority to allocating resources to ensure basic subsistence
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The right to social security is included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, articles 22
and 25; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, articles 9 and 10;
the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,
article 5.e.iv; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,
article 11.1.e; the Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 26; and the International
Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and their Families,
article 27. It also appears in regional human rights instruments such as the Protocol of San
Salvador, article 9 and the European Social Charter, article 12. The African Charter on Human
and Peoples’ Rights stipulates that the aged and the disabled shall also have the right to special
measures of protection in keeping with their physical or moral needs, article 18.4.
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