The Community Law Centre, Black Sash, People’s Health Movement South Africa, National Welfare Social Service and Development Forum, and the Global Call to Action against Poverty South Africa organised a seminar on understanding the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The aims of the seminar were:

• Forster awareness of the ICESCR and the MDGs and South Africa’s compliance with its reporting obligations in terms of the MDGs;
• Establish the link between ratification of the ICESCR and meeting the MDGs; and
• Integrate the ICESCR and the MDGs in local/community-based programmes.

Download the seminar advocacy report here.

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The Socio-Economic Rights Project of the Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape, and the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI) hosted a Roundtable Discussion on Meaningful Engagement in the Realisation of Socio-Economic Rights on 04 March 2010. Meaningful engagement is an important development in the approach of South African courts to enforce socio-economic rights and promote active participation in service provision. It is capable of promoting social change on the ground by creating a voice for the marginalised and the poor.

The objectives of the roundtable discussion were:
•    to promote dialogue on meaningful engagement and how it can be made more effective;
•    to present findings of a civil society workshop on meaningful engagement;
•    to consider what the key questions are for decision/policy makers;
•    to gain insight into current attitudes and practices regarding meaningful engagement;
•    to discuss the need and feasibility of a housing indaba in 2010

Download the seminar report here

Download the booklet on Engaging meaningfully with government on socio-economic rights: A focus on the right to housing , which is available in English and isiXhosa.

Download the report of a previous workshop on meaningful engagement by CALS here