COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS TO HOLD THIRTY-SECOND SESSION FROM 26 APRIL TO 14 MAY 2004

Background Release                                         

COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS TO HOLD

THIRTY-SECOND SESSION FROM 26 APRIL TO 14 MAY 2004

Will Consider Reports of Lithuania, Greece, Kuwait, Spain and Ecuador

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 22 April (UN Information Service) –- The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will meet at the Palais des Nations (Conference Room XXVI) in Geneva from 26 April to 14 May 2004 to examine measures taken by Lithuania, Greece, Kuwait, Spain and Ecuador to comply with the standards of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Those five countries are among the 149 States parties to the treaty, which entered into force in 1976 and which recognizes, among other things, 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 the provisions of the Covenant.  The Committee evaluates the reports and makes observations and recommendations on improving the promotion and protection of the rights enshrined in the Covenant.

At the opening of the session, the Committee is expected to adopt its agenda and programme of work before discussing other substantive issues arising in the implementation of the Covenant.  In the afternoon, the Committee will hear information from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with respect to the reports which it will review during the current session.

The Committee will accord the highest priority at this session to consider and adopt draft general comments on article 3 concerning the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights set forth in the Covenant; and article 6 on the right to work.  On Friday, 7 May, the Committee will have a follow-up to the day of general discussion on article 3.  And on Monday, 10 May, it will have a follow-up to the day of general discussion on article 6.

Lithuania, Greece and Kuwait are submitting their initial reports.  The Committee’s conclusions on the third periodic report of Spain, which was reviewed in May 1996, can be found in document E/C.12/1/Add.2.  Ecuador’s second periodic report was reviewed in December 1990, but the Committee did not issue formal conclusions at the end of its consideration of the report.

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.

States Parties to the Covenant

The Covenant has been ratified or acceded to by 149 States:  Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, 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, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Georgia, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Liechtenstein, 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, Serbia and Montenegro, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, 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 Experts:  Clement Atangana (Cameroon), Rocio Barahona Riera (Costa Rica), Virginia Bonoan-Dandan (Philippines), Maria Virginia Bras Gomes (Portugal), Dumitru Ceausu (Romania), Abdessatar Grissa (Tunisia), Chokila Iyer (India), Azzouz Kerdoun (Algeria), Yuri Kolosov (Russian Federation), Giorgio Malinverni (Switzerland), Jaime Marchán Romero (Ecuador), Sergei Martynov (Belarus), Ariranga Govindasamy Pillay (Mauritius), Kenneth Osborne Rattray (Jamaica), Eibe Riedel (Germany), Walid M. Sa’di (Jordan), Philippe Texier (France), and Alvaro Tirado Mejia (Colombia).

Ms. Bonoan-Dandan is Chairperson.  Vice-Chairpersons are Mr. Marchand Romero, Mr. Riedel and Mr. Kerdoun.  The Rapporteur is Mr. Ceausu.

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