171. Takes note of the worrying authoritarian trend in Cambodia, underlined by a long-standing impunity
for human rights violations and the narrowing of political space and freedom of expression for
people belonging to the opposition parties and other political activists; calls on the Commission to
take action for the reactivation of the 1991 Paris Agreement on Cambodia;
Economic, social and cultural rights
172. Recognises that economic, social and cultural rights should be given equal importance to civil and
political rights, bearing in mind the universality, indivisibility, interdependence and inter-relatedness
of all human rights, as confirmed by the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna;
urges countries around the world to sign up to the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OP-ICESCR), which was opened for signature on 24
September 2009;
173. Stresses that human rights include, inter alia, the right to food, water and sanitation, education,
adequate housing, land, decent work and social security; these rights should be granted as fair access
to natural resources on a sustainability basis, including for future generations; recognises that poverty
and the lack of good governance are important factors behind many of the situations of noncompliance with such rights; calls for the EU to invest greater efforts in achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), given the evidence that the world is falling far short of the goals set for
2015; in this context, reiterates the importance of implementing human-rights-based policies for the
realisation of the MDGs;
174. Recognises the importance of the International Labour Organisation’s supervisory system in
defending rights in the areas of trade and employment, statistical systems, social protection and
employment policies, as well as occupational safety and health;
175. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that companies which come under
national or European law do not disregard human rights and the health and environmental standards
applicable to them when they establish themselves or conduct their activities in a non EU-country, in
particular in developing countries;
176. Asks the Commission and the Member States to fulfil their Official Development Assistance (ODA)
commitments towards developing countries in order to fight the global economic and financial crisis
and in this way reduce the negative consequences this crisis has had on the human rights situation in
the world; welcomes the 10th Special Session of the Human Rights Council entitled ‘The Impact of
the Global Economic and Financial Crises on the Universal Realisation and Effective Enjoyment of
Human Rights’, which took place on 20 February 2009; calls for EU Member States to maintain their
cooperation with non-EU countries on human rights in the face of the crisis, and insists that lack of
resources can never be used to justify the violation of human rights;
The Commission’s external assistance programmes and the EIDHR
177. Welcomes the fact that Parliament’s priorities have been taken into consideration in the 2008 and
2009 programming documents of the EIDHR;
178. Supports the contributions of the EIDHR, mainly through civil society projects by local and
international civil society organisations (90% of contributions), and also through regional and
international organisations in this field, such as the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the Office of
the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (10% of contributions);