Mexico is fighting a fierce battle over the cultivation of genetically modified maize. With maize being the main food source and having deep cultural meanings, Mexican civil society is concerned about its biodiversity, possible risks to human health and access to food.

20 years ago the final declaration of the World Conference on Human Rights (1993) in Vienna not only reinforced the universality of human rights, it also acknowledged the indivisibility, and thereby the coherence and interdependency of the various human rights. Since then we have seen an unmistakable increase in the significance of the long-neglected economic, social and cultural human rights (ESCR).

The following paper by Michael Krennerich will cursorily follow up on the change in significance over the past few decades.

A human rights approach to the consequences of the economic crisis in Spain and the demands of the Indignados movement Since 2008, the global economy is experimenting a severe downturn: a deep financial and economic crisis has spread globally. This crisis is having devastating effects on lives and livelihoods across the world, threatening the whole

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