67th Session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights March 2020

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From 17th of February to 6th of March 2020, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) held its 67th session in Geneva.

On the 16th of March it was announced that due to the outbreak of COVID-19 all human rights treaty bodies sessions would be postponed until the end of May 2020. The CESCR session finished before this date and thus was not affected. Since the next CESCR session is scheduled for September/October 2020, at this stage the COVID-19 postponement does not affect that session.

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State Reporting Procedure

During the session, the Committee considered the State reports of Belgium, Benin, Guinea, Norway, and Ukraine on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). 

The Committee engaged with civil society representatives and other stakeholders from Belgium, Benin, Guinea, Norway, and Ukraine, who briefed the Committee on the human rights situation in their countries.

Following the session, the Committee published its Concluding Observations HERE.

Pre-session

The Committee’s pre-sessional Working Group met from 9th March to 13th March 2020 and adopted:

  • Lists of Issues in respect of Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uzbekistan; and

  • Lists of Issues Prior to Reporting for Canada, Chile, France, Italy.

The Lists of Issues and Lists of Issues Prior to Reporting are available HERE.

Communications under the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR

During the 67th session, the Committee examined one communication, which it found amounted to a violation of the Covenant. The Committee has not yet published its ‘Views’ in that case. A summary of the case will be available on the GI-ESCR website once it is published by the Committee.

The Committee also discontinued the examination of six individual communications.

Since the entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR, the CESCR has received and registered a total of 184 communications (as at 17th March 2020). Of those registered communications the Committee has:

  • Adopted Views on the merits in 7 cases – finding a violation in 6 cases and no violation in 1 case;

  • Declared 16 communications inadmissible;

  • Discontinued or withdrawn 24 communications; and

  • 138 communications currently pending. The list of pending cases is available HERE

Thematic work and Proposed General Comments

The Committee adopted a new General Comment on the right to science (article 15). When available, it will be published on the Committee’s website.

The Committee continues to work towards the elaboration of general comments on:

  • The ICESCR and Land; and

  • The ICESCR and Sustainable Development.

The Committee also received a thematic briefing on the right to housing in the context of urbanisation, environmental degradation, climate change and climate policies. 

CESCR Day of Discussion on land and the ICESCR

CESCR Day of Discussion on land and the ICESCR

Procedural matters

2020 treaty body review

During the session, the Committee discussed the 2020 review of the human rights treaty bodies. It decided to expand the use of the simplified reporting procedure and offer it to all States Parties. States that are already preparing reports should finalise them and if they desire to continue using the "traditional" procedure for their next report, they will be able to do so.

In accordance with the position of the Chairpersons of the human rights treaty bodies, the CESCR has decided to introduce a predictable review cycle. However, the Committee warned that such a transition would be contingent on the availability of the necessary resources.

The modalities and timelines of introducing both of the above will be discussed further at the next Session.

Palais Wilson, Geneva

Palais Wilson, Geneva

Civil society engagement

The CESCR held an informal meeting with representatives of civil society. The meeting, which was the first of its kind, was very well attended by civil society and provided an important opportunity to discuss the Committee’s mandate, procedures and methods of work, as well as the role of civil society in increasing the visibility and impact of the Committee’s work.

It was subsequently agreed by the Committee that the meeting between NGOs and the Committee should be held annually and take place during formal meeting time.

The CESCR has moved to an on-line system for the submission of information from civil society for the State reporting procedure (see HERE). This has aided the engagement of civil society by simplifying and centralising the system for submitting information and participating in briefings with the Committee. The Committee is also holding many more briefings with civil society by video-conference, which facilitates the participation of civil society groups who are not able to travel to Geneva for the Committee meetings.

Membership - Elections

The next elections for membership of the CESCR are scheduled to take place on 15 April 2020 in New York. Given the COVID-19 crisis and the closure of UN buildings and the cancellation of UN meetings in New York, it seems unlikely that these elections will take place in April.

In addition to the regular elections, there will also be an ad hoc election in respect of the seat of Mr Waleed Sadi who passed away last year. However, no State nominated a candidate to fill the vacant seat of Mr Sadi within the Asia Pacific regional group. Mr Sadi was due to complete his term on 31st December 2020. Therefore, the Committee is currently operating with 17 members instead of the usual 18.

In the regular elections there are 9 seats open. Nominations for the elections are now closed. See this TABLE which provides a summary of the nominations received and the seats available.

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Unfortunately, gender balance remains a concern regarding the CESCR membership, particularly given the Committee’s mandate to monitor implementation of the obligation to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights (article 3). Women currently account for just 6 of the 18 members of the Committee.  

The competitive elections in the WEOG and African groups offer an opportunity for the Committee to achieve greater gender balance. If every nominated woman is successful in the competitive regional elections (ie. Ms. Elver, Ms. Diallo and Ms Liebenberg are all elected) the Committee will be 44% female.

For further information about the elections, see HERE.

Next Session

The sixty-eighth session of the Committee will be held from the 28th September to the 16th October 2020. The Committee will consider the State reports of:

  • Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Kuwait, Latvia, Nicaragua.

The Programme of Work for the 68th session (including dates for the Dialogues) is not yet available but will be posted HERE in the coming months.

The deadline for the submission of civil society parallel reports is 31 August.

The 68th session will be followed by a Pre-Session from 19th October to 23rd October 2020 at which the pre-sessional Working Group of the Committee will prepare;

  • Lists of Issues for El Salvador, Guatemala, Luxembourg, Panama (to be confirmed) and Yemen

  • List of Issues Prior to Reporting for Sweden.

Please note that the schedule is subject to change, so it is important to check the Committee’s website to confirm the States and dates for each of the session and pre-session.

The deadline for the submission of information by civil society in respect of the Lists of Issues and List of Issues Prior to Reporting is 10 August 2020.

Follow-up procedures

The Committee will make assessments under its follow-up procedures for Concluding Observations and Views, at the next session.  However, no information is available yet about which countries or Views will be considered under the follow-up procedure.  This information on follow-up will be posted on the Committee’s website closer to the session date.

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