The stakes and Challenges of the Protection of Economic and Social Rights: The case of Cameroon

Besides civil and political rights, which aim to prevent violations of individual freedoms by government and others and enable citizens to participate in the nation's political life, there are also economic and social rights. These rights are echoed in International Human Rights regulations such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights among others, and above all, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that entered into force on the 3rd of January 1976 and which constitutes the specialized international legal framework of these rights. Unlike civil and political rights, these rights are predominantly positive rights that generate a duty for the State to actively ensure the attainment of the fundamental and basic human needs which are indispensable for human existence. This implies that the realization of these rights is contingent on the availability and sustainable/judicious management of natural and financial resources of the state. Using the case study of the Republic of Cameroon, this study x-rays the impediments to the enjoyment of these rights and examines the extent to which the government has succeeded in the protection of the said rights.