Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Sixty-first session

29 May-23 June 2017

Item 1 of the provisional agenda

Adoption of the agenda

Annotated provisional agenda

Provisional agenda

1.Adoption of the agenda.

2.Organization of work.

3.Substantive issues arising from the implementation of the International Covenanton Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

4.Follow-up to the consideration of reports under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant.

5.Relations with United Nations organs and other treaty bodies.

6.Consideration of reports:

(a)Reports submitted by States parties in accordance with articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant;

(b)Reports submitted by specialized agencies in accordance with article 18 of the Covenant.

7.Submission of reports by States parties in accordance with articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant.

8.Formulation of suggestions and recommendations of a general nature based on the consideration of reports submitted by States parties to the Covenant and by the specialized agencies.

9.Consideration of communications under the Optional Protocol to the Covenant.

10.Miscellaneous matters.

Annotations

1.Adoption of the agenda

Under rule 5 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, the first item on the agenda of any session shall be the adoption of the agenda, except when the election of officers is required under rule 14. In accordance with rule 6, the Committee may revise the agenda during a session and may, as appropriate, add, delete or defer items.

The provisional agenda for the sixty-first session was prepared by the Secretary-General, in accordance with rule 4 of the rules of procedure.

2.Organization of work

The sixty-first session of the Committee, established in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1985/17, will be held at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 29 May to 23 June 2017. The first meeting will be convened on Monday, 29 May, at 10 a.m.

In accordance with rule 8 of its rules of procedure, at the beginning of each session, the Committee shall consider appropriate organizational matters, including its meetings schedule. The attention of States parties is drawn to the tentative programme of work for the session annexed to the present document, which was prepared by the Secretary-General in consultation with the Chair of the Committee in accordance with established practice.

3.Substantive issues arising from the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

In accordance with rule 65 of its rules of procedure, the Committee may prepare general comments based on the various articles and provisions of the Covenant. The Committee decided at its fourteenth session, held from 28 April to 17 May 1996, that, as from its fifteenth session, its discussions relating to the implementation of the Covenant (such as days of general discussion, consideration and adoption of general comments, methods of work and submissions by non-governmental organizations) would be conducted under this agenda item.

During the session, the Committee will discuss the draft general comment on State obligations in the context of business activities, other drafts that are under preparation and other substantive matters.

4.Follow-up to the consideration of reports under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant

The Committee has been discussing follow-up consistently at its sessions, and the issue of follow-up to previous concluding observations is included as an item for discussion during dialogues with delegations and during the consideration of subsequent periodic reports and of working methods. The Committee has agreed on a written follow-up procedure and decided to begin applying it to the reports scheduled for consideration at the sixty-first session.

5.Relations with United Nations organs and other treaty bodies

Under this agenda item the Committee will continue to consider, as required, matters arising from the meeting of the Chairs of the human rights treaty bodies. Documentation relating to that meeting is being made available to Committee members. Members will also be informed of activities undertaken by other treaty bodies, where relevant to their work.

6.Consideration of reports

(a)Reports submitted by States parties in accordance with articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant

In accordance with rule 61, paragraph 2, of its rules of procedure, the Committee shall normally consider the reports submitted by States parties under article 16 of the Covenant in the order in which they have been received by the Secretary-General. Long overdue initial reports will be given priority, to the extent possible. Representatives of the reporting States are invited to the meetings of the Committee when their reports are examined. Such representatives should be able to make statements on the reports submitted by their Governments and reply to questions that may be put to them by the members of the Committee.

In accordance with rule 62, paragraph 2, of the Committee’s rules of procedure, the Secretary-General has informed the States parties of the opening date and duration of the sixty-first session of the Committee.

As at 17 March 2017, 15 reports had been received by the Secretary-General and were pending consideration by the Committee. Reports of States parties that are tentatively scheduled for consideration at the sixty-first, sixty-second and future sessions are set out in the table below. Other reports scheduled for consideration by the Committee at its subsequent sessions, subject to approval by the Committee, will be the next reports received by the Committee, generally in chronological order of receipt and in accordance with the duration of the session.

The table below does not include States parties that were requested to submit reports by a specific deadline, failing which the Committee would proceed to examine the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights in their territories in the absence of a report.

Status of State party reports pending consideration by the Committee

Reporting State	Symbol of report	Date received	Date due	Session at which the report is tentatively scheduled for consideration
1.Argentina (fourth periodic report)	E/C.12/ARG/4	29 Dec. 2016	2 Dec. 2016	Future
2. Australia (fifth periodic report)	E/C.12/AUS/5	1 Feb. 2016	30 June 2014	Sixty-first
3. Colombia (sixth periodic report)	E/C.12/COL/6	8 Apr. 2016	30 June 2015	Sixty-second
4. Germany (sixth periodic report)	E/C.12/DEU/6	21 Feb. 2017	30 June 2016	Future
5. Liechtenstein (combined second and third periodic reports)	E/C.12/LIE/2-3	29 Sept. 2015	30 June 2011	Sixty-first
6. Mexico (combined fifth and sixth periodic reports)	E/C.12/MEX/5-6	8 June 2016	30 June 2012	Sixty-second
7. Netherlands (sixth periodic report)	E/C.12/NLD/6	15 Apr. 2016	30 June 2015	Sixty-first
8. Pakistan (initial report)	E/C.12/PAK/1	16 Oct. 2015	1 May 2010	Sixty-first
9. Republic of Korea (fourth periodic report)	E/C.12/KOR/4	2 June 2016	30 June 2014	Sixty-second
10. Republic of Moldova (third periodic report)	E/C.12/MDA/3	14 Oct. 2016	30 June 2016	Sixty-second
11. Russian Federation (sixth periodic report)	E/C.12/RUS/6	1 Sept. 2016	30 June 2016	Sixty-second
12. Sri Lanka (fifth periodic report)	E/C.12/LKA/5	7 Oct. 2015	30 June 2013	Sixty-first
13. Turkmenistan (second periodic report)	E/C.12/TKM/2	20 Dec. 2016	2 Dec. 2016	Future
14. Uruguay (fifth periodic report)	E/C.12/URY/5	22 Nov. 2015	30 June 2015	Sixty-first
15. Yemen (third periodic report)	E/C.12/YEM/3	11 July 2013	30 June 2013	..

(b)Reports submitted by specialized agencies in accordance with article 18 of the Covenant

In accordance with rule 67 of its rules of procedure, the Committee is entrusted with the task of considering the reports submitted by specialized agencies pursuant to article 18 of the Covenant.

In accordance with rule 68 of the rules of procedure, the representatives of the specialized agencies concerned may make statements on matters falling within the scope of the activities of their respective organizations.

Any report which may be received from the specialized agencies under article 18 of the Covenant will be made available to the Committee in due course.

7.Submission of reports by States parties in accordance with articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant

In accordance with rule 59, paragraph 1, of its rules of procedure, the Committee shall at each session consider the status of submission of reports under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant and may make appropriate recommendations to the Council, including recommendations to the effect that the Secretary-General should send reminders to States parties from which reports have not been received. The Committee will have before it under this item the note by the Secretary-General on the status of submission of reports by States parties under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant (E/C.12/61/2).

8.Formulation of suggestions and recommendations of a general nature based on the consideration of reports submitted by States parties to the Covenant and by the specialized agencies

Pursuant to rule 64 of its rules of procedure, the Committee may wish to make suggestions and recommendations of a general nature on the basis of its consideration of reports submitted by States parties and reports submitted by specialized agencies, in order to assist the Council to fulfil, in particular, its responsibilities under articles 21 and 22 of the Covenant. The Committee may also wish to make suggestions for consideration by the Council with reference to articles 19, 22 and 23 of the Covenant.

9.Consideration of communications under the Optional Protocol to the Covenant

In accordance with the provisional rules of procedure under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Committee will consider under this item communications that are, or appear to be, submitted to it under the Optional Protocol.

In accordance with article 8 of the Optional Protocol and rule 19, paragraph 1, of the provisional rules of procedure under the Optional Protocol, the Committee or its Working Group on Communications shall examine communications in closed meetings.

10.Miscellaneous matters

At its twenty-first session, held in 1999, the Committee decided to include in its agenda a standing item, entitled “Miscellaneous matters”, under which it might consider any issue falling outside the scope of other standing agenda items.

Annex

Tentative programme of the sixty-first session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (29 May-23 June 2017)

First week: 29 May-2 June 2017
Monday, 29 May
10th meeting	(public)	Item 1	Adoption of the agenda
		Item 2	Organization of work
		Item 5	Relations with United Nations organs and other treaty bodies
		Item 7	Submission of reports by States parties in accordance with articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant
		Item 10	Miscellaneous matters
11th meeting	(private)	Items 3 and 6 Item 10	Meeting with civil society partners Miscellaneous matters
Tuesday, 30 May
12th meeting	(private)	Items 3 and 6	Closed meeting
13th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Australia
Wednesday, 31 May
14th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Australia (continued)
15th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Uruguay
Thursday, 1 June
16th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Uruguay (continued)
17th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: the Netherlands
Friday, 2 June
18th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: the Netherlands (continued)
19th meeting	(private)	Items 3, 6 and 10	Closed meeting

Second week: 5-9 June 2017
Monday, 5 June
United Nations holiday
Tuesday, 6 June
20th meeting	(private)	Items 3 and 6	Closed meeting
21st meeting	(public)	Item 3, 6 and 10	Meeting with civil society partners
Wednesday, 7 June
22nd meeting	(private)	Item 3, 6 and 10	Closed meeting
23rd meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Liechtenstein
Thursday, 8 June
24th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Liechtenstein (continued)
25th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Sri Lanka
Friday, 9 June
26th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Sri Lanka (continued)
27th meeting	(private)	Items 3 and 6	Closed meeting

Third week: 12-16 June 2017
Monday, 12 June
28th meeting	(public)	Items 3, 6 and 10	Meeting with civil society partners
29th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Pakistan
Tuesday, 13 June
30th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Pakistan (continued)
31st meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Pakistan (continued)
Wednesday, 14 June
32nd meeting	(private)	Items 2-10	Closed meeting
33rd meeting	(private)	Items 2-10	Closed meeting
Thursday, 15 June
34th meeting	(private)	Items 2-10	Closed meeting
35th meeting	(private)	Items 2-10	Closed meeting
Friday, 16 June
36th meeting	(private)	Items 2-10	Closed meeting
37th meeting	(private)	Items 2-10	Closed meeting

Fourth week: 19-23 June 2017
Monday, 19 June
38th meeting	(private)	Items 2-10	Closed meeting
39th meeting	(private)	Items 2-10	Closed meeting
Tuesday, 20 June
40th meeting	(private)	Items 2-10	Closed meeting
41st meeting	(private)	Items 2-10	Closed meeting
Wednesday, 21 June
42nd meeting	(private)	Items 2-10	Closed meeting
43rd meeting	(private)	Items 2-10	Closed meeting
Thursday, 22 June
44th meeting	(private)	Items 2-10	Closed meeting
45th meeting	(private)	Items 2-10	Closed meeting
Friday, 23 June
46th meeting	(private)	Items 2-10	Closed meeting
47th meeting	(private/public)	Items 2-10	Closed meeting/close of session