Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Seventy-seventh session

Summary record (partial)* of the 1st meeting

Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Monday, 10 February 2025, at 10 a.m.

Chair:Ms. Crăciunean-Tatu

Contents

Opening of the session

Statement by the representative of the Secretary-General

Solemn declaration by new members of the Committee

Adoption of the agenda

The meeting was called to order at 10.05 a.m.

Opening of the session

The Chair declared open the seventy-seventh session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Statement by the representative of the Secretary-General

Ms. Lee (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)) said that, in the face of the liquidity crisis affecting the United Nations, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights would continue to do its utmost to ensure that the Committee’s work could proceed unhindered to the maximum extent possible.

The programme of the fifty-eighth session of the Human Rights Council included a number of activities of relevance to the field of economic, social and cultural rights, among them the panel discussions on the realization of human rights in sustaining and increasing the gains made in the HIV response and leaving no one behind and on the realization of the rights to work and to social security in the informal economy; the interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing and the Special Rapporteur on the right to food; and the consideration of the report of the Secretary‑General on the question of the realization in all countries of economic, social and cultural rights (A/HRC/58/37).

In 2024, significant efforts had been made to enhance the participation of Indigenous Peoples in human rights processes. Representatives of Indigenous Peoples had addressed the Human Rights Council on behalf of their communities and organizations for the first time at its fifty-seventh session and had participated in the interactive dialogues with the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

In 2025, the high-level political forum of the Economic and Social Council would conduct in-depth reviews of many of the Sustainable Development Goals, including those pertaining to health, gender equality and decent work.

As the milestone of universal ratification of the Covenant edged closer, the Committee must remain mindful of the events and challenges that were affecting the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights around the world. At the launch of the Human Rights Annual Appeal for 2025, the High Commissioner for Human Rights had noted the widespread pushback against multilateralism and the ongoing challenges posed by continuing and re-emerging conflicts. He had consistently urged States to commit to the global pursuit of a human rights economy and, at the Hernán Santa Cruz Dialogue in December 2024, had highlighted the substantial transformation that was required in economic systems to ensure the delivery of economic, social and cultural rights to everyone everywhere.

While the liquidity crisis was hampering the planning and implementation of the Committee’s work and would likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future, the treaty body strengthening process nevertheless remained active. In December 2024, the General Assembly had adopted resolution 79/165 on the human rights treaty body system, in which it invited the treaty bodies and OHCHR to continue to work to increase coordination and predictability in the reporting process with the aim of achieving a regularized schedule for reporting, as well as to increase their efforts to further the use of digital technologies in their work. The Chairs of the treaty bodies and the focal points for the harmonization of working methods were continuing their cooperation with the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures and, at a meeting in December 2024, had discussed issues of common concern, including experts’ potential or actual conflicts of interests.

Solemn declaration by new members of the Committee

Mr. Bouzid, Ms. El Yedri Afailal, Mr. Palmisano and Ms. Pérez made the solemn declaration provided for in rule 13 of the Committee’s rules of procedure.

Adoption of the agenda ( E/C.12/77/1 )

The agenda was adopted.

The discussion covered in the summary record ended at 10.25 a.m.