Yes / Laying claim to highest attainable standard of health is a human right. Support for this right is provided by the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations [UN], 1948) and a small number of legally binding international treaties. Among the most important of these for health are the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (UN, 1966a) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (UN, 1989). Both these human rights treaties are legally binding for those countries that have ratified them. The ICESCR, in particular, articulates a comprehensive view of the obligations of state members of the United Nations (UN) to respect, protect and fulfil the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health – known as ‘the right to health’. It provides for both freedoms, such as the right to be free from non-consensual and uninformed medical treatment, medical experimentation, or forced HIV testing, as well as entitlements. These entitlements include the right to a system of protection on an equal basis for all, a system of prevention, treatments and control of disease, access to essential medicines, and services for sexual and reproductive health; and access to information and education about health for everyone. The Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ECSCR) monitors compliance with these provisions. Most states have ratified the ICESCR, and all but two (Somalia and the US) have ratified the CRC.

"The objectives of the study are as follows: 1. To critically examine the efficacy of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa (SRRWA) with particular emphasis on the new legal framework created by the Protocol. 2. To investigate the operation of some universal and regional organs with comparable mandate, and their possible relevance to the improvement of the SRRWA. 3. To put forward recommendations for the improvement of the mandate of the SRRWA that will enhance its impact on the promotion and protection of women's rights in Africa. ... Following this introduction, the study is divided into three chapters. The first chapter traces the envolvement of the SRRWA in the Commission, provides its current operations and briefly expounds on the other mechanisms in the Commission targeting women. The second chapter evaluates both the terms of the mandate (within the context of the Protocol), and its successes and shortcomings. The third chapter explores comparative international and regional protection mechanisms and their possible relevance to the SRRWA. The fourth chapter contains recommendations on improving the mandate and concluding remarks." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2003. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM