COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS TO HOLD TWENTIETH SESSION FROM 26 APRIL TO 14 MAY 1999

HR/ESC/99/1
22 April 1999


BACKGROUND RELEASE


Committee Scheduled to Consider the Situation in Iceland,
Solomon Islands, Denmark, Ireland and Tunisia


The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will meet at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from 26 April to 14 May 1999 to examine the measures taken by Iceland, Solomon Islands, Denmark, Ireland and Tunisia to realize these rights.

The five countries are among the 139 State parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The treaty, which entered into force in 1976, recognizes, among others, 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 acceding to the treaty, States agree to submit periodic reports to the Committee on how they give effect to its provisions. The panel, now on its twentieth session, evaluates the reports and makes observations and recommendations on improving the promotion and protection of the rights enshrined in the Covenant.

In the absence of scheduled reports, the Committee may review the implementation of the treaty in a given country based on available information. In this session, the Committee will review the implementation of the Covenant by the Solomon Islands, which has not submitted any report since ratifying the Covenant in 1982.

As it opens the session, the panel will discuss other substantive issues arising in the implementation of the Covenant, an exercise during which it is scheduled to hear from non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

On 10 May, the Committee will hold a day-long general discussion on the right to education and will devote this day to the consideration of draft general comments on the plan of action for primary education and the right to education.

Article 13 of the Covenant says State parties recognize the right of everyone to education. The parties agree that education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity, and shall strengthen the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. The article states that primary education shall be compulsory and available free to all; and further education shall be made generally available and accessible to all by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education.

Article 14 of the Covenant says that each State party, which at the time of becoming a party has not been able to secure compulsory primary education free of charge, undertakes, within two years, to work out and adopt a detailed plan of action for the progressive implementation.

The Committee will also consider reports from specialized agencies of the United Nations system on the progress made in State parties in achieving the observance of the provisions of the Covenant falling within the scope of their activities. The following specialized agencies, United Nations organs and financial institutions have been invited to send representatives to the twentieth session: International Labour Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, World Health Organization, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The first order of business for the Committee will be the election of a new chairperson and other officers.

Committee’s concluding observations on the last reports submitted by Iceland, Denmark and Tunisia

When the Committee considered the initial report of Iceland in November 1993, it lauded the country for paying particular attention to the promotion and protection of economic, social and cultural rights as outlined in the Covenant through a series of newly enacted laws. Specifically, it was heartened to see the new statute on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men, which provided workplace equality in areas for more than renumeration. However, the Committee did point out that inequality between the genders remained in practice in the workplace. It urged the State to continue its efforts to alleviate the workplace imbalance altogether. The Committee also recommended that if measures were taken to incorporate civil and political rights into treaty obligations, the same consideration be given to economic, social, and cultural rights.

Concerning the second periodic report of Denmark, which was considered in February 1988, the Committee thanked the representatives for an excellent report and for their constructive cooperation with the Committee, including their comprehensive answers to questions and comments. The Committee also noted the undertaking to provide supplementary information on the situation in the Faroe Islands.

Following its examination of the initial report of Tunisia in February 1989, the Committee thanked the representative of the State party for his oral presentation and for the additional information he had provided. The Committee noted with satisfaction that he had given detailed answers to the questions put to him and had been frank in describing the changes that had taken place recently in Tunisian society. It was nevertheless regretted that detailed information, especially of a statistical nature, had been furnished neither on the subject of the most vulnerable sector of Tunisian society nor on the difficulties still experienced in realizing the rights to which the report referred.

Provisional Timetable for Consideration of Reports

When the Committee meets on Monday, 26 April, it will elect its officers, adopt its agenda, and discuss issues related to the organization of work of the Committee, relations with United Nations organs and other treaty bodies, and follow-up to the consideration of reports under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant.

When it adopts the agenda, it will approve a timetable for its consideration of the reports of Iceland, Solomon Islands, Denmark, Ireland and Tunisia in that order.

In the afternoon, it will hear from non-governmental organizations regarding substantive issues arising in the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.

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.

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The Economic and Social Council established the Committee in 1985. Elected by secret ballot from a list of persons nominated by State parties to the Covenant, its 18 members are human-rights experts serving in their personal capacity.

The Committee is composed of the following experts: Mahmoud Samir Ahmed (Egypt), Ivan Antanovich (Belarus), Clement Atangana (Cameroon), Virginia Bonoan-Dandan (Philippines), Dumitru Ceausu (Romania), Oscar Ceville (Panama), Abdessatar Grissa (Tunisia), Paul Hunt (New Zealand), María de los Ángeles Jiménez Butragueño (Spain), Valeri I. Kouznetsov (the Russian Federation), Jaime Marchán Romero (Ecuador), Ariranga Govindasamy Pillay (Mauritius), Kenneth Osborne Rattray (Jamaica), Eibe Reidel (Germany), Walid M. Sa’di (Jordan), Philippe Texier (France), Nutan Thapalia (Nepal), and Javier Wimer Zambrano (Mexico).

States Parties to the Covenant

The Covenant has been ratified or acceded to by 139 States: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan and Latvia.


Also: Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.