اللجنة المعنية بالحقوق الاقتصادية والاجتماعية والثقافية تعقد الدورة الثالثة والخمسين في الفترة من 10 إلى 28 تشرين الثاني/نوفمبر

Committee on Economic, Social 
  and Cultural Rights 
BACKGROUND RELEASE

 6 November 2014

Experts to Review Reports of Viet Nam, Portugal, Finland, Montenegro, Guatemala, Slovenia, Nepal and Romania 
 
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will meet at the Palais Wilson in Geneva from 10 to 28 November to examine measures taken by Viet Nam, Portugal, Finland, Montenegro, Guatemala, Slovenia, Nepal and Romania to comply with the standards of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

At the opening of the session, on Monday, 10 November, the Committee will hear an address from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights or his representative.  The Committee will then adopt its agenda and discuss organizational matters and its methods of work and will  hold a meeting with non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions, and hear information with respect to the country reports that will be reviewed during the session.  In the afternoon, the Committee will begin with the review of the report of Viet Nam.  Reports will be reviewed over two days, rather than one day, as was previously the practice.

The country reports, common core documents, written replies, lists of issues, parallel reports and other session documents before the Committee are accessible on the Committee’s webpage in various official United Nations languages.   At the end of the session, the concluding observations of the Committee on each State party will also be accessible on this website.  Live webcasts of the country reviews are available on www.treatybodywebcast.org.

Montenegro is presenting its initial report E/C.12/MNE/1.
 
Viet Nam is presenting its second to fourth periodic report E/C.12/VNM/2-4.  The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the initial report of Viet Nam, which was reviewed in May 1993, can be found in E/C.12/1993/8.
 
Portugal is presenting its fourth periodic review E/C.12/PRT/4.  The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the third periodic report of Portugal, which was reviewed in November 2000, can be found in E/C.12/1/Add.53.
 
Finland is presenting its sixth periodic review E/C.12/FIN/6.  The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the fifth periodic report of Finland, which was reviewed in May 2007, can be found in E/C.12/FIN/CO/5.
 
Guatemala is presenting its third periodic report E/C.12/GTM/3.  The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the second periodic report of Guatemala, which was reviewed in November 2003, can be found in E/C.12/Add.93.
 
Slovenia is presenting its second periodic report E/C.12/SVN/2.  The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the initial report of Slovenia, which was reviewed in November 2005, can be found in E/C.12/SVN/CO/1.
 
Nepal is presenting its third periodic report E/C.12/NPL/3.  The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the second periodic report of Nepal, which was reviewed in May 2007, can be found in E/C.12/NPL/CO/2.
 
Romania is presenting its combined third to fifth periodic report E/C.12/ROU/3-5.  The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the second periodic report of Romania, which was reviewed in May 1994, can be found in E/C.12/1994/4.
 
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by the General Assembly in 1966.  It entered into force on 3 January 1976.

The right to self-determination is universal, affirms Article 1 of the Covenant, also calling upon States to respect and to promote the realization of this 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.  Articles 4 and 5 provide 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. They also prevent States from limiting rights already enjoyed within their territories on the grounds 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.

The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is an international treaty establishing complaint and inquiry mechanisms.  It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 2008, and opened for signature on 24 September 2009.  The Optional Protocol entered into force on 5 May 2013 and has 45 signatories and 16 Parties, having been ratified by Argentina, Belgium,  Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cabo Verde, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, Gabon, Mongolia, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovakia Spain and Uruguay.

States Parties to the Covenant

The Covenant has been ratified or acceded to by 162 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, Haiti, 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, State of Palestine, 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: Aslan Khuseinovich Abashidze (Russian Federation); Mohamed Ezzeldin Adel-Moneim (Egypt); Clement Atangana (Cameroon); Maria-Virginia Bras Gomes (Portugal); Chandrashekhar Dasgupta (India); Zdzislaw Kedzia (Poland); Azzouz Kerdoun (Algeria); Mikel Mancisidor (Spain); Jaime Marchan Romero (Ecuador); Sergei Martynov (Belarus); Ariranga Govindasamy Pillay (Mauritius);Lydia Carmelita Ravenberg (Suriname); Renato Zerbini Ribeiro Leao (Brazil); Waleed Sadi (Jordan); Nikolaas Jan Schrijver (Netherlands); Heisoo Shin (Republic of Korea); and Alvaro Tirado Mejia (Colombia).

Mr. Kedzia is the Chairperson; the Vice-Chairpersons are Mr. Dasgupta, Mr. Kerdoun, and Mr. Ribeiro Leao; and Ms. Bras Gomes is Rapporteur of the Committee.

Committee expert Jun Cong (China) resigned in July 2014, and an ad-hoc election will be held on 17 November 2014 to replace her for the remainder of the term.
 
 
Provisional Programme of Work
 
Monday, 10 November

10 a.m.           Opening of session, adoption of the agenda, submission of reports, organization of work, meeting with partners
                      (public and private)

3 p.m.            Report of Viet Nam E/C.12/VNM/2-4

Tuesday, 11 November

10 a.m.           Report of Viet Nam (continued)
3 p.m.             Report of Portugal E/C.12/PRT/4

Wednesday, 12 November

10 a.m.          Report of Portugal (continued)
3 p.m.            Report of Finland E/C.12/FIN/6
 
Thursday, 13 November

10 a.m.          Report of Finland (continued)

3 p.m.            Report of Montenegro E/C.12/MNE/1

Friday, 14 November

10 a.m.          Report of Montenegro (continued)

3 p.m.           Report of Montenegro (continued)

Monday, 17 November

10 a.m.          Meeting with partners (public and private)

3 p.m.            Report of Guatemala E/C.12/GTM/3

Tuesday, 18 November

10 a.m.          Report of Guatemala (continued)

3 p.m.            Report of Slovenia E/C.12/SVN/2

Wednesday, 19 November

10 a.m.          Report of Slovenia (continued)

3 p.m.            Report of Nepal E/C.12/NPL/3
 
Thursday, 20 November

10 a.m.         Report of Nepal (continued)

3 p.m.           Report of Romania E/C.12/ROU/3-5
 
Friday, 21 November

10 a.m.          Report of Romania (continued)

3 p.m.            (closed meeting)

Friday, 28 November

10 a.m.         (closed meeting)
Noon            Briefing for States

3 p.m.           Public closing of the session

___________
           
For use of the information media; not an official record