Committee on Economic, Social 
  and Cultural Rights 

 28 May 2015

BACKGROUND RELEASE

Experts to Review Reports of Kyrgyzstan, Venezuela, Mongolia, Thailand, Ireland, Chile and Uganda

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will meet at the Palais Wilson in Geneva from 1 to 19 June 2015 to examine measures taken by Kyrgyzstan, Venezuela, Mongolia, Thailand, Ireland, Chile and Uganda to comply with the standards of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

At the opening of the session, on Monday, 1 June, 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 Kyrgyzstan.

In addition, on 16 June, the Committee will hold a half-day General Day of Discussion on draft General Comment on article 7 of the Covenant on the right to just and favourable conditions of work.

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.   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 will be available on www.treatybodywebcast.org.

Kyrgyzstan is presenting its second to third periodic report E/C.12/KGZ/2-3. The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the initial report of Kyrgyzstan, which was reviewed in August 2000, can be found in E/C.12/1/Add.49.
Venezuela is presenting its third periodic report E/C.12/VEN/3.  The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the second periodic report of Venezuela, which was reviewed in April 2001, can be found in E/C.12/1/Add.56.
 Mongolia is presenting its fourth periodic report E/C.12/MNG/4.  The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the third periodic report of Mongolia, which was reviewed in August 2000, can be found in E/C.12/1/Add.47.
 Thailand is presenting its initial report E/C.12/THA/1-2. 
Ireland is presenting its third periodic report E/C.12/IRL/3.  The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the second report of Ireland, which was reviewed in May 2002, can be found in E/C.12/1/Add.77.
Chile is presenting its fourth periodic report E/C.12/CHL/4.  The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the third periodic report of Chile, which was reviewed in November 2004, can be found in E/C.12/1/Add.105.
Uganda is presenting its initial report E/C.12/UGA/1. 
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 asks 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 46 signatories and 20 Parties, having been ratified by Argentina, Belgium,  Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cabo Verde, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Gabon, Italy, Luxembourg, Mongolia, Montenegro, Niger, Portugal, Slovakia Spain and Uruguay.

States Parties to the Covenant

The Covenant has been ratified or acceded to by 164 States: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, 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, South Africa, 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); Shiqiu Chen (China); Chandrashekhar Dasgupta (India); Olivier de Schutter (Belgium); Zdzislaw Kedzia (Poland); Azzouz Kerdoun (Algeria); Mikel Mancisidor de la Fuente (Spain); 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 Rodrigo Uprimny (Colombia). 

Mr. Sadi is the Chairperson; the Vice-Chairpersons are Mr. Abashidze, Mr. Mancisidor de la Fuente and Mr. Ribeiro Leao.  Mr. Pillay is Rapporteur of the Committee.

Provisional Programme of Work – Public Sessions
 Monday, 1 June

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 Kyrgyzstan E/C.12/KGZ/2-3

Tuesday, 2 June

10 a.m.           Report of Kyrgyzstan (continued)
3 p.m.            Report of Venezuela E/C.12/VEN/3

Wednesday, 3 June

10 a.m.          Report of Venezuela (continued)
3 p.m.           Report of Mongolia E/C.12/MNG/4
Thursday, 4 June

10 a.m.          Report of Mongolia (continued)

3 p.m.            Report of Thailand E/C.12/THA/1-2

Friday, 5 June

10 a.m.          Report of Thailand (continued)
3 p.m.            Report of Thailand (continued)

Monday, 8 June

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

3 p.m.            Report of Ireland E/C.12/IRL/3

Tuesday, 9 June

10 a.m.          Report of Ireland (continued)

3 p.m.            Report of Chile E/C.12/CHL/4

Wednesday, 10 June

10 a.m.          Report of Chile (continued)

3 p.m.            Report of Uganda E/C.12/UGA/1
Thursday, 11 June

10 a.m.         Report of Uganda (continued)
3 p.m.           Report of Uganda (continued)
Tuesday, 16 June

3 p.m.           General Day of Discussion on Draft General Comment on article 7 of the                              Covenant
Friday, 19 June

Public closing of the session (time to be confirmed)

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