Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights holds fifty-seventh session from 22 February to 4 March

BACKGROUND RELEASE 
 
Experts to review reports of Namibia, Canada and Kenya
 
GENEVA (18 February 2016) - The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will meet at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from 22 February to 4 March 2016, to examine measures taken by Namibia, Canada and Kenya to comply with the standards of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
 
At the opening of the session, on Monday, 22 February at 10 a.m., 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 civil society representatives to hear information with respect to the country reports that will be reviewed during the session. 

To promote and raise awareness of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on their fiftieth anniversary, the United Nations Human Rights Office has launched a year-long campaign to shine a light on the inalienable and inherent rights of global citizens -- now, and always.  More information on the campaign entitled “Our Rights. Our Freedoms. Always" will be available at the following link: www.ohchr.org/2covenants. 

All documents relating to the session are available on the Committee’s webpage.  At the end of the session, the concluding observations and recommendations of the Committee on each State party report will also be accessible on this website.
 
Namibia is presenting its initial report E/C.12/NAM/1.
 
Canada is presenting its sixth periodic report E/C.12/CAN/6.  The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the combined fourth and fifth periodic report of Canada, which was reviewed in May 2006, can be found in E/C.12/CAN/CO/5.
 
Kenya is presenting its combined second to fifth periodic report E/C.12/KEN/2-5.  The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the initial report of Kenya, which was reviewed in November 2008, can be found in E/C.12/KEN/CO/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 45 signatories and 21 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, San Marino, 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
 
Monday, 22 February
 
10 a.m.         Adoption of agenda/ Organization of work / Submission of reports/ Substantive issues/ Meetings with partners (public and private).
 
3 p.m.          Private meeting
 
Tuesday, 23 February
 
10 a.m.         Initial report of Namibia E/C.12/NAM/1
 
3 p.m.          Namibia (continued)
 
Wednesday, 24 February
 
10 a.m.         Namibia (continued)
 
3 p.m.          Sixth periodic report of Canada E/C.12/CAN/6
 
Thursday, 25 February
 
10 a.m.         Canada (continued)
 
3 p.m.          Combined second to fifth periodic report of Kenya E/C.12/KEN/2-5
 
Friday, 26 February
 
10 a.m.         Kenya (continued)
 
3 p.m.          Informal meeting with States
 
5 p.m.          Closed meeting
 
Monday, 29 February
 
10 a.m.         Closed meeting
 
3 p.m.          Closed meeting
 
Tuesday, 1 March
 
10 a.m.         Closed meeting
 
3 p.m.          Closed meeting
 
Wednesday, 2 March
 
10 a.m.         Closed meeting
 
3 p.m.          Closed meeting
 
Thursday, 3 March
 
10 a.m.         Closed meeting
 
3 p.m.          Closed meeting

Friday, 4 March
 
10 a.m.         Closed meeting
 
3 p.m.          Closed meeting, followed by public closing (time tbc).   
 
For more information and media requests, please contact Liz Throssell
(+41 (0) 22 917 9466/ ethrossell@ohchr.org)
 
More on the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights:
http://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/cescr

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For use of the information media; not an official record