Socio-Economic Rights Under the African Jurisprudence

Socioeconomic rights provide a legal, political and moral framework to challenge policies that perpetuate poverty and inequality in the society. Just as governments are held accountable under human rights law for denying political freedom, so too they are accountable for denying adequate food and healthcare. Therefore, this class of rights serves as a veritable tool for people to participate in claiming their own rights. The relevance of these rights shows that without the guarantee of this specie of human rights, the civil liberties which always attract the attention of all persons including the NGOs might suffer some set backs. Social rights are benefits or services provided to the needy which are not only recognized by domestic legal documents but also, across the international plane have acquired a unique position as part of the norms of jus co gen. The basic and founding document of international human rights law is the universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948. This document establishes the fundamental vision and principles of the new human rights regime by recognizing the interdependence of indivisibility of all human rights norms.