CONTEXT OF THE PROJECT
In recent years, the economic downturn coupled with the retrogressive socioeconomic policies adopted by the government has spawned social gaps and widespread poverty on a scale that is unprecedented in Israel. In 2005, a total number of 1.58 million Israelis were living below the poverty line, including one-third of all children, one-quarter of the elderly population, and one-fifth of all families.
The reduction in public funding and the increasing privatization of social services has deprived many Israelis, primarily those belonging to the most marginalized and disempowered groups, of their ability to realize their basic social and economic rights. Drastic cuts in social services reflect a fundamental shift in the government’s approach towards its obligations to ensure social and economic rights and a disturbing prioritization of economic development over human dignity.
In the past few years we have also witnessed increasing violations of the right to work and of the right to decent working conditions. Israel’s unemployment rate remains high, but stricter eligibility requirements for guaranteed income benefits has led to a significant decline in the number of welfare recipients. Another area of concern is the growing practice of employing workers through manpower agencies. This practice provides employers with a cheap form of labor and allows them to bypass their responsibility to ensure the rights of their workers. Subcontracted workers, many of whom are from disadvantaged population groups including new immigrants and the elderly, are often paid below the minimum wage and denied their basic rights. The State, through its ministries, is currently the biggest employer of subcontracted workers in the country.
The term “social and economic rights” encompasses a range of rights, including the rights to education, adequate housing, social security and health; the right to work and workers’ rights; and the right to an adequate standard of living. ACRI firmly believes in the indivisibility of human rights and recognizes that the full enjoyment of civil and political rights – itself an essential element of a vibrant democracy – is dependent upon the full realization of social and economic rights. A democracy cannot thrive while sectors of its society are socially excluded and denied their right to live their lives in dignity.
In light of the above, ACRI made the strategic decision to launch an interdepartmental project designed to put social and economic rights high on the public and political agenda. Through the project, ACRI aims to promote an alternative discourse that will reclaim social and economic rights as human rights, recognize the duty of the State to ensure social and economic rights, and emphasize the connection between these rights and social cohesion and democracy.
