COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONCLUDES SESSION

Press Release
HR/4414

COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONCLUDES SESSION

(Delayed in transmission.)

GENEVA, 14 May (UN Information Service) -- The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights concluded its spring session today by issuing its concluding observations on the situation in the five countries which it has considered over the past three weeks.

Iceland, Denmark, Ireland and Tunisia presented reports to the panel in keeping with their obligations as State parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The situation in the Solomon Islands was considered in the absence of a report because the State party has not submitted one since ratifying the treaty. The Covenant has 139 State parties, and the Committee has been charged with monitoring its implementation since it was created in 1985.

The Committee's 18 experts were deeply concerned that in Iceland, juvenile violence was on the increase and they suggested that a possible link existed between the increase in juvenile violence in general and the increasing use of alcohol and drugs by school children and juveniles.

The Committee regretted that in the Solomon Islands, women remained subject to patriarchy, their functions were limited to customary family roles, and they had only little access to the political and economic life of the country. Women did not hold any top government positions at the ministerial or sub-ministerial level and only one of the 47 members of Parliament was female.

Committee members recommended that Denmark, with regard to the emerging trend of violence against asylum seekers and migrant workers, monitor this situation to avoid the problem becoming more widespread.

They also noted with concern the persistence of poverty in Ireland among the disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, notably the disabled, the traveller community, children, elderly women and single women with children.

And they welcomed the success achieved by Tunisia in the promotion of sustainable human development, as evidenced by the reduction of the number of persons living below the national poverty line, the increase in life expectancy, the decrease in illiteracy and the decrease in infant mortality. The Committee recommended that the State party continue its efforts, including through the National Solidarity Fund, to achieve balance in the development of urban and rural areas. As the Fund appears to play an important role in rural development, updated information is requested in the third periodic report.

Earlier in the week, the Committee issued general comments on the right to education, with special emphasis on free and compulsory primary education, and on the right to adequate food.

The general comment on the right to education noted that an estimated 130 million children of school age in developing countries were currently without access to basic education, of whom about two-thirds were girls. The Committee was fully aware that many diverse factors had made it difficult for State parties to fulfil their obligation to provide a plan of action, such as structural adjustment programmes. Those difficulties could not, however, justify the non-submission of a plan of action. Lack of educational opportunities for those children often reinforced their subjection to various other human rights violations like forced labour and other forms of exploitation.

The general comment on the right to adequate food affirmed that this right was indivisibly and indispensably linked to the inherent dignity of the human person and was inseparable from the fulfilment of other rights enshrined in other international bills of rights. The general comment also stated that State parties should refrain at all times from food embargoes or similar measures which endangered access to food in other countries. Food should never be used as an instrument for political and economic pressure.

The twentieth session of the Committee also featured a day of general discussion on the right to education, with officials of other United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) debating how to pursue and measure progress towards achieving this right.

In the course of its current session, the Committee also decided to request the Economic and Social Council to approve a third three-week session of the Committee every year in New York.

The Committee's next session will be held from 15 November to 3 December 1999. At that meeting, the Committee is expected to examine reports from Bulgaria, Cameroon, Argentina, Armenia, Mexico and Bolivia.

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Conclusions, Recommendations on Country Reports

Among positive aspects cited in the report of Iceland were the establishment of an Icelandic Human Rights Centre which indicated the State party's respect for and dedication to the advancement of Human Rights. The Committee welcomed Iceland's efforts to further the goal of the implementation of gender equality and a fuller participation of women in public affairs. It welcomed the Act on the Equal Status of Women and Men which paved the way for special equal-status programmes such as the Action Programme, 1998-2001, which attempted to eliminate traditional obstacles to equality. The Committee welcomed the State party's acknowledgement that formal or legal equality was not sufficient if it did not result in real equality between both sexes in practice.

The Committee noted the establishment of the Special Council on Nutrition within the Ministry of Public Health and a Council for Alcohol and Drug Prevention. In particular, it noted the programme called "Drugless Iceland by 2002". It also noted the enactment of the Act on Compulsory Education in 1995 which shifted the control of educational facilities from central to local governments with a view to improving the quality of education.

With regard to the problem of domestic violence, the Committee welcomed the programmes established by the State party to alleviate the situation of battered women and to prevent acts of violence. In addition, the Committee commended the State party for its anti-alcohol, anti-drugs and anti-smoking campaigns.

Among principal subjects of concern, the Committee regretted that the Covenant had not been incorporated into domestic legislation and it noted regretfully that the treaty's rights had not been invoked before the courts.

The Committee was deeply concerned that juvenile violence was on the increase and it suggested that a possible link existed between the increase in juvenile violence in general and the increasing use of alcohol and drugs by school children and juveniles. It was also concerned about the lack of family solidarity and the increasing resort to foster homes. It was concerned that children left their nuclear families and had to be brought up in temporary or permanent foster homes which might give rise to problems of custody, homelessness and delinquency.

Furthermore, the Committee noted with concern that according to information supplied by the University of Iceland, 10 per cent of the population lived below the poverty line and noted the lack of a persuasive explanation by the delegation in that regard. The problem of poverty affected in particular single parents, parents with children, farmers, students and household workers, the Committee stated. The State party's social welfare

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expenditure appeared to be insufficient to help those vulnerable groups, despite the country's relative affluence and resources.

Concern was also expressed at the high rate of young people dropping out of upper secondary education, a situation for which the delegation could not provide a satisfactory explanation. In addition, the Committee noted that 60 per cent of university graduates were female, while 40 per cent only were male. This was explained by the fact that most males received vocational training in secondary school and were determined to pursue a trade rather than a university education.

Iceland was encouraged to increase its social welfare expenditure so as to strengthen its health and social welfare centres around the country. The Committee recommended the development of a social indicator model of drug and alcohol abuse and their eventual treatment. It recommended, in addition, the elaboration of educational and social programmes to deal with problems of the victims of alcohol and drug abuse on a long-term basis.

The Committee further recommended that Iceland study more deeply the poverty situation with respect to single parents, couples with children, students, farmers and the disabled pensioners with a view to extricating them from their present financial difficulties.

With regard to the situation in the Solomon Islands, the Committee said it considered the state of implementation of the provisions of the Covenant in a number of State parties which, despite many requests to do so, had not fulfilled their reporting obligations. The Committee had to base its concluding observations on the Solomon Islands on a variety of materials stemming from both intergovernmental and non-governmental sources.

Among factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the Covenant, the Committee stressed that, in evaluating the implementation by the Government of the Solomon Islands of the Covenant, due attention had to be paid to the political, economic and social conditions prevailing in the country at the present time. In particular, the Committee took note of the fact that the Solomon Islands had experienced several severe economic and financial crises in the 1990s, deeply affecting the scope of its governmental choices of action.

The Committee noted that the Solomon Islands was one of the least developed countries in the Western Pacific region, a region which, in terms of per capita figures, ranked among the highest aid recipients in the world. As a result, poverty was widespread, especially in the rural areas where about 80 per cent of the population lived.

Cited among positive aspects were the laudable efforts of the newly elected Government to establish the foundations of sustainable economic growth

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through a structural reform programme. In particular, the Committee encouraged the Government to put its plans to review the forestry sector in practice by drawing on the expertise of external specialists and to adopt measures aimed at the monitoring of that sector. The Committee welcomed the fact that the Constitution of the Solomon Islands prohibited forced labour, including forced and bonded labour by children, and that this prohibition seemed to be observed.

Among the principal concerns by the Committee were that, despite a constitutional non-discrimination clause and the recent adoption of a National Women's Policy, women remained subject to patriarchy and their functions were limited to customary family roles. As a consequence, women had only little access to the political and economic life of the Solomon Islands. Furthermore, women did not hold any top government positions at the ministerial or sub- ministerial level and only one of the 47 members of Parliament was female.

The Committee expressed its concern about the rise in unemployment which had played a major role in stirring the growing tensions between a number of unemployed youth from Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands located in the province of Guadalcanal, who had formed a "Guadalcanal Liberation Army", and people from the Malaita province who dominated society in the Solomon Islands.

On domestic violence, the Committee noted that more attention should be paid to this problem which was not treated seriously by the police. Concern was expressed about the Government's plans to privatize communal land with a view to make it accessible for commercial use and urban development.

In its recommendations, the Committee reiterated its request that the Government of the Solomon Islands actively participate in a constructive dialogue with the Committee on how the obligations arising from the Covenant could be fulfilled in a more adequate manner. The Committee recommended that the Government of the Solomon Islands should avail itself of the advisory services of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in order to enable it to submit as soon as possible a comprehensive report on the implementation of the Covenant in conformity with the Committee's revised guidelines.

The Committee also encouraged the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, through its programme of advisory services and technical cooperation, to make expert assistance available to the Government for the purpose of formulating policies on economic, social and cultural rights and developing the implementation of coherent and comprehensive plans of action for the promotion and protection of human rights, as well as for developing adequate means of evaluating and monitoring their realization.

Furthermore, the Committee suggested that the Government of the Solomon Islands convene a national summit on the implementation of the Covenant,

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including all relevant national and international entities such as representatives of the central and local governments, trade unions, local NGOs, specialized agencies and donor countries. In view of the Solomon Islands' urgent need for bilateral aid, the Committee recommended that such a convention be financed by either foreign donor countries, or the United Nations.

To the same effect, the Committee invited the State party to participate in a half-day or one-day dialogue to be held during the Committee's twenty- first session, together with representatives of the relevant specialized agencies such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Among positive aspects in the report of Denmark, the Committee noted the high level of achievement by the Government of its obligations with respect to the protection of the rights set forth in the Covenant. It commended the process of Home Rule which had resulted in devolution of responsibility to the Greenland and Faroe Islands assemblies. The Committee welcomed the measures taken to promote equality between men and women; the Government's policies and programmes which had resulted in reducing unemployment; and the social assistance benefits being accorded to refugees.

Among matters of concern mentioned by the Committee were the status of the Covenant in the State party since it had not been incorporated into national law; information that indicated an emerging trend towards intolerance and violence against members of minority groups and foreigners; the high level of unemployment, especially among young people, immigrants and refugees and in the Faroe Islands; a recent increase in the school drop-out rate; and the high rate of child and adolescent suicide in Denmark.

The Committee recommended, among other things, that Denmark accord equal treatment to both international human rights covenants in terms of their domestic legal status and encouraged the State party to take appropriate steps to give full legal effect to the Covenant.

It recommended that with regard to the emerging trend of violence against asylum-seekers and migrant workers, the State party monitor the situation to avoid the problem becoming more widespread. It encouraged the Government to continue its endeavours to eliminate persisting disparities in relation to remuneration for men and women.

The Committee also drew the attention of the Government to the emerging problem of school drop-outs, which mainly affected children coming from

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vulnerable social groups, and it encouraged the State party to continue its efforts to combat the problem of child and adolescent suicide.

Concerning the report of Ireland, among positive aspects cited by the Committee were the determination of the State to implement the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 to settle peacefully the future status of Northern Ireland; and its adoption of the Employment Equality Act of 1998 and the Equal Status Bill of 1998 which aimed at removing several aspects of discrimination.

The Committee welcomed with satisfaction the adoption of the Refugee Act of 1996, the Education Act of 1998, and the National Anti-Poverty Strategy Plan (NAPS) for 1997-2007; the establishment of the task forces on violence against women in 1996 and on alcohol; the assessment by the Department of Health and Children of the needs of the mentally handicapped persons for 1997-2001; and the creation of the National Disability Authority, among other things.

Regarding the factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the Covenant, the Committee noted that following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, there were no further major factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the Covenant.

Among its principal subjects of concern, the Committee regretted that the Covenant had not been fully incorporated or reflected in domestic legislation and was rarely, if ever, invoked before the courts. It noted with regret that the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination had not yet been ratified by Ireland; it regretted that article 40.1 of the Constitution contained provisions which appeared to be inconsistent with the principle of non-discrimination as set out in articles 2 and 3 of the Covenant.

It also noted with concern the persistence of poverty among the disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, notably the disabled, the traveller community, children, elderly women and single women with children. It was further concerned with the high rate of illiteracy in various layers of society; that the increase in tobacco use was the single most important contributing factor to the disease burden facing Ireland; and the alcohol-related problems in Ireland which had not yet been addressed by the National Alcohol Policy of the country.

The Committee recommended that Ireland incorporate justifiable economic, social and cultural rights into the proposed amendment to the Constitution; that it consider the ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination as soon as possible; and that it speed up the process of adopting the rights-based Disability Bill and to start soonest its implementation. It called on the Government to expand

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the scope of its National Anti-Poverty Strategy, including the poverty-proofing of policy proposals, and to integrate a human rights approach into the strategy.

It called on the State party to speed up the enactment of legislation relating to the human rights of the disabled and the mentally handicapped, including their detention, and to enact legislation to combat discrimination affecting the traveller community.

The Committee noted several positive aspects in the report of Tunisia, including the importance attached to economic, social and cultural rights by the State party and the indication by the delegation that many new laws and modifications of existing laws were inspired by the Covenant. The Committee expressed satisfaction that the rights provided for in the Covenant, by virtue of the Covenant's status as an international treaty ratified by Tunisia, were invocable in Tunisian courts.

The Committee welcomed the achievements in which the economic, social and cultural rights of women were better promoted and protected. As a result, women were able to participate in the economic and political life of the nation, including by owning property, engaging in economic transactions, voting in elections and being elected to public office. In addition, changes had contributed positively to family life by making polygamy virtually impossible and it further promoted equality between men and women by removing all legal recognition of so-called "crimes of honour".

It also welcomed the success achieved in the promotion of sustainable human development, as evident in the dramatic reduction of the number of persons living below the national poverty line, the increase in life expectancy, the decrease in illiteracy, and the decrease in infant mortality, as indicated by the overall human development index.

The Committee noted with interest the establishment in 1993 of the National Solidarity Fund; welcomed the Act of 29 July 1991, which legislated free and compulsory school education for all children from six to 16 years of age; welcomed the fact that, today, 99 per cent of all children in Tunisia attended primary school; and noted with satisfaction the efforts being made in the area of environmental protection.

Listed among causes of concern were a lack of information on case law which might have provided further insight into the actual state of implementation of economic, social and cultural rights. The Committee noted that despite Constitutional guarantees, the State organs for promotion and protection of human rights were concentrated within the executive branch of Government and that none were empowered to review complaints of violations of the rights provided for in the Covenant. The Committee was also concerned that, despite the priority given to job creation in national development plans, a high level of unemployment persisted of approximately 15.6 per cent

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in 1998, of which approximately 40 per cent was composed of persons unemployed for over one year.

Among its recommendations, the Committee called upon Tunisia to ensure that the mandates accorded to all national human rights institutions included appropriate attention to economic, social and cultural rights. It recommended that the State party continue its efforts, including through the National Solidarity Fund, to achieve balance in the development of urban and rural areas.

It strongly recommended that all men, women and children of both sexes be enabled to enjoy the right to inherit on an equal basis.

It suggested that Tunisia consider ways of monitoring more closely the incidence of domestic violence, in light of which it might need to re-examine its law and policies on the subject.

The Committee also recommended that continued attention be paid to the problem of unemployment, particularly long-term unemployment; and encouraged the State party, when reviewing its vocational training programmes or establishing new institutions of higher learning, to take into consideration the needs of the economy so as to maximize the employment potential of graduates.

It recommended that Tunisia develop an immediate national plan of action to reduce disparities in living standards between various regions.

And the Committee recommended that Tunisia continue to make efforts to guarantee a basic education to all children, including those who failed to keep pace with their schoolmates.

General Comment on Right to Education

The general comment on the right to education, with special emphasis on plans of action for primary education, requested State parties which had not been able to secure compulsory primary education, free of charge, to work out and adopt, within two years, a detailed plan of action for the progressive implementation, within a reasonable number of years, to be fixed in the plan, of the principle of compulsory education, free of charge, for all.

The Committee's general comment noted that an estimated 130 million children of school age in developing countries were currently without access to basic education, of whom about two thirds were girls. The Committee was fully aware that many diverse factors had made it difficult for State parties to fulfil their obligation to provide a plan of action, such as structural adjustment programmes. Those difficulties could not, however, justify the non-submission of a plan of action.

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The general comment stated that the element of compulsion served to highlight the fact that neither parents, nor guardians, nor the State were entitled to treat as optional the decision as to whether the child should have access to primary education. The nature of the free of charge requirement was unequivocal as fees imposed by the Government, local authorities or the school, and other direct costs, constituted disincentives to the enjoyment of the right and might jeopardize its realization.

General Comment on the Right to Adequate Food

The general comment on the right to adequate food affirmed that the right to adequate food was indivisibly and indispensably linked to the inherent dignity of the human person and was inseparable from the fulfilment of other rights enshrined in other international bills of rights.

The Committee stressed that despite the fact that the international community had frequently reaffirmed the importance of full respect for the right to adequate food, a disturbing gap still existed between the standards set in article 11 of the Covenant and the situation prevailing in many parts of the world. More than 840 million people throughout the world, and particularly in developing countries, were chronically hungry. Millions of people were suffering from famine as the result of natural disasters, the increased incidence of civil strife and wars in some regions, and the use of food as a political weapon.

The Committee observed that while the problems of hunger and malnutrition were often particularly acute in developing countries, malnutrition, under-nutrition and other problems which related to the right to adequate food and the right to freedom from hunger, also existed in some of the most economically developed countries. Fundamentally, the roots of the hunger and malnutrition problem were not the lack of food but the lack of access to available food. The right to adequate food was realized when every man, women and child, alone or in community with others, had physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement.

The general comment also stated that State parties should refrain at all times from food embargoes or similar measures which endangered access to food in other countries. Food should never be used as an instrument for political and economic pressure.

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

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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 Angeles Jiménez Butragueño (Spain), Valeri I. Kouznetsov (Russian Federation), Jaime Marchán Romero (Ecuador), Ariranga Govindasamy Pillay (Mauritius), Kenneth Osborne Rattray (Jamaica), Eibe Reidel (Germany), Walid M. Sadi (Jordan), Philippe Texier (France), Nutan Thapalia (Nepal), and Javier Wimer Zambrano (Mexico).

State Parties to 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,

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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, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, 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, The 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.

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