6th Annual National Conference on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)

The aim of the Conference is to take stock of access to justice policies, laws and mechanisms and how these were impacting on access to justice for victims of ESCRs violations and abuses. The Conference will discuss the different mechanisms and remedies available to victims and how effective and efficient these are. This will cover both formal and informal mechanisms, as well as judicial and quasi-judicial systems, in addition to administrative mechanisms. The specific objectives of the Conference are:

To examine the relationship between access to justice and ESCRs and the international standards that govern this area of human rights law;
To take stock of the access to justice mechanisms available for victims of ESCRs violations and abuses;
To examine the extent to which justice needs of victims of ESCRs violations and abuses have been addressed through the available mechanisms;
To identify and discuss best practices for the ensuring that victims of ESCRs violations and abuses access justice; and
To ensure inclusion of ESCRs in the access to justice discourse at the national, regional and international levels.

Expected outcomes:

It is hoped that the Conference will contribute to ensuring that the access to justice mechanisms in Uganda address the needs of victims of ESCR violations and abuses. This will be achieved through the discussion of the successes and failures of the existing mechanisms, in addition to the best practices from comparative jurisdictions. The international standards will help to determine what needs to be done to improve our legal framework to make it deliver justice to victims. The Conference is expected to act as a platform networking by different stakeholders working on access to justice and ESCRs.