In a blog post to the Huffington Post today, NESRI's Human Right to Health Program Director Anja Rudiger offers a commentary on why the United States fails to recognize economic and social rights.

Marking the United Nations hearing on the U.S. human rights record to take place tomorrow, Friday, November 5, Rudiger notes that advocacy groups across the country have "called the U.S. government to account" for "failing to ensure that its people are not ill-fed, ill-housed and of ill health." While these groups have praised the U.S. government's engagement with the United Nations human rights monitoring mechanism, hoping that it indicates a "much needed commitment to taking human rights seriously at home," the same groups note that the U.S. government's report "does not adequately address many human rights abuses people suffer in the United States." Rudiger comments that despite thousands of people across the country speaking out on these human rights denials via consultations, reports and self-produced videos, the U.S. government "does everything possible to avoid recognizing that people's needs give rise to human rights obligations." To find out why, read Rudiger's Huffington Post blog entry.