COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS OPENS FORTY-FIFTH SESSION

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this morning opened its forty-fifth session, hearing an address by Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and adopting its agenda.

Ms. Pillay, outlining some important new developments of interest to the Committee that had taken place since its last session, said that this year’s High-Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals had been a milestone. The Chairpersons of the treaty bodies had for the first time issued a joint statement urging Member States to recognize the centrality of human rights standards and their implementation in attaining the Millennium Development Goals.

Turning to the theme of the Committee’s planned Day of General Discussion, Ms. Pillay said that the right to sexual and reproductive health was consonant with the Millennium Development Goals’ objectives. Her Office had recently released a study on the subject. To curb maternal mortality women must have access to sexual and reproductive health care and quality health care in general, as well as equal access to education and economic opportunities. The Committee’s further guidance to enhance such access was crucial.

Her Office had made the pursuit of economic, social and cultural rights one of its six thematic priorities for the next biennium, said Ms. Pillay. Her Office carried out numerous activities to promote awareness of economic, social and cultural rights, including advocacy for the early ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Covenant. Her Office was also following with interest the discussions at the General Assembly related to the draft resolution on the rights of the elderly.

Turning to the initiatives undertaken in response to the main challenges that the treaty body system faced, Ms. Pillay said that a meeting had taken place in Poznan, Poland to which all treaty body Chairpersons had been invited. Participants reflected on working methods of the Committees and discussed, among other matters, the centrality of the independence of members and the enhancement of the role of the Chairpersons. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was also facilitating discussions through the organization of a series of consultations involving all treaty bodies. Working methods were main items on these discussions’ agenda.

Ms. Pillay also referred to the twenty-second meeting of the Chairpersons of the treaty bodies that was held in July in Brussels. The principal objective had been to bring treaty bodies closer to the implementation level, to non-governmental organizations and regional mechanisms, and raise awareness in Europe regarding treaty bodies’ work. These exchanges made the treaty body system more visible and relevant at the regional and national levels.

Ms. Pillay said that she was well aware of the needs of the various Committees and worked closely with all the relevant units of the United Nations Office at Geneva to ensure that the highest possible level of assistance could be provided. Unfortunately, the demands on the conference servicing units in Geneva had increased tremendously in recent years. They sought to streamline and harmonize practices among the treaty bodies in order to promote efficiency. Further, the Economic and Social Council still had to decide on the Committee’s request for additional meeting time.

Jaime Marchan Romero, Chairperson of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, thanked the High Commissioner for her presence; it showed her interest and support in the work and activities of the Committee. In the context of the present crises, they had to fight against impunity and to strengthen the international mechanisms. During the Day of General Discussion the Committee would tackle an important subject: sexual and reproductive health. They had also provided for a meeting with the States parties; this was not negligible as they would be able to take up substantive questions and talk through them to the Economic and Social Council to extend the working time of the Committee. The High Commissioner could also count on the Committee’s support in its efforts to harmonize and strengthen the human rights system. They were committed to this exercise.

During its three-week session, from 1 to 19 November, the Committee will examine measures taken by the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles, Sri Lanka, Switzerland and Uruguay to comply with the standards of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Day of General Discussion will be held on 15 November.

The next public meeting of the Committee will be this afternoon at 3 p.m. when it will meet with other United Nations organs and bodies and with civil society representatives to discuss substantive issues arising from the implementation of the Covenant. It will also hear information from non-governmental organizations with respect to the reports that it will review during the current session.


For use of the information media; not an official record

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