ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS COMMITTEE TO HOLD THIRTEENTH SESSION AT GENEVA, 20 NOVEMBER - 8 DECEMBER
Press Release
HR/4220
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS COMMITTEE TO HOLD THIRTEENTH SESSION AT GENEVA, 20 NOVEMBER - 8 DECEMBER
19951113 Background Release GENEVA, 13 November (UN Information Service) -- The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will consider the measures taken by Colombia, Norway, Mauritius, Ukraine and Algeria to implement the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at its thirteenth session to be held in Geneva from 20 November to 8 December. To date, 133 States are parties to the Covenant.The human rights which the Covenant seeks to promote and protect are of three kinds -- the right to work in just and favourable conditions; the right to social protection, to an adequate standard of living and to the highest attainable standards of physical and mental well-being; and the right to education and the enjoyment of benefits of cultural freedom and scientific progress. The Covenant provides for the progressive full realization of these rights without discrimination of any kind.
The Committee will also conduct a number of activities aimed at achieving wider awareness and implementation of the Covenant. A general discussion devoted to the draft optional protocol to the Covenant will be held on Monday, 4 December. Under such an optional protocol, a State party would recognize the competence of the Committee to receive communications from individuals alleging that their economic, social and cultural rights had been violated.
In this connection, the Committee requested its Chairman, Philip Alston, of Australia, to submit a revised report which should provide the basis upon which the Committee could complete its consideration of this matter, with a view to forwarding a final report to the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-second session in 1996.
In addition to the five reports scheduled for examination at the current session, the Secretary-General has received initial reports from Paraguay, Guatemala, El Salvador, Libya, Guyana, Zimbabwe and Peru; second periodic reports from the Dominican Republic, Portugal (Macao), and Luxembourg; and third periodic reports from Spain, Belarus, Finland and the Russian Federation. These reports will be taken up at future sessions of the Committee.
The consideration of a State party's report is based on a prepared list of issues to be taken up in a dialogue with the delegation. Such issues focus on, for example, the general legal framework in which human rights are protected in the country, elimination of legal or de facto discrimination against women, efforts to address the problem of homelessness or of "street children", restrictions on the right to form trade unions or to strike, and the extent to which health care is available to different population groups.
Four State parties at this session -- Colombia, Norway, Ukraine and Algeria -- have prepared written replies to the list of issues to be taken up in connection with their reports.
Representatives of specialized agencies may make statements on the progress made in the countries concerned in achieving the observance of the provisions of the Covenant falling within the scope of their activities. The Secretary-General has invited the following specialized agencies to send representatives to the meetings of the Committee: International Labour Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, World Health Organization, World Bank and International Monetary Fund. These organizations may also submit reports for the consideration of the Committee.
According to a provisional timetable, on Monday afternoon, 20 November, non-governmental organizations will be invited to provide oral information of direct relevance to matters under consideration by the Committee. Non-governmental organizations have, for a long time, also been invited to provide written information on any aspect of the Committee's work.
The Committee will discuss the third periodic report of Colombia on Tuesday, 21 November, and Wednesday afternoon, 22 November; the third periodic report of Norway on Wednesday morning, 22 November, and on Thursday, 23 November; the initial report of Mauritius on Monday, 27 November, and Tuesday afternoon, 28 November; the third periodic report of Ukraine on Tuesday morning, 28 November, and Wednesday, 29 November; and the initial report of Algeria on Thursday, 30 November, and Friday afternoon, 1 December.
The lists of issues for the above State party reports are contained in the following documents: Colombia (E/C.12/1994/WP.17), Norway (E/C.12/1994/WP.26), Mauritius (E/C.12/1995/LQ.5/Rev.1), Ukraine (E/C.12/1995/LQ.3/Rev.1), and Algeria (E/C.12/1995/LQ.4/Rev.1).
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.
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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 States parties to the Covenant, its 18 members are experts with recognized competence in human rights and serve in their personal capacity. In addition to examining reports from States parties on observance of the rights contained in the Covenant, the Committee also helps the Council fulfil its supervisory functions relating to the Covenant by making suggestions and recommendations of a general nature based on its consideration of such reports.
The Committee is composed of the following members: Ade Adekuoye (Nigeria), Madoe Virginie Ahodikpe (Togo), Philip Alston (Australia), Juan Alvarez Vita (Peru), Mahmoud Samir Ahmed (Egypt), Virginia Bonoan-Dandan (Philippines), Dumitru Ceausu (Romania), Abdessatar Grissa (Tunisia), Maria de los Angeles Jimenez Butragueño (Spain), Valeri I. Kouznetsov (Russian Federation), Jaime Marchan Romero (Ecuador), Kenneth Osborne Rattray (Jamaica), Bruno Simma (Germany), Nutan Thapalia (Nepal), Chikako Taya (Japan), Philippe Texier (France), Margerita Vysokajova (Czech Republic) and Javier Wimer Zambrano (Mexico).
States Parties to Covenant
The Covenant has been ratified or acceded to by 133 States: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape
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Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, 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, Kyrgyzstan, and Latvia.
Also, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, 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, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, The former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zaire, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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