COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONTINUES WORK ON DRAFT COMMENTS

AFTERNOON
HR/ESC/98/38
25 November 1998



The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights carried on this afternoon with the drafting of a proposed general comment on the domestic application of such rights. The group had before it as a basis for discussion a 6-page document written by its Chairman, Philip Alston.

Mr. Alston said that before the conclusion of the Committee's fall session on 4 December, he hoped to bring before it other draft comments on benchmarks for economic, social and cultural rights; national human-rights institutions; and the right to food.

At the beginning of the meeting, Miloon Kothari of Habitat International Coalition reported on "civil society" developments of interest to the Committee. These included formation of an alliance called the NGO (non-governmental organization) Committee on Trade and Investment to study the implications of trade, investment and finance policies on human rights, which had persuaded the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities to prepare a study on the subject. He also referred to a meeting of representatives of 150 NGOs in Ottawa to review developments five years after the World Conference on Human Rights and at which the largest attendance had been at a discussion of economic, social and cultural rights; and to the activities in the United States of a coalition of 175 NGOs carrying out an "economic human rights campaign" using as a centerpiece the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Also discussed was a "plan of action" for an employee funded by Government contributions to carry out technical work for the Committee between sessions.

The Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. Thursday, 26 November, to review textual changes made to the draft comment on domestic application of the Covenant.