The PDF of the annual report is downloadable at the following address: http://www.dhr.go.cr/
Below is an excerpt from the report:
"Since 2009, the Ombudsman's Office since 2009 has been involved with the Defense, Labor, Special Protection and Advocacy for Women Directorates as a counterpart of a project conducted by the USAID Program for Citizen Access to Justice Labor. The project is administered by Pact Inc. in order to help improve access to justice mechanisms for the general public. The programs is developed under the Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Central America and the Dominican Republic (CAFTA-DR), with the primary purpose being strengthening the implementation of labor standards and contribute to compliance with Chapter XVI of the Treaty.
The offices included are Ombudsman of the Republic of Costa Rica, the Attorney for the Defense of Human Rights in El Salvador, the Human Rights Ombudsman of Guatemala, and the National Commissioner of Human Rights in Honduras.
Program activities are focused on strengthening access to justice work for various groups, particularly those who are in a vulnerable situation in relation to violations of labor rights, such as women, indigenous people, persons with disabilities and migrants. The Ombudsman, as a counterpart of USAID-PACT, has contributed to the development and validation of a self-formative manual on access to labor justice, consisting of five modules. The first module is on access to labor justice in general, and the four following modules address specialized access to labor justice for women, persons with disabilities, migrants and indigenous people.
Modules have been developed as a tool for self-education, highlighting important concepts and modeling with real life examples. It is also developed so that the reader can reaffirm their knowledge with thematic self-assessment exercises. We included the cases studies that can be applied in every country.
Once the manual was ready, USAID-PACT hosted Manual Validation Workshop, held on November 24, 2010 where they invited a group of officials of public sector institutions, NGOs, and private organizations to collaborate with the Ombudsman, ANEP SIPROCIMECA, UPINS, Ministry of Labor and Social Security, AA Gruperi, CCSS, United Confederation Building Solidarity, MNI-CICA Association of Consultants, Advisors International Commission on Disability Legislative Assembly, National Council of Rehabilitation, Costa Rican Federation for Persons with Disabilities, CONAI Leader Community Terraba Indian Counseling Center, Cendere, the Directorate of Migration, IOM, Migrant Workers Trade Union Centre, INAMU, Alliance of Women, ASTRADOMES and UNDECA. The objective of the workshop consisted of a presentation of the Millennium Access to Labor Justice Manual, and promoted exposure of the attendees and officials of the different Directorates to each of the modules on Labor Justice, Disability, Indigenous, Migrant and Women.
The result of this work has produced a publication that is an effective tool to combat all forms of discrimination. It sends the message that labor justice can only be achieved if every person has knowledge about their labor rights and the mechanisms that exist to enforce them. Thus the handbook contributes to a larger, general framework on labor rights."
