THE LONG ROAD TO THE INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RIGHTS: THE RIGHT TO AN ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING

Abstract

A long road was necessary for economic and social rights to be internationally recognized. In fact, it was only after the Second World War that the protection of human rights, including economic and social rights, became one of the aims of the United Nations. Despite that, this legal protection was by no means made without controversies, especially when it comes to economic and social rights. The fact that most of the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights refer to civil and political rights corroborates these difficulties. Only articles 22 through 27 protected economic and social rights. The objective of this article is to shed some light into this process, as the Universal Declaration has been the foundation of the codification of the whole human rights system. Particular attention will be given to the discussions around the inclusion of article 25 that refers to the right to an adequate standard of living. It is interesting to analyze how this right was adopted during the process of elaboration of the Declaration, as it was then incorporated by so many texts and influenced the recognition of other rights. In fact, if today we are able to have autonomous rights to water, to health, to food, to housing and to education, it is thanks to the proclamation of the right to an adequate standard of living in the first place.