By Ele Hicks, Project Manager at Human Rights Consortium Cymru, who are a member of the UK ESCR Network which Just Fair convenes.
50 years after the UK signed up to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, what do these rights mean for Wales?
All too often, Wales is overlooked at a UK and international level. Yet everyone in Wales has important human rights. When the UK Government signs up to international agreements, those rights apply just as much here. They are our rights — for all of us living in Wales.
Why this matters for civil society and people in Wales
For organisations and communities across Wales, economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) are not abstract.
They are the issues that affect people every day:
- Poverty and the cost of living
- Access to decent and affordable housing
- Pressures on health and care
- Timely and appropriate access to health and social care
The scale of these challenges is clear:
- 29 per cent of children in Wales live in poverty
- Over 13,000 households were assessed as homeless in 2024–25
- Only 64 per cent of workers in Wales earned the Real Living Wage in 2023, the lowest percentage in a decade
- In 2024, 27 per cent of people in Wales are food insecure – experiencing reduced quality of diet and/or reduced food intake – with an additional 15 per cent of people experiencing marginal food insecurity
- Around 543,447 people are waiting for NHS treatment
These figures reflect lived realities — families struggling to afford basics, people without secure homes, and long waits for care.
They raise a simple question: are these rights being realised in practice?
The gap between commitment and reality
Wales has strong foundations with a focus on well-being and prevention, a commitment to fairness, and embedded children’s rights.
But clear challenges remain including inconsistent use of rights-based language, inconsistent use of rights-based approaches, and a gap between aspirations and delivery/implementation.
This points to a core issue: rights like housing, health and an adequate standard of living are not always reflected in people’s every day experiences.
Where does the Human Rights Consortium Cymru come in?
We were set up in April 2025 to bring together voluntary sector organisations and civil society in Wales to protect, advance, respect, and fulfil all human rights in Wales.
A long-standing, structural gap existed in Wales in relation to coordinating voices and work around human rights. Economic, social and cultural rights work was a key gap. We knew the importance of economic, social and cultural rights, yet no independent organisation was working across these rights in Wales.
These rights are not only critical to people’s everyday lives, as we’ve seen in this blog and many other times, but also involve many devolved policy areas, such as health and social care, housing, and education.
There has been a long-standing campaign in Wales to put the right to adequate housing into Welsh law Back the Bill – Tai Pawb. But little, if any, coordinated work around other economic, social, and cultural rights.
Bringing together voluntary sector organisations, academics, policy makers, and individuals interested in progressing human rights in Wales can help to translate aspiration into reality; improve the lives of everyone living in Wales; and link different experiences and issues together to progress economic, social and cultural rights for all.
Why ESCR need stronger protection
Economic, social and cultural rights are where systems are most visible — and most tested.
They depend on decisions about resources, coordination across services, and long-term investment.
Without clear legal frameworks, this can lead to inconsistent outcomes, limited transparency and weak accountability. For civil society, that means supporting people within systems that are often difficult to challenge.
A window of opportunity: incorporation
This is why the debate on incorporation matters.
Incorporation means bringing rights into Welsh law so they:
- shape decisions
- guide services
- provide routes to challenge
For ESCR, this shifts rights from policy commitments to practical tools.
Recently the Legislative Options Working Group (LOWG) recommended a bespoke Wales human rights bill. Moving from the inconsistencies in policy approaches to a strong legal framework, with enforceable rights people can access, use to challenge, and take legal action when needed. This includes making economic, social, and cultural rights part of Welsh law in devolved policy areas.
Beyond the law, there are opportunities to improve monitoring and accountability; have a human rights action plan for Wales; and make rights-based services a reality.
From commitment to change
Fifty years on from signing the Covenant, the question is not whether ESCR matter.
It is whether they are:
- clear
- enforceable
- and capable of making a difference
We have a unique opportunity in Wales to translate economic, social and cultural rights into reality.
The task now is to ensure it leads to real change, so that fewer people experience homelessness, fewer people go hungry, fewer people wait a long time or get treatment that isn’t right for them, and fewer children grow up in poverty.
That is what economic, social and cultural rights should mean in Wales.
The Human Rights Consortium Cymru is working with partners like Just Fair and others to make this a reality for everyone in Wales. Join us to make Wales a better place for everyone here.
Background image by Gergana Gergova for Fine Acts
