Preamble
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights:
Recalling that the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter)
reflects that all human rights are indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, and cannot
be enjoyed in isolation from each other;
Recognising that the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights is not only
imperative for but dependant on the enjoyment of civil and political rights, and in
particular on the rule of law, democracy and good governance;
Taking into consideration the Constitutive Act of the African Union, the Protocol to the
Constitutive Act of the African Union on the African Court of Justice and Human Rights,
the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of
Women in Africa, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the African
Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, the OAU Convention Governing the
Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, and the treaties adopted by the
Regional Economic Communities that relate to economic, social and cultural rights;
Drawing inspiration from other international instruments that protect and promote
economic, social and cultural rights, such as the Universal Declaration on Human
Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and
Members of their Families; the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
the European Social Charter, the European Convention for the Protection of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties
of Man; the American Convention on Human Rights and the Additional Protocol to the
American Convention on Human Rights in the area of Economic, Social, and Cultural
Rights;
Taking into consideration the African Court of Justice and Human Rights;
Drawing inspiration from decisions of domestic courts within the jurisdiction of states
parties to the African Charter;
Drawing inspiration from the reports of Special Mechanisms of the African Commission
on Human and Peoples Rights and Special Procedures of the United Nations human
rights system and other declarations, reports and guidelines issued by the United
Nations and the African Union;
Recognising that, without access to economic, social and cultural rights, the dignity of
the individual and of peoples is threatened and that they become vulnerable to multiple
threats to their security, and that economic deprivation and marginalisation of peoples,
communities and groups results in increased social conflict and instability;
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