Guidelines and Principles on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights


"​Section- I: Interpretation

1. In the interpretation of these Guidelines the following terms shall be interpreted as follows:

i. Forced eviction are acts and/or omissions involving the coerced or involuntary displacement of individuals, groups and communities from homes and/or lands and common property resources that were occupied or depended upon, thus eliminating or limiting the ability of an individual, group or community to reside or work in a particular dwelling, residence or location, without the provision of, and access to appropriate forms of legal or other protection.

ii. Indigenous populations/communities are, for the purposes of these guidelines,any group fo people whose culture and way of life and mode of production differ considerably from the dominant of society, whose culture depends on access and rights to their traditional land and the natural resources thereon, and whose cultures are under threat. They suffer from discrimination as they are regarded as less developed and less advanced than other more dominant sectors of society, which often prevents them from being able to genuinely participate in deciding their own future and forms of development.

iii. Peoples are, for the purpose of these guidelines, any groups or communities of people that have an identifiable interest in common, whether this is from the sharing of an ethnic, linguistic or other factors. Within the scope of these guidelines peoples are therefore not to be equated solely with nations or states.

iv. Prohibited grounds of discrimination include but are not limited to race, ethnic groups, colour, sex, gender, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social origin, economic status, birth, disability or other status.

v. Vulnerable and disadvantaged groups are people who have faced and/or continue to face significant impediments to their enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. Vulnerable and disadvantaged groups include but are not limited to, women, linguistic, racial, religious minorities, children (particularly orphans, young girls, children of low-income groups, children in rural areas, children who are disabled, children of immigrants and of migrant workers, children belonging to linguistic, racial, religious or other minorities, and children belonging to indigenous populations/communities), youth, the elderly, people living with, or affected by, HIV/AIDS, and other persons with terminal illnesses, persons with persistent medical problems, child and female-headed households and victims of natural diasters, indigenous populations/communities, persons with disabilities, victims of sexual and economic exploitation, detainees, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and intersex people, refugees and asylum seekers, legal or illegal migrant workers, internally displaced populations, slum dwellers, landless and nomadic pastoralists, workers in the informal sector of the economy and subsistence agriculture, persons living in informal settlements and workers in irregular forms of employment such as home-based workers, casual and seasonal workers.