Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Seventy-second session

Summary record of the 48th meeting*

Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Thursday, 6 October 2022, at 3 p.m.

Chair:Mr. Abdel-Moneim

Contents

Consideration of reports (continued)

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

Fourth periodic report of Luxembourg

The meeting was called to order at 3.05 p.m.

Consideration of reports (continued)

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

Fourth periodic report of Luxembourg (E/C.12/LUX/4; E/C.12/LUX/Q/4; and E/C.12/LUX/RQ/4)

1. At the invitation of the Chair, the delegation of Luxembourg joined the meeting.

2.The Chair, welcoming the delegation of Luxembourg to the meeting, explained that the head of delegation had submitted a pre-recorded message.

3.Mr. Asselborn (Luxembourg), in a pre-recorded video statement, said that the fourth periodic report of Luxembourg was the result of a national consultation process led by the Interministerial Human Rights Committee, which had been set up in 2015 and met every six to eight weeks. Each working meeting of the Committee was followed by consultations with civil society organizations.

4.The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic had severely tested social protection systems around the world and exposed a number of gaps that had needed to be addressed as a matter of urgency in order to alleviate the wide-ranging impact of the crisis. The Government had instituted a number of measures to support workers and businesses and to ensure uninterrupted access to education and culture, including via digital means.

5.Since its previous review by the Committee, Luxembourg had ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (the Istanbul Convention), which had necessitated a number of legislative changes. The paternity leave allowance had been extended, and lessons in religious, moral and social education had been replaced with a new course entitled “Life and Society”.

6.Mr. Dockendorf (Luxembourg), speaking as head of the delegation, said that the Government had improved its internal cooperation mechanisms to ensure that in the future the reports of Luxembourg would be submitted to the treaty bodies in a timely manner.

7.In recent years, Luxembourg had strengthened its legal framework and policies to improve the realization of Covenant rights for everyone, with a particular focus on the many cross-border workers employed in the country.

8.Since 2015, the resources dedicated to persons seeking international protection had been increased significantly. The former Luxembourg Reception and Integration Agency had been replaced by the National Reception Agency and the new Department for Integration, which was located within the Ministry of the Family, Integration and the Greater Region.

9.In the area of education, the new “Life and Society” course was designed to teach children to become tolerant and open-minded citizens who were able to think critically and analyse the big issues facing society, including those related to human rights. The course’s teachers had been trained at the National Teacher Training Institute. Positive feedback about the course had been received from both parents and students.

10.Luxembourg was firmly committed to the independence and integrity of the human rights treaty bodies and to engaging in an open and constructive dialogue with the Committee.

11.Ms. Crăciunean-Tatu (Country Rapporteur) said that the Committee welcomed the fourth periodic report of Luxembourg, despite the 12-year delay in its submission.

12.She wished to learn about the State party’s approach to the recommendations that had been made to it in March 2022 by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, through its Subcommittee on Accreditation, in connection with, inter alia, the reappointment of members of the Advisory Commission on Human Rights and the election of the Commission’s President. It would be interesting to know whether there were any plans to seek support from the relevant United Nations bodies in strengthening the Commission’s role.

13.It was unclear why the provisions of the Covenant had yet to be invoked before or applied by the State party’s domestic courts. She would welcome details of any training on the Covenant and the Optional Protocol thereto that was provided to judges and other legal professionals. It would be useful to know how the Committee’s concluding observations were taken into account in policy design and how they were disseminated to the general public.

14.Since the State party’s ratification of the Optional Protocol in 2015, the Committee had dealt with only one complaint against the State party, which had been declared inadmissible owing to non-exhaustion of domestic remedies. She would be interested to know how the authorities ensured that the population was aware of the right of recourse to the Committee and the admissibility criteria for complaints, and whether any other judicial, administrative or other channels were available domestically to persons who considered that their Covenant rights had been violated.

15.A number of bodies, including the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission), had expressed concern about certain proposed amendments to the Constitution, including the distinction between nationals and non-nationals of the State party, the omission of an exhaustive list of prohibited grounds of discrimination, the absence of prohibition of slavery, forced labour and trafficking in persons, and ambiguity surrounding the rights to freedom of thought and religion, asylum, social security and health. She wished to know whether the Government had addressed those concerns. What legal value did the opinions of the Venice Commission have in the State party’s domestic law?

16.It was unclear how victims of discrimination in the enjoyment of rights or on grounds that were not specified in the State party’s various anti-discrimination legal provisions could seek remedies. She wished to learn whether the Centre for Equal Treatment had a mandate to act in cases of discrimination on grounds that were not specifically listed in the anti-discrimination legislation, as well as whether the existing legal framework covered multiple and intersectional discrimination.

17.In the area of gender equality in employment, she wished to know how the Government was addressing the significant overrepresentation of women in the sectors of education, health and social care, humanities and the arts and in part-time employment, as well as the overrepresentation of men in the information and communications technology sector. The COVID-19 pandemic had highlighted how, in times of crisis, women’s engagement in the labour sector was more likely to be negatively affected than that of men. She would be grateful for details of any measures that had been introduced to limit or offset the potential negative effects of crises on women, as well as on young persons and persons living in poverty.

18.She would welcome an account of how the State party ensured that its policies were evidence-based, in the absence of any collection of disaggregated data.

19.Turning to the issue of climate change, she said that it would be useful to receive information about any action the State Party had taken to ensure that public and private financial institutions and actors operating under its jurisdiction assessed and disclosed how their investments contributed to greenhouse gas emissions. She wished to reiterate the Committee’s requests for information as set out in paragraph 3 and paragraphs 5 to 9 of the list of issues in relation to the State party’s fourth periodic report (E/C.12/LUX/Q/4), with a particular focus on the progress made in meeting the nationally determined contributions for reducing emissions that the State party had set itself under the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the contributions that it had proposed to make to the Green Climate Fund.

20.In the light of the study commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs to examine the feasibility of introducing human rights due diligence obligations for companies, she would welcome an update on the planned new legislation designed to regulate such due diligence both inside and outside the State party, with a particular focus on how the Government would ensure the application of a “smart mix” of measures and policies in that area. A visit to the State party by the Working Group on business and human rights that had been scheduled to take place in July 2022 had been postponed. Would the visit be rescheduled?

21.She would welcome details of any measures the Government had taken or planned to take to tackle poverty, which disproportionately affected young persons, single-parent families, unemployed persons and foreign nationals residing in the State party.

The meeting was suspended at 3.40 p.m. and resumed at 3.50 p.m.

22.Mr. Dockendorf (Luxembourg) said that the incorporation into national legislation of the proposed Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence would provide Luxembourg with the opportunity to address those areas of business and human rights that had not already been taken up in the second national action plan on business and human rights. It was hoped that the visit of the Working Group on business and human rights would take place in December 2022.

23.A representative of Luxembourg said that, following the study commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, one of the main recommendations had been the establishment of an interministerial committee to follow up the due diligence process. The committee was currently working on components of the European Directive that had been proposed in February 2022. The “smart mix” of measures that would supplement new legislation on human rights due diligence included hard law, such as European Union regulations on supply chain due diligence obligations for importers of minerals from conflict-affected and high-risk areas that had been incorporated into the law of Luxembourg, and soft law, such as the National Pact on Business and Human Rights, which had been signed by 50 companies and entailed a voluntary commitment to undertaking due diligence and appointing a human rights focal point to provide training to employees.

24.Mr. Dockendorf (Luxembourg) said that the Advisory Commission on Human Rights participated in the activities of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions and issued opinions on draft legislation. There was ongoing dialogue on human rights between the Advisory Commission, ministries, civil society and other independent human rights institutions.

25.A representative of Luxembourg said that the Covenant took precedence over national law and could therefore be invoked before the courts. Such cases were rare, however, because the law incorporated many of the Covenant’s provisions. The new Constitution had been approved by the Chamber of Deputies and would come into force in 2023. Its adoption had prompted the development of legislation that removed the requirement for foreigners to have resided in Luxembourg for five years before being able to vote and of a bill that would give the vote to persons under legal guardianship. Although the report of the Venice Commission had no legal value, the Commission provided political and technical guidance, and interaction with it had improved the text of the new Constitution.

26.The Centre for Equal Treatment also provided ongoing guidance to the Government. Details of legal and informal appeals mechanisms, including time frames, were included in administrative decisions, and a human rights hub had been established in the Ministry of Justice to improve the follow-up given to appeals in human rights cases. Work was under way to improve data collection and the production of statistics. The Covenant and its provisions formed part of the professional and ongoing training undertaken by lawyers and other legal professionals. The bill establishing an asset recovery office had been adopted.

27.A representative of Luxembourg said that measures to protect vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 pandemic included the extension of the Winter Action service, normally only activated during particularly cold weather, which provided shelter, food and health care to persons experiencing homelessness and persons with irregular migration status. Those groups had also benefited from several vaccination campaigns. All social services had remained accessible via telephone and online channels, and vulnerable persons had been able to attend in-person appointments, in accordance with infection control measures. Communication tools to promote government support measures during the pandemic had been translated into a number of languages. Those measures had included support for persons with low incomes, for example the doubling of the cost-of-living allowance in 2020, and protection for tenants.

28.A representative of Luxembourg said that during the COVID-19 pandemic almost a third of workers had received partial unemployment benefits, and the coverage for persons undertaking part-time training had increased from 80 to 90 per cent of their wage. The unemployment rate, which had been 5.4 per cent prior to the pandemic, had peaked at 7 per cent in May/June 2020 and had since stabilized at 4.7 per cent. Conversely, the employment rate among persons aged between 15 and 24 years had risen during the pandemic, although it had since returned to pre-pandemic levels. Employment among foreigners had also increased, particularly among non-European Union nationals. Women had been supported during the pandemic through the extension of parental leave. Employment support included special contracts for young persons, specialist employment counsellors for persons with disabilities and language courses for immigrants.

29.Ms. Crăciunean-Tatu said that she would welcome examples of court cases in which the Covenant had not been invoked because the rights contained therein had been incorporated into domestic legislation. The State party might consider it useful to draw on the Committee’s general comment No. 20 (2009) on non-discrimination in economic, social and cultural rights. She wished to know how the State party ensured compliance with human rights standards when allocating official development assistance, given the lack of human rights impact assessments in that process.

30.Mr. Uprimny said that States parties to the Covenant had an extraterritorial obligation not to negatively affect the capacity of other States to devote the maximum of their available resources to achieving progressively the full realization of Covenant rights. The very low taxes, high banking secrecy and lack of transparency and oversight in Luxembourg allowed multinational businesses to engage in tax avoidance, a practice that, although legal, was reprehensible because it reduced other States’ tax revenues and, therefore, their ability to realize the economic, social and cultural rights of their populations. Although the State party had made some improvements in that regard, for example by increasing transparency, the persistent lack of oversight and regulation continued to facilitate tax avoidance and evasion; indeed, although the State party had a population of around 600,000 persons, it had received investment of around €6 trillion from the more than 55,000 foreign companies registered there. He therefore wished to know how the State party planned to rid itself of its “tax haven” label, and in particular whether it intended to adopt the Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

31.Mr. Nonthasoot, noting that the second national action plan on business and human rights failed to address sufficiently the provisions of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights concerning access to remedies, said that he would appreciate receiving information on any planned improvements in the area of business and human rights, and in particular on how State and State-owned bodies would improve their operations by adopting, for example, green procurement practices. He also wished to know how the judiciary would be strengthened to provide more effective remedies for human rights victims in the State party and abroad. The Committee’s general comment No. 24 (2017) on State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities set out its expectation that States parties would implement safeguards in extraterritorial cases; he would welcome the delegation’s comments on that matter.

32.Mr. Dockendorf (Luxembourg) said that his delegation would reply to the questions put by the Country Rapporteur in writing.

33.Mr. Uprimny had asked some very important questions. Recalling that the Prime Minister had stated to the Chamber of Deputies that tax evasion was a thing of the past and that Luxembourg would be applying international frameworks and European Union directives aimed at ensuring a fairer and more ethical financial system, he said that his delegation would send the Committee all other relevant official statements made on those matters since 2014.

34.Luxembourg, although a small country, was trying to ensure that it had the means to meet global challenges in areas where, it was true, it had an impact beyond its own borders. In particular, to the extent possible, it applied the framework set by the Financial Action Task Force and it had noted European Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law – i.e. whistle-blower protection. The objective was to avoid confusing law with justice.

35.His delegation would provide more information on access to remedies in writing.

36.Mr. Amarti (Country Task Force), noting the back-to-work training courses for various categories of workers described in the State party’s report (E/C.12/LUX/4, paras. 57ff.), said that he would like to know whether migrant workers were also eligible for such training. He recalled that the Committee had on several occasions called on States that had not yet done so, such as Luxembourg, to ratify and implement the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Their Families.

37.The Committee would appreciate more detailed information on the effectiveness of the measures taken to promote third country nationals’ access to employment and their impact on equal opportunities and non-discrimination. What steps had been taken to combat youth unemployment and unemployment among non-nationals and persons with disabilities? How did the State party tackle long-term unemployment?

38.He wondered whether the current minimum wage served to reduce economic and social inequalities between vulnerable groups of workers and other groups of workers. He would like to know what measures were in place or planned to address the problem of poverty among persons who were actually in employment, i.e., the working poor. What differences were there between the private and public sectors in terms of the minimum wage? He would welcome further information on the means used to ensure that employers paid the minimum wage, such as inspections and penalties. In the area of gender equality, he wished to know what non-legislative measures the Government had taken or planned to take in order to combat occupational segregation and the gender pay gap.

39.Noting that the State party, in its replies to the list of issues (E/C.12/LUX/RQ/4, para. 75) described the right to strike as being strictly regulated, he asked how the effective right to strike was guaranteed for workers in the public and private sectors. He also wondered what specific provisions permitted migrant and cross-border workers to exercise their trade union rights. He wished to know whether prior authorization by an administrative authority was required for the formation of a trade union and, conversely, whether unions could be dissolved by administrative order.

40.He would appreciate receiving further information on the application of the State party’s social security system to more vulnerable groups. Did it cover those working in the informal economy, for example, and if so, what eligibility criteria applied? The delegation might also provide more detailed information on any restrictions limiting the right of migrant and cross-border workers to social security, and on any measures taken or envisaged to narrow the gender pensions gap.

The meeting was suspended at 4.55 p.m. and resumed at 5.00 p.m.

41.Mr. Dockendorf (Luxembourg) said that it was true that, in common with all other member States of the European Union, Luxembourg had not ratified the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Their Families. The reason was that European law already contained similar or even stricter protections.

42.The question was one that deserved to be raised regularly in order to foster a change in mindset, so that migration began to be perceived as a natural phenomenon that benefited society. Luxembourg was an example of a country whose economic and social success was due in part to people from elsewhere, and indeed it had been one of the champions of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

43.A representative of Luxembourg, referring to the State party’s replies to the list of issues (E/C.12/LUX/RQ/4, paras. 72ff.), said that equal pay for women and men was enshrined in the Labour Code. The Ministry of Equality between Women and Men supported businesses in establishing an action plan to ensure equal pay and provided training to equality delegates. Employers who failed to apply that principle were liable to a fine of between €251 and €25,000.

44.In order to combat stereotypes, the Ministry offered various training activities and workshops at the local and the national levels. Her delegation would send the Committee more detailed information in writing.

45.A representative of Luxembourg said that, with regard to the question of combating poverty in general, she wished to draw the Committee’s attention to the various measures described in the State party’s report. On the question of the working poor in particular, referring to the State party’s replies to the list of issues (E/C.12/LUX/RQ/4, paras. 126ff.), she said that pay and social benefits were index-linked and adjusted once cumulative inflation reached 2.5 per cent above the cost of living index. The minimum social wage and pensions and invalidity benefit were linked to the average wage level; the latest adjustment had been made in April 2022. There was also a special cost-of-living allowance for low-income households, which had recently been adjusted upwards and during the COVID-19 pandemic had been doubled.

46.A representative of Luxembourg said that, with regard to assistance to third country nationals in accessing the labour market, he wished to draw the Committee’s attention to the provisions described in the State party’s replies to the list of issues (E/C.12/LUX/RQ/4, paras. 62–67).

47.47,Reinforcing the employability of non-nationals was a priority of the National Integration Action Plan, which included funding for language learning, both in the workplace and in informal contexts.

48.Labour inspections conducted by the Inspectorate of Labour and Mines had been a key factor in protecting workers’ security during the pandemic. The Inspectorate was responsible, among other things, for informing businesses of relevant regulatory and administrative provisions under the Labour Code, mediating in conflict resolution and reporting breaches of the law to the State prosecutor. Inspections to monitor the application of the law on the minimum wage were governed by the provisions on posting of workers. In 2021, 5,500 inspections had been made; nearly 4,000 measures had been taken, including reports, injunctions or even closures, and 1,500 fines had been imposed, to a total of more than €6.6 million.

49.On the question of trade union rights, he wished to draw the Committee’s attention to the State party’s replies to the list of issues (E/C.12/LUX/RQ/4, paras. 74–78).

50.A representative of Luxembourg said that, with regard to social security provision, the simplified procedure for registering a person hired to help in the household was designed to permit informal workers to receive social security benefits. There were fines for employers who failed to declare such employees.

51.Luxembourg was anxious to eliminate any risk of discrimination against cross-border workers and migrants, in line with European Union provisions designed to protect the social security rights of all persons moving around Europe. Luxembourg coordinated closely with neighbouring countries in that regard and had signed a number of bilateral social security conventions that applied the principle of equal treatment, allowed the accumulation of insurance periods and also covered stateless persons and refugees.

52.As to men’s and women’s pensions, the key to narrowing the gender pensions gap was to actively promote women’s access to the labour market. Her delegation could provide more information on that subject in writing.

53.Ms. Shin said that, while she appreciated the delegation’s answers to the Committee’s questions on gender equality, she wished to recall that item 11 on the list of issues (E/C.12/LUX/Q/4) asked how the State party addressed vertical and horizontal occupational gender segregation. Given that the Covenant provided that equal pay should be given for work of equal value, the problem was how to compare the value of work in jobs traditionally dominated by different sexes. Women, for example, were mainly concentrated in low-paid jobs in care facilities and, because they also frequently shouldered the main burden of household responsibilities, in part-time work. She would like to know how the State party tackled the issue of occupational segregation into certain categories of work and the question of balancing working life and family life equally between men and women.

54.Ms. Crăciunean-Tatu said that she wished to have updated information on the employment rate for persons with disabilities, as well as the State party’s response to reports that the legal obligation on businesses with more than 25 employees to hire persons with disabilities was not consistently enforced. Furthermore, she was eager to learn whether the State party had taken any steps to address the concerns raised by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in its concluding observations on the initial report of Luxembourg (CRPD/C/LUX/CO/1), namely that the State party had yet to designate a body to monitor and sanction non-compliance with labour quotas, particularly in the private sector, and did not monitor the provision of reasonable accommodations in either the public or the private sector.

55.Under article 25 of the Constitution, as recently revised, the right to freedom of peaceful assembly could be subject to prior authorization only for open-air gatherings in a place accessible to the public. She wondered whether the State party planned to align that article with the Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, which stated that organizers should be required to “submit a notice of intent to hold an assembly, not a request for permission”, and that spontaneous assemblies should be permitted by law.

56.A representative of Luxembourg said that the Act on reform of parental leave, which had entered into force on 1 December 2016, provided for greater flexibility and more generous allowances for parents. Under the new system, parents and guardians could split parental leave as they saw fit. In 2021, around 6,000 men and 5,500 women had taken parental leave.

57.A representative of Luxembourg said that fathers were entitled to 10 days of paternity leave immediately following their child’s birth or adoption. A bill recently submitted to parliament, once enacted, would provide for the extension of the right to paternity leave to same-sex couples.

58.A representative of Luxembourg said that the Structure of Earnings Survey provided valuable data on salaries in different sectors, as well as on gender segregation by area of activity and profession. In the future, the Observatory for Equality – established in 2020 under the National Action Plan for Gender Equality – would provide information on horizontal and vertical occupational segregation. A wide range of stakeholders had been consulted in developing the Action Plan. In the space of three weeks in mid-2019, the Ministry of Equality between Women and Men had received some 1,800 responses to a public questionnaire on gender equality that had been posted on its website.

59.In terms of awareness-raising activities, the Ministry ran regular gender equality workshops for young persons. It also organized “Rock de Rack”, an annual gender equality awareness-raising day for secondary school students. In addition, teacher training programmes included content on gender equality.

60.Ms. Shin asked whether the State party might consider extending the duration of paternity leave, which was rather short.

61.Mr. Hennebel (Country Task Force) said that he would like to know whether the State party was considering ratifying the human rights instruments to which it was not yet party, including the International Labour Organization Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189). Furthermore, he wished to know what measures were being taken to raise awareness of international human rights law among lawyers and judges, and what legal status the treaty bodies’ recommendations had in the State party’s domestic law.

62.He would be interested to hear what measures were being taken to challenge stereotypes in the media, and more generally to combat discrimination based on race, sexual orientation and disability. He wished to know whether the State party planned to amend legislation that discriminated against children born out of wedlock.

63.He would appreciate information on the steps taken to ensure access to early childhood care for disadvantaged and marginalized groups. Moreover, it would be useful to know where convicted minors were currently incarcerated and what steps the State party was taking to establish a juvenile justice system that would allow judges to hand down appropriate sentences to minors in conflict with the law. He would like to know what was being done to combat child sex tourism and to identify those children who were at risk of commercial sexual exploitation, and which laws explicitly criminalized the sale of children.

64.Regarding the right to an adequate standard of living, he wondered what efforts the State party was making to obtain accurate data on the extent of homelessness. In addition, he wished to have an explanation for the decline since 2018 in the total amounts allocated in the form of capital grants and individual allowances, for example for the construction and improvement of homes. He would appreciate information, including statistical data, on the allowances or benefits paid to migrants, including those in irregular situations, and to unemployed persons, and how they had benefited those persons. He would also appreciate information on the number of persons who had received housing allowance during the reporting period.

65.He would be grateful for recent data on poverty and at-risk-of-poverty rates, in particular for children, single-parent families and the working poor. Furthermore, he wondered what efforts the State party was making to collect data on and to address poverty among persons with disabilities.

66.He would like to know what measures the State party was taking to ensure access to health-care facilities and services for prisoners and persons subject to deportation orders; for persons with disabilities, particularly those with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities and those who required extensive support;. and for stateless persons, migrants (including illegal migrants), asylum seekers and refugees. He would be interested to hear what efforts were being made to address the root causes of mental health issues among those persons, as well as depression and suicide among women and young persons. What measures were being taken to address drug abuse and to reduce or regulate alcohol consumption in Luxembourg?

67.Mr. Caunhye (Country Task Force) said that he would appreciate updated statistics, disaggregated by age, sex, ethnic origin and disability, on enrolment and completion rates in preschools, primary schools, secondary schools and post-secondary education establishments. He would like to know what steps were being taken to reduce the dropout rate among pupils aged 15 years and above, and how effective those measures had been. Furthermore, he wished to know what financial and other support was available to low-income, disadvantaged and vulnerable groups to enable them to access post-secondary education.

68.He was grateful for the information provided on the State party’s strategy to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons who had been victims of bullying. However, as noted by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in its concluding observations on the on the combined sixth and seventh periodic reports of Luxembourg (CEDAW/C/LUX/CO/6-7), the extent of abuse and violence towards LGBTI persons in schools was a matter of concern, and school curricula did not make any specific provision for education on gender and sexual equality. Against that backdrop, he was eager to know what measures the State party was taking to provide effective protection against harassment, bullying and abuse for LGBTI students, and to include gender identity and sexual orientation in school curricula and teacher training programmes.

69.He would be interested to know what efforts were being made to prevent the adverse residual effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education system following the resumption of in-person learning from February 2021. In addition, he wished to have detailed information on the steps being taken to provide appropriate learning programmes for students with disabilities and students from disadvantaged and marginalized groups, who had been more adversely affected by the pandemic owing to their limited access to resources and digital technology.

70.In view of the use of the three official languages of Luxembourg at the different levels of the education system, he wondered what steps the State party was taking to ensure equal access to education for the children of migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons whose mother tongue was not French, German or Luxembourgish, and to reduce the high failure and dropout rates among those children.

71.He wished to have detailed information on the progress made in ensuring access to high-quality, inclusive education for students with disabilities, taking into account their specific needs. He also wished to have statistical data on the secondary education completion rate of students with disabilities. In addition, he would appreciate information on the measures taken to facilitate the accommodation of students with disabilities at the University of Luxembourg.

72.He would be grateful for information on efforts being made to protect and foster multicultural and multilingual diversity in Luxembourg, in particular the culture, language, history and traditions of ethnic minorities and migrant communities. Lastly, he wished to know what steps the State party was taking to provide disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups with Internet access and technological skills to prevent their digital exclusion.

The meeting rose at 6.10 p.m.