Annual Conference on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The idea of an Annual Conference on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was born in 2014, at the behest of Government processes that flagged the need for constitutional reforms. The Conference was at the time conceived as a forum to advocate for the inclusion of economic, social and cultural rights in the Constitution.

At the 1^st Conference in September 2014, the question of the justifiability of ESCRs took center stage. The 2^nd Conference in September 2015 confronted the subject of the state of socio-economic services, focusing particularly on the issue of exclusion and vulnerability. The subject of development planning and use of the Human Rights Based Approach featured prominently at the 2^nd Conference. The subject of business and human rights was flagged as a serious issue. One of the outcomes of the 2^nd Conference was the birth of the Uganda Consortium on Corporate Accountability (UCCA) including a decision that the 3^rd Conference should address the subject of business and human rights, thus the theme of the Conference It is against this background that the theme of the Conference should be understood. The Theme was informed by the fact that some businesses have responded to human rights challenges by engaging in corporate social accountability. The 4^th Conference dealt with the role of local government in service delivery. The 5^th Conference dealt with the critical issue around SDGs. The 6^th conference was held under the theme strengthening Access to Justice for economic social and cultural rights. The 7th Annual National Conference on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights had a theme on Election Promises, Political Accountability and Service Delivery: A Reality Check.