Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Sixty- second session

Summary record of the 52nd meeting**

Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Tuesday, 19 September 2017, at 3 p.m.

Chair:Ms. Bras Gomes

Contents

Consideration of reports

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

Sixth periodic report of Colombia

The meeting was called to order at 3 p.m.

Consideration of reports

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

Sixth periodic report of Colombia (E/C.12/COL/6; E/C.12/COL/Q/6 and Add.1)

At the invitation of the Chair, the delegation of Colombia took places at the Committee table.

Ms. Londoño Soto (Colombia) said that the situation in Colombia had changed a great deal since 2010, when the country had submitted its previous periodic report. The signing, in 2016, of the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace had made it possible to transform Colombian society and institutions and to promote economic, social and cultural rights. The most significant achievement thus far had been the number of lives which had been saved: the current homicide rate was the lowest in 42 years. The peace agreement had also made it possible to begin addressing the pressing issue of the rural-urban divide, which affected access to land and housing, development of infrastructure, health and education, eradication of poverty, and a number of other matters.

The three cornerstones of the National Development Plan were peace, fairness and education. The plan sought to guarantee the fundamental rights of the most vulnerable sectors of the population, including persons affected by the conflict, who were officially recognized under the Victims and Land Restitution Act. One of the Government’s priorities was the fight against poverty, which had been achieving positive results. Although much remained to be done, since 2014 the number of people in the middle class was greater than the number of people living in poverty. Moreover, between 2010 and 2016, over 5 million Colombians had overcome multidimensional poverty.

The unemployment rate had dropped to 9.2 per cent, and 69 per cent of the over 3.9 million new jobs created were in the formal sector, meaning that more than 10 million people would have a pension in the future. In addition, the Government continued to support effective protection measures for trade unionists. The Comprehensive National Early Childhood Strategy had given nearly 1.2 million vulnerable children access to quality preschool education, health services, nutrition, protection and care. Numerous gains had also been made in areas such as the right to adequate housing, the right to water and access to health care. Notably, since 2015, a greater percentage of the national budget had been allocated to education than to defence spending.

The steps taken by Colombia to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development were bolstering its compliance with its obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. International cooperation would continue to play a decisive role in crucial areas such as biodiversity conservation, rural development and security sector reform. In addition, the Government had submitted a series of bills to Congress as part of its efforts to combat corruption, which threatened social investment and overall development.

To help build on the progress achieved to date, accurate and disaggregated data were needed. It was also necessary to reinforce forums for social dialogue and to strengthen access to quality basic services. Priority must be given to the peaceful settlement of disputes, and transparency must be a guiding principle in all the actions taken. Colombia was fully committed to meeting its multiple obligations so as to achieve lasting peace.

Mr. Zerbini Ribeiro Leão (Country Rapporteur) said that the Committee wished to know whether the State party had plans to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Covenant; if not, it would like to know why ratification was not envisaged.

He understood that one of the main aims of the peace agreement was to improve the quality of life of rural communities, which had been particularly affected by the armed conflict. He asked the delegation to describe the key means of guaranteeing the Covenant rights of rural communities under the agreement and to indicate whether the authorities had any statistical data with which to assess progress in the exercise of those rights.

The Committee would like an explanation of the reasons for, and the steps taken to address, the unconstitutional state of affairs created by widespread violations of economic, social and cultural rights and non-compliance with Constitutional Court rulings in that regard. Specifically, it would appreciate information on the principal steps taken to combat corruption, which was a significant obstacle to the exercise of such rights.

He would welcome details, including statistics, on public policies and programmes to address the crucial issue of land. He would also appreciate an assessment of the feasibility of complying with the provisions of item 1 of the peace agreement, which dealt with the restitution of land. In addition, the delegation should describe the measures in the Victims and Land Restitution Act that were directly aimed at Colombian returnees.

He asked how and in what areas the State party made use of mechanisms for free, prior and informed consultation and for public consultation. In particular, he wondered whether the enactment of legislation on prior consultation was a realistic possibility.

He would like to know how the State party ensured that structural tax reform measures were not biased in favour of Colombians in higher income brackets. With regard to gender equality, both generally and in the context of indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, it would be interesting to hear about plans to strengthen the role of women in decision-making bodies and about women’s participation in the crop substitution policy. Lastly, he wished to learn more about the actions taken by the Government to protect human rights defenders dealing with economic, social and cultural rights.

Mr. Sandoval Bernal (Colombia) said that Colombia was not against ratifying the Optional Protocol. It simply needed to study the matter further in order to assess the implications of ratification, particularly in the light of its concerns regarding article 10 on inter-State communications.

Ms. Londoño Soto (Colombia) said that bridging the gap between rural and urban development was the most complex issue facing the State party. Rural communities were lagging behind significantly in terms of infrastructure and basic services, for example, and the situation called for not only an extension of coverage, but also an improvement of the quality of what was already available.

Ms. Alfaro Castillo (Colombia) said that, as land disputes were one of the central causes of violence associated with the armed conflict, numerous institutional and legislative measures were under way as part of the rural reform provided for under the peace agreement. All branches of government were working together to move the country forward at what was a turning point in its history. The international community had acknowledged the State party’s efforts to ensure that its approach not only incorporated a gender perspective, but also involved the country’s campesino, indigenous and Afro-Colombian populations.

Mr. Salazar Cuéllar (Colombia) said that the peace agreement expressly called for an integrated information system and measures to ensure transparency in the agreement’s implementation. The goal was to periodically monitor the status of the commitments undertaken so as to keep track of their progress.

Mr. Moreno Gutiérrez (Colombia) said that a Central Register of Victims of the armed conflict had been established under the Victims and Land Restitution Act. Data in the Register were disaggregated according to criteria such as community and gender. Regarding the Constitutional Court’s declaration of an unconstitutional state of affairs in Colombia, the Comprehensive Victim Support and Reparation Unit had held public meetings with that Court to assess the progress made in addressing the situation. One of the biggest challenges identified was access to adequate housing, and one of the main achievements identified was the Central Register of Victims.

Under Act No. 1565 of 2012, which provided for the voluntary return of citizens to the country within the framework of general migration, victims of the armed conflict who lived outside the country could also be included in the Register. Although there had initially been problems in providing victims outside the country with the relevant information, the deadline for registration had subsequently been extended to remedy the situation. Colombian consulates had received instructions concerning the online registration process, and there were currently more than 13,000 victims officially registered. It was important to emphasize that the provisions of the Victims and Land Restitution Act did not replace the international protection afforded to refugees and did not affect their status as such until they had been repatriated under Act No. 1565.

Ms. Londoño Soto (Colombia) pointed out that her Government was making every effort to repay a historical debt to the Afro-Colombian, indigenous and other peoples whose land had been taken from them, including by making more than 3 million hectares of land available to such communities. Roads had been built to help rural communities wishing to sell their crops to gain better access to the nearest urban markets.

Ms. Barrera Mariño (Colombia) said that the Government had been working to strengthen institutions in the agricultural sector, particularly in areas affected by the conflict. A national land agency responsible for the formalization of land tenure had been established, progress had been made in registering land that had been abandoned or expropriated during the conflict, and the courts were currently reviewing a large number of applications for the restoration of victims’ rights to recover such land. The local communities concerned were included in that process as a matter of course. Guidelines on preparing the relevant land registers had also been drawn up. The Congress was currently reviewing draft legislation on a national plan to improve housing, irrigation and drainage, technical assistance and environmental protection in rural areas. Lastly, some 17,000 hectares of coca had been eradicated since the Government’s recent launch of a voluntary crop substitution initiative.

Ms. Bolívar Vargas (Colombia) said that a national prisoners’ health fund had been established under a law adopted in 2014 with a view to guaranteeing the prison population’s access to health care. A number of steps had been taken since 2016 to deal with the emergency that had arisen in the country’s prison system, including the provision of health-care facilities in prisons and measures to guarantee the safety of prisoners transported to other facilities for treatment. A needs assessment of the prison infrastructure had been carried out. Significant efforts had also been made to reduce morbidity and mortality rates and prevent accidents in prisons.

Mr. Sandoval Bernal (Colombia) said that Colombia was among the countries that held the largest number of public consultations on matters of concern to their people. Colombia had been one of the first States to ratify the International Labour Organization (ILO) Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169). There were a number of domestic legal provisions establishing protections for indigenous and other peoples, including article 330 of the Constitution, which stipulated that any exploitation of natural resources in indigenous territories must not impair the cultural, social and economic integrity of indigenous communities, and laws recognizing the right of Afro-Colombian communities to collectively own and use land. Furthermore, guidance on the procedures for conducting prior consultations with ethnic groups had been established under Presidential Directive No. 10 of 2013. Since 2016, some 5,000 consultations with indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities been held throughout the country, on the basis of transparency and mutual respect. Legislation regulating the procedures for holding such consultations was currently being drafted, in coordination with the communities concerned. Lastly, the Constitutional Court was currently studying the nature and effects of public consultations.

Mr. Salazar Cuéllar (Colombia) said that the Government had been working towards a more progressive tax system, including changes in personal income tax to ensure that those who earned more paid more and those working in the informal sector paid less. Under the current reform, tax returns had been simplified and tax benefits no longer favoured persons with higher incomes who did not spend most of their income on essential goods. A greater share of tax revenues would be allocated to public education and health. The tax on tobacco had been tripled. Tax incentives had also been introduced to promote employment and economic activity in the rural areas most affected by the armed conflict.

Ms. Romero Cristancho (Colombia) said that the national public policy on gender equality was intended to involve women in peacebuilding, ensure women’s economic independence, improve work-life balance, increase women’s participation in decision-making bodies, take a differentiated approach to health care and education and guarantee a life free from violence.

Ms. Gaviria (Colombia) said that the Ministry of Labour had made sustained efforts to promote gender equity throughout the country by providing training, encouraging companies to employ more women and promoting the integration of women victims of violence into the labour market.

Ms. Barrera Mariño (Colombia) said that a directorate for rural women had been set up in the Ministry of Agriculture in 2017 to help formulate public policies for such women, particularly with a view to upholding the relevant provisions of the peace agreement. The Government received support from the World Bank in devising strategic plans for rural women. A large number of women had been involved in the social management of rural areas and land ownership issues. Efforts had been made to help rural women enter the formal economy. It should be noted that some 40 per cent of the beneficiaries of Regional Renewal Agency programmes were women.

Ms. Londoño Soto (Colombia), noting that corruption remained a scourge in Colombia, said that her Government was committed to rooting it out and ensuring that the use of public resources was transparent and acts of corruption were duly punished. Her Government had adopted an anti-corruption strategy that included better access to public information, the promotion of integrity and an end to impunity. A number of bills in that regard, including one on whistle-blower protection and one on campaign finance reform, were currently before the Congress. Several entities had been established to promote transparency, inter alia in government procurement. Anti-bribery legislation had been amended to bring it into line with international standards. A large number of corruption cases were currently being investigated, 47 cases were at the trial stage and 16 sentences had been handed down.

Turning to the issue of crop substitution, she emphasized that the relevant programmes were all voluntary and involved close coordination with the local communities concerned. There had been a clear increase in the number of hectares used for illicit crops. Nevertheless, the Government was determined to overcome the problem. Since 2015, Colombia had suspended the use of the herbicide glyphosate to destroy illegal coca crops and had relied instead on manual eradication. The Government was making other efforts to ensure that crop substitution did not present any threats to the environment. That said, the eradication of such crops was a common responsibility to be shared by the international community, as most of the crops were consumed outside Colombia.

The situation of human rights defenders was a matter of great concern to her Government. Such defenders were often women working to protect economic, social and cultural rights in rural areas. Many such women had been harassed and some had even been murdered. A government body had thus been set up to ensure the protection of human rights defenders, community organizers, trade union leaders and others. The information gathered by that body on threats and attacks against such persons had led to a significant number of prosecutions. Nevertheless, between January 2016 and August 2017, some 200 persons had been murdered. In the light of such attacks, the Government had adopted a policy of zero tolerance for violations against human rights defenders.

Mr. De Schutter (Country Task Force) said that, while he commended the State party’s efforts to fight corruption and the adoption of anti-bribery legislation in 2016, it was regrettable that very few cases of corruption reported to the authorities had been investigated or had resulted in prosecution and punishment. Some 4 million children had been denied access to the school feeding programme because of corruption and the lack of adequate safeguards against corrupt procurement practices. The best way to combat corruption was to adopt a rights-based approach that involved informing programme beneficiaries about their rights and the complaints mechanisms available to them, and protecting whistle-blowers. He also wished to thank the delegation for its comments on obstacles to ratification of the Optional Protocol. If the only such obstacle was article 10, then that could easily be overcome, as the article allowed States to choose whether or not to declare that they recognized the competence of the Committee to receive and consider inter-State communications.

The National Plan on Business and Human Rights did not provide a strong legal framework for monitoring the activities of the private sector. He therefore wished to know whether the State party envisioned strengthening the plan in accordance with the Committee’s general comment No. 24 on State obligations under the Covenant in the context of business activities, which called on States parties to impose due diligence requirements on businesses in order to identify, prevent and mitigate the risks of violations of Covenant rights.

Mr. Sadi asked whether the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace contained specific references to international human rights treaties. Noting that suspects arrested at airports were held in far better conditions than convicted prisoners, he said that the State party should draw on the Committee’s guidance and general comments to address disparities of that kind.

Ms. Liebenberg invited the delegation to comment on reports that legislation on public consultations was not properly implemented and that the outcomes of consultations were not fully taken into account. She asked how the Government viewed the public consultation process and whether it had proposed new legislation that would dilute that process.

Mr. Abdel- Moneim, welcoming the State party’s tax reform policy, said that any tax incentives offered to investors should not be open-ended; otherwise, the Government would miss out on potential revenue that could be used to protect human rights.

Ms. Shin asked, with regard to the Central Register of Victims, whether the State party had identified forms of suffering that were specific to women victims, what measures it had taken to address those forms of suffering and whether children born as a result of rape were considered victims. In the light of reports that returning migrants did not have access to credit, she enquired whether the Government was aware of that problem and what steps were being taken to resolve it.

Ms. Londoño Soto (Colombia) said that steps were being taken to ensure that local communities were kept informed about the services that were available and had direct access to those services.

Ms. Niño Fierro (Colombia) said that the school feeding programme was run by the decentralized secretariats of education and overseen by various bodies, including the Counsel General’s Office and the Comptroller General’s Office. Thus far, 23 cases of irregularities had been identified and more than 90 criminal cases were under way. A number of senior public servants had been sentenced to imprisonment.

Ms. Romero Cristancho (Colombia) said that, although there was no legal framework governing due diligence, the Government had made progress in implementing the National Plan on Business and Human Rights by providing training to stakeholders and taking steps to bring business practices into line with national and international human rights standards. The National Mining Agency, for example, was now required to ensure that the impact of each mining project was assessed and mitigated.

Regulatory proposals to improve the implementation of the Plan at the local level would be drawn up by the end of 2017. Good progress had been made in 70 per cent of the key areas set out in the Plan, thanks to inter-agency cooperation and international knowledge-sharing. The Government hoped to push forward with the Plan, monitor its implementation more effectively and start laying the groundwork for a subsequent plan in 2018.

Mr. Sandoval Bernal (Colombia) said that public consultations were not appropriate in all circumstances because, as stipulated in the Constitution, the State was the owner of all of the country’s subsoil and non-renewable natural resources. Communities were consulted in accordance with the existing legislative framework. Any failure to conduct consultations was referred to the Constitutional Court. In some cases, the Court had ordered that activities should be suspended because local communities had not been properly consulted. In 2016, a bill on prior consultation had been submitted to Congress but had not been passed.

Ms. Londoño Soto (Colombia) said that the disaggregation of data on offences committed against victims was an ongoing process. Data on sexual violence had not yet been broken down, for example. Further steps would be taken to ensure that all women victims had access to the appropriate support.

Mr. Moreno Gutiérrez (Colombia) said that the data contained in the Central Register of Victims were disaggregated by gender, taking into account lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons. Of the 10 risks to which women were especially vulnerable, as identified by the Constitutional Court in Order No. 092 of 2008, the most prevalent was the risk of offences against sexual freedom and integrity; some 18,000 women had been victims of offences of that kind. Women victims received support from local NGOs, and awareness-raising on women’s rights was being carried out.

Mr. Windfuhr (Country Task Force) asked what measures would be taken to reduce youth unemployment, particularly among young persons who had been demobilized. He noted that the majority of workers were employed in the informal sector and that many workers earned less than the minimum wage, even in the formal sector, and enquired how the State party intended to address those issues. Drawing attention to the growing gender pay gap, he asked what would be done to promote equal pay and equal access to employment for women and to remove the obstacles faced by persons with disabilities and asylum seekers in the field of employment.

Emphasizing the need to increase the number of labour inspectors and noting that many people faced poor working conditions, including long hours and occupational hazards, he said that he would like to know whether the Government considered the minimum wage to be sufficiently high and how it compared to the living wage. Although many trade unionists were now afforded protection, the number of assassinations of trade unionists remained high. As a result, trade union participation was very limited, particularly in the private sector; labour rights were not properly protected; and, according to ILO, many companies engaged in abusive practices.

Despite the increase in social security coverage, millions of people were living in poverty and only 7 per cent of those over 65 years of age received a pension. He would appreciate more information on the distribution of poverty and the shortcomings of the non-contributory social assistance scheme. Lastly, he enquired whether the Central Register of Victims was closed to new entries and why only 10 per cent of registered victims had received humanitarian assistance.

Mr. Socarrás (Colombia) said that, as indicated in his Government’s replies to the list of issues (E/C.12/COL/Q/6/Add.1), unemployment had dropped to its lowest level in 16 years thanks to government measures such as the establishment of the Public Employment Service.

The Government had introduced various policies to combat informal employment. Over the previous seven years, the rate of formal employment had increased by 6.5 per cent, and that in turn had boosted the rates of participation in pension schemes, the general occupational hazard system and family allowance funds. The pension system and the general occupational hazard system had approximately 10 million members each, and family allowance funds had more than 9 million members. Programmes targeting vulnerable groups, including indigenous people and Afro-Colombians, had also been implemented. In only six years, there had been a threefold increase in the number of beneficiaries of the “Colombia Mayor” programme, which supported older persons, and there were plans to extend its geographical coverage under the Framework Plan on the Implementation of the Peace Agreement.

In recent years, the Public Employment Service had helped hundreds of thousands of jobseekers to find work in both the public and the private sectors. Since January 2017, jobs had already been found for more than 225,000 people.

In 2016, the Ministry of Labour had allowed self-employed workers whose earnings were at least equal to the minimum wage to opt in to the general occupational hazard system. The periodic allowances programme was a voluntary old-age savings scheme whereby the Government subsidized contributions. The Constitutional Court had declared that the problems that had previously affected the pension system had been resolved, and Colpensiones now dealt with requests within the statutory time frame and had stamped out corruption in the pension system.

Owing to the successful implementation of targeted programmes, unemployment rates were falling among women, young people and residents of rural areas. Formal employment was on the rise in urban areas. In 2016, the formal sector had accounted for 49.6 per cent of total employment in the 13 metropolitan areas of Colombia; that represented an increase of 6.6 percentage points over the 2010 level. The “40,000 First Jobs” programme helped young people to overcome barriers to labour-market access, and the unemployment protection mechanism supported the reintegration of the unemployed.

Ms. Gaviria (Colombia) said that, since its establishment in 2011, the Ministry of Labour had launched initiatives to promote the employment of persons with disabilities and women, and had embarked on an institution-building process involving the creation of the Public Employment Service and the Office of the Deputy Minister for Employment and Pensions, together with the enhancement of the labour inspection system. The Ministry was working to promote formal employment through the National Network for the Formalization of Employment and, since 2013, through formalization agreements, under which companies received lighter penalties in exchange for the formalization of employment contracts for their workforce. Since 2013, more than 170 formalization agreements had been concluded.

The Government had made progress in tackling violence against trade unionists and bringing perpetrators to justice; some 750 such perpetrators had been convicted. Colombia was one of the few countries in the world in which collective bargaining was practised in the public sector. On the basis of the ILO Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention, 1978 (No. 151), the ILO Collective Bargaining Convention, 1981 (No. 154) and relevant national legislation, three collective bargaining agreements had been concluded over the previous six years and had benefited more than 1 million public sector workers. The Constitution established that all workers other than those employed in essential public services had the right to strike, and measures to further strengthen that right were being considered. In June 2017, public sector workers had gone on strike until an agreement had been reached.

Legislation had been enacted to crack down on the use of improper outsourcing arrangements. In that connection, the number of labour cooperatives had been reduced significantly between 2010 and 2016, and the total value of fines issued in 2016 alone was nearly US$ 30 million. Fines could also be imposed for failure to observe relevant labour standards. The Ministry of Labour had doubled the size of its corps of labour inspectors and had been working to integrate women into the labour market, including through the EQUIPARES gender equity certification programme, in which 22 companies participated.

The Ministry of Labour had supported legislation to allow workers to contribute to the social security system on a per-day basis with a view to covering a larger share of the workforce. Act No. 1562 of 2012 governed participation in the general occupational hazard system. The Standing Committee on the Coordination of Wages and Employment Policy, in which employers, the Government and workers were represented, held negotiations to determine the minimum wage. The Constitutional Court had established fixed parameters for the determination of the minimum wage and had emphasized the need to maintain a flexible basic living wage.

Ms. Barrera Mariño (Colombia) said that, under the “Colombia Siembra” programme, the number of hectares under cultivation had increased by more than 1 million over the previous three years, which had created hundreds of thousands of jobs in rural areas. The unemployment rate in rural areas had recently reached its lowest level in many years.

Mr. Moreno Gutiérrez (Colombia) said that entries were still being added to the Central Register of Victims. The Government had provided humanitarian assistance to 92 per cent of persons who met the necessary criteria. Under the Victims and Land Restitution Act, a total of US$ 1.4 billion had been spent on humanitarian assistance.

Ms. Gaviria (Colombia) said that there was a subsidized health plan and a contributory health plan. The overall level of coverage was 95 per cent. Workers bound by an employment contract contributed to a health plan, a pension scheme and the general occupational hazard system, and the periodic allowances programme had been introduced to incentivize old-age saving among lower-income groups.

Ms. Londoño Soto (Colombia) said that persons whose earnings were insufficient to enable them to contribute to the social security system received a health-care subsidy. That ensured that the medical needs of persons who were not bound by an employment contract would be met in the event of a workplace accident. In addition to the social security system, there was also a system of mandatory motor vehicle accident insurance.

Mr. De Schutter said that he wished to know what measures had been taken to protect children involved in illegal mining, as they were not covered under the National Strategy for the Prevention and Eradication of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (2008-2015). He wondered whether the National Strategy was likely to be renewed or replaced, perhaps following an evaluation of the kind recommended by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its concluding observations on the combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of Colombia (CRC/C/COL/CO/4-5, para. 60). In the context of the Final Agreement for Ending the Conflict and Building a Stable and Lasting Peace, he wondered to what extent demobilized children were able to benefit from reintegration programmes. An update was needed on the steps taken to implement the recommendation of the Committee on the Rights of the Child that all Afro-Colombian and indigenous children should be registered immediately after birth and that cost-free registration should be facilitated for those who had not been registered at birth (CRC/C/COL/CO/4-5, para. 58).

Further information on violence against women would be instructive. In particular, it would be helpful to know what could be done to strengthen the existing framework for protecting women from violence and why, despite the enactment of a number of relevant laws in recent years, violence against women remained prevalent and perpetrators continued to go unpunished.

The Committee welcomed the peace agreement, which represented an important contribution to the realization of the rights set forth in article 11 of the Covenant. In that connection, he wondered how a balance would be struck between the commitment made in the peace agreement to support campesino farming, on the one hand, and the provisions of the Zidres Act that seemed to promote the sale of land to private investors, on the other, especially as the implementation of legislation on land zoning was reportedly ineffective. In addition, it was unclear whether the Victims and Land Restitution Act of 2011 and Constitutional Court judgment No. T-679 of November 2015 had been implemented in full and, if they had not, what obstacles had been encountered in the process. With regard to the specific provisions of the peace agreement that concerned land restitution, it would be helpful if the delegation could explain how the Central Register of Victims and the central register of abandoned property were connected and how the decision to combine the two registers would enable the beneficiaries of restitution to rebuild their lives.

He wished to know whether the Government planned to strengthen the National Food Security and Nutrition Policy, in particular with a view to preventing obesity and discouraging the consumption of highly processed foods, and whether it would take a rights-based approach informed by the Committee’s general comment No. 12 on the right to adequate food. In addition, he wondered whether, following the example of Mexico, it might introduce higher taxes on soda drinks and snacks. He asked what measures would be taken to implement the specific provisions of the peace agreement that concerned the adoption of a strategy for the progressive realization of the right to food.

Lastly, he wished to know what measures had been taken to support diverse, agroecological farming systems; what efforts were being made to protect the population, in particular indigenous peoples, Afro-Colombians and campesino farmers, from the effects of climate change; what was being done to improve access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation; and whether the Government gave high priority to the realization of the right to water.

The meeting rose at 6 p.m.