This volume brings together insights and experiences from across the world on the actual and potential role of national human rights institutions with respect to economic, social and cultural rights. Increasingly, national human rights institutions are seen as a necessary part of human rights architecture. Arguably, it may be in the field of economic, social and cultural rights that their added value is the most crucial, as this is where the gap left by other human rights actors and fora is the most manifest.

The editors invited a number of academic experts, in addition to several prominent authors from within national human rights institutions. The volume thus brings together theoretical and practical views on the cumulative dynamic of two booming phenomena in contemporary human rights protection: the spread of national human rights institutions and the stepping up of efforts to enforce economic, social and cultural rights.

Contents:
Introduction to the Volume
The Role of National Human Rights Institutions in the Promotion and Protection of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Historical, Theoretical and Critical Perspectives
National Human Rights Institutions as Independent Actors in Relation to Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
The Bolivian Human Rights Ombudsman and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
The Role of NHRC in Protecting and Promoting the Economic and Social Rights of Vulnerable Groups in India
The Monitoring Role of the Ghana Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) in the Protection of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
National Human Rights Institutions and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: An Examination of the Mandate and Practice of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission
Equal Treatment, an Effective Mechanism to Protect Human Rights in the Netherlands?
Anti-Discrimination Legislation and the Role of an Equality body in the Promotion of Economic and Social Rights
The Role of National Inquiries in the Protection of Social and Economic Rights