COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURALRIGHTS TO HOLD FORTY-THIRD SESSION FROM2 TO 20 NOVEMBER 2009 IN GENEVA

 

29 October 2009

 

 

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will meet at the Palais Wilson in Geneva from 2 to 20 November 2009 to examine measures taken by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, Poland, Madagascar and the Republic of Korea to comply with the standards of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

 

Those five countries are among the 160 States parties to the treaty, which entered into force in 1976 and which recognizes, among other things, the rights to work, to form and join trade unions, to social security, to the widest possible protection and assistance for the family, to an adequate standard of living, to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, and to an education.

 

In adhering to the treaty, States agree to submit periodic reports to the Committee on how they give effect to the provisions of the Covenant. The Committee evaluates the reports and makes observations and recommendations on improving the promotion and protection of the rights enshrined in the Covenant.

 

At the opening of the session, the Committee will hear a presentation by a representative of the Secretary-General. It will then adopt its agenda and programme of work before discussing its organization of work and substantive issues arising in the implementation of the Covenant.

 

In the afternoon, the Committee will discuss relations with United Nations organs and other treaty bodies, and will also hear information from non-governmental organizations with respect to the reports that it will review during the current session.

 

During the session, the Committee will review the status of development of a draft general comment on the right to take part in cultural life (article 15 of the Covenant) and an information session will be conducted on sexual and reproductive health rights for the future development of a draft general comment (articles 10 and 12 of the Covenant).

 

With the exception of Chad, which is presenting its initial to third periodic reports, the countries to be examined at this session have come before the Committee before. The Democratic Republic of the Congo presented its initial report to the Committee on 8 February 1988, and the Committee’s concluding observations on it can be found in document E/C.12/1988/4 (paras. 270-303). The Committee considered the fourth periodic report of Poland on 13 and 14 November 2002, and concluding observations on it are contained in document E/C.12/1/Add.82. The initial report of Madagascar was reviewed by the Committee on 15 April 1986, and the Committee’s concluding observations on it are contained in three summary records: E/1986/WG.1/SR.2, E/1986/WG.1/SR.3 and E/1986/WG.1/SR.5. Finally, the Committee considered the second periodic report of the Republic of Korea on 30 April and 1 May 2001, and concluding observations on the report are incorporated in document E/C.12/1/Add.59.

 

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

 

The General Assembly adopted and opened the Covenant for signature, ratification and accession in 1966. It entered into force on 3 January 1976.

 

Article 1 of the Covenant states that the right to self-determination is universal, and calls upon States to promote the realization and respect of that right. Article 3 reaffirms the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all human rights and enjoins States to make that principle a reality. Article 5 provides safeguards against the destruction or undue limitation of any human right or fundamental freedom, and against misinterpretation of any provision of the Covenant as a means of justifying infringement of a right or freedom or its restriction to a greater extent than provided in the Covenant. It also prevents States from limiting rights already enjoyed within their territories on the ground that such rights are not recognized, or recognized to a lesser extent, in the Covenant.

 

Articles 6 to 15 recognize the right to work; to the enjoyment of just and favourable conditions of work; to form and join trade unions; to social security, including social insurance; to the widest possible protection and assistance for the family, mothers, children and younger persons; to an adequate standard of living; to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; to an education and to take part in cultural life.

 

With regard to individual complaints, on 10 December 2008, the General Assembly unanimously adopted an Optional Protocol (GA resolution A/RES/63/117) to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which provides the Committee competence to receive and consider communications. The General Assembly took note of the adoption by the Human Rights Council by its resolution 8/2 of 18 June 2008, of the Optional Protocol. The Optional Protocol will be opened for signature at a signing ceremony in September 2009.

 

States Parties to the Covenant

 

The Covenant has been ratified or acceded to by 160 States: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Georgia, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

 

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

 

The Committee is composed of the following 18 Experts: Mohamed Ezzeldin Adel-Moneim (Egypt), Clement Atangana (Cameroon), Rocio Barahona Riera (Costa Rica), Virginia Bonoan-Dandan (Philippines), Maria Virginia Bras Gomes (Portugal), Chandrashekhar Dasgupta (India), Azzouz Kerdoun (Algeria), Yuri Kolosov (Russian Federation), Zdislaw Kedzia (Poland), Jaime Marchan Romero (Ecuador), Sergei Martynov (Belarus), Ariranga Govindasamy Pillay (Mauritius), Eibe Riedel (Germany), Nikolaas Jan Schrijver (Netherlands), Walid M. Sa'di (Jordan), Daode Zhan (China), Philippe Texier (France), and Alvaro Tirado Mejia (Colombia).

 

Mr. Marchan Romero is the Chairperson; Mr. Abel-Moneim, Ms. Bras Gomes and Mr. Sa’di are the Vice Chairpersons; and Mr. Kedzia is the Committee Rapporteur.

 

Provisional Timetable for Consideration of Reports

The main documents before the Committee in respect of these countries is accessible from the OHCHR website (http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cescr/cescrs43.htm), including the reports submitted by the States parties, lists of questions posed by the Committee in respect of those reports, previous concluding observations issued by the Committee on State reports, and supplementary information submitted by non-governmental organizations. At the end of the session, the concluding observations of the Committee on each State party will also be accessible in advanced unedited form from this site.

 

Tuesday, 3 November

Morning: Democratic Republic of the Congo, second to fifth periodic reports (E/C.12/COD/5)
Afternoon: Democratic Republic of the Congo (continued)

 

Wednesday, 4 November

Morning: Democratic Republic of the Congo (continued)
Afternoon: Chad, initial to third periodic reports (E/C.12/TCD/3)

 

Thursday, 5 November

Morning: Chad (continued)
Afternoon: Chad (continued)

 

Friday, 6 November

Morning: Poland, fifth periodic report (E/C.12/POL/5)
Afternoon: Poland (continued)

 

Monday, 9 November

Morning: Madagascar, second periodic report (E/C.12/MDG/2)
Afternoon: Madagascar (continued)

 

Tuesday, 10 November

Morning: Madagascar (continued)
Afternoon: Republic of Korea, third periodic report (E/C.12/KOR/3)

 

Wednesday, 11 November

Morning: Republic of Korea (continued)
Afternoon: Republic of Korea (continued)

 

Friday, 20 November

Morning: Release of concluding observations and close of session

 

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For use of the information media; not an official record