Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of France *
1.The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights considered the fourth periodic report of France on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (E/C.12/FRA/4) at its 22nd and 23rd meetings (E/C.12/2016/SR.22 and 23), held on 6 and 7 June 2016, and adopted the following concluding observations at its 49th meeting, held on 24 June 2016.
A.Introduction
2.The Committee welcomes the submission of the fourth periodic report of France and the State party’s written replies to its list of issues (E/C.12/FRA/Q/4/Add.1). The Committee also welcomes the constructive dialogue held with the delegation of the State party.
B.Positive aspects
3.The Committee notes with appreciation the ratification by the State party of the Optional Protocol to the Covenant on 18 March 2015. It notes also with interest the ratification by the State party of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol on 18 February 2010.
4.The Committee further notes with appreciation the legislative, administrative and institutional measures adopted by the State party to promote the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, notably:
(a)The adoption of Act No. 2011-103 of 27 January 2011 on the balanced representation of women and men on boards of directors and supervisory boards and gender equality in the workplace and of Act No. 2014-873 of 4 August 2014 on de facto equality between women and men;
(b)The measures in favour of persons with disabilities, including the signing, on 27 November 2013, of the National Multi-Stakeholder Convention for the Employment of Persons with Disabilities and the adoption of Act No. 2015-988 of 5 August 2015, which ratifies Order No. 2014-1090 of 26 September 2014 on the accessibility of public transport and of buildings open to the public;
(c)The issuance of official instructions on 6 February 2015 regarding the 2015 plan of action for the provision of housing to beneficiaries of the enforceable right to housing;
(d)The expansion of the application of the direct payment mechanism under Act No. 2016-41 of 26 January 2016;
(e)The launch of the action plan “Let Us All Join Forces to Overcome School Dropout”, which is aimed at halving the number of school dropouts by 2017 and helping those who have dropped out to return to school;
(f)The completion of the reform of the asylum system begun in 2013 by means of the adoption of Act No. 2015-925 of 29 July 2015.
C.Principal subjects of concern and recommendations
Applicability of the Covenant
5.While noting with satisfaction that the Court of Cassation of the State party has invoked provisions of the Covenant in a number of its judgments, the Committee is concerned by the fact that the Court has ruled that certain provisions of the Covenant are not applicable and that other courts in the State party have done so as well, including in respect of some of the provisions found to be admissible by the Court of Cassation. The Committee also takes note of the criteria established by the Council of State for the determination of the applicability of the terms of international treaties (art. 2 (1)).
6. The Committee urges the State party to take steps to ensure that the nation ’ s courts apply uniform standards regarding the applicability of the Covenant based on the jurisprudence of the Court of Cassation and the determination of the Council of State. In particular, it recommends that judges, lawyers and the general public be made fully aware of the justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights and of the possibility of invoking the Covenant in court. The Committee wishes to draw the State party ’ s attention to its general comment No. 9 (1998) on the domestic application of the Covenant at national level.
Development assistance
7.The Committee finds it regrettable that the level of official development assistance provided by the State party falls short of the internationally agreed target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product (GNP). It notes with concern that the due diligence requirements in the sphere of operations involving the State party’s provision of development assistance, such as those relating to sustainable development and to the mitigation of environmental and social risks, do not provide full protection for the rights enshrined in the Covenant (art. 2 (1)).
8. The Committee recommends that the State party redouble its efforts to raise the amount of development assistance which it provides to the internationally agreed level of 0.7 per cent of GNP. It also recommends that the State party develop robust methodological tools for analysing the impact that operations funded by development agencies have on the enjoyment of Covenant rights. In addition, it recommends that the State party include the Covenant in the compliance assessment framework for those agencies.
Bilateral and multilateral trade and investment agreements
9.The Committee is concerned by the failure to devote sufficient attention to the impact that bilateral or multilateral trade or investment agreements concluded or being negotiated by the State party or the European Union have or will have on the enjoyment of Covenant rights in the other countries that are party to those agreements. The Committee is particularly concerned by the fact that the mechanisms for settling disputes between States and investors provided for in several agreements could reduce the State’s ability to protect and achieve some of the Covenant rights (art. 2 (1)).
10. The Committee calls upon the State party to fully assume its obligations under the Covenant in regard to the negotiation and implementation of bilateral and multilateral trade and investment agreements. The Committee encourages the State party, in particular, to:
(a) Ensure that consultations with stakeholders, including the communities concerned, are undertaken in the course of the drafting, negotiation and ratification of such agreements, on the basis of an assessment of the expected impact;
(b) Ensure that an impact assessment is systematically carried out during the implementation of agreements with a view to making adjustments, where appropriate, to the terms of the commitments; and
(c) Ensure that the dispute settlement mechanisms do not jeopardize the State party ’ s ability to fulfil its obligations under the Covenant.
11. The Committee also urges the State party to take all possible steps to ensure that the decisions and policies adopted by the international organizations of which it is a member are in line with its obligations under the Covenant.
Corporate social responsibility
12.The Committee takes note with regret of the delay in the adoption of the bill on corporate due diligence throughout the supply chain, particularly inasmuch as Act No. 2014-773 of 7 July 2014 on development policy and international solidarity does not impose any binding obligation upon business enterprises in that regard (art. 2 (1)).
13. The Committee urges the State party to take measures to prevent business enterprises domiciled in its territory or under its jurisdiction from committing human rights violations abroad. In that connection, the Committee encourages the State party to expedite the adoption of a law which would impose a binding obligation on such enterprises to fulfil their duty of care with respect to human rights and would guarantee victims of human rights violations resulting from activities of these enterprises abroad with access to redress in the courts of the State party.
Recognition of minorities
14.While noting that the State party is of the view that the recognition of minority groups or collective rights is incompatible with its Constitution, the Committee reaffirms that the principle that all persons are equal before the law and the prohibition of discrimination are not always sufficient to ensure that members of minority groups are able to exercise their economic, social and cultural rights. Moreover, the Committee considers that the proper recognition of ethnic and cultural minorities does not undermine cohesiveness or national unity but, on the contrary, reinforces them (art. 2 (2)).
15. The Committee recommends that the State party consider revisiting its position regarding minority groups and officially recognize the need to protect the cultural rights of all minority groups. The Committee therefore reiterates the recommendation which it made in that connection in its preceding concluding observations (E/C.12/FRA/CO/3).
Discrimination and disaggregated statistics
16.The Committee wishes to underscore the value of the findings to be drawn from the Mobility and Origins Survey. It finds it regrettable, however, that the State party does not have the statistical tools needed to measure the incidence of all the various forms of indirect discrimination on grounds of people’s origins (art. 2 (2)).
17. The Committee urges the State party to develop suitable methodologies for gathering information and compiling disaggregated statistics on visible ethnic minorities, including persons of foreign extraction and Roma, based on the principle of self-identification, that can be used by victims of indirect discrimination to document the treatment to which they have been subjected. The Committee requests the State party to include the overseas departments and regions and overseas communities in its statistics. In addition, it recommends that the State party make use of disaggregated statistics to monitor the impact that public policies have on those groups. It wishes to draw the State party ’ s attention to the rights-based approach to data collection developed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Asylum seekers
18.The Committee is deeply concerned about the substandard conditions existing in the reception and accommodation facilities for asylum seekers and the administrative obstacles which impede access to social and economic rights, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the safeguards put in place as part of the reform of the asylum system (art. 2 (2)).
19. The Committee calls upon the State party to remove administrative and other obstacles that hinder asylum seekers from exercising their economic and social rights by, in particular:
(a) Fully informing asylum seekers of their rights in an independent, thorough and impartial manner and in a language which they understand;
(b) Streamlining and expediting the administrative procedures for gaining access to social and economic rights;
(c) Expanding the capacity of reception centres or equivalent permanent facilities in order to meet the actual demand and making provision for temporary emergency lodging arrangements on an exceptional basis in order to cover the demand for accommodations in its entirety;
(d) Ensuring satisfactory living standards and improved access to the general health-care system, as well as to specialized facilities, including those that provide treatment for such conditions as psychological disorders and trauma linked to persons ’ experiences when fleeing or when in exile.
Equal rights of men and women
20.The Committee observes with concern that, although progress has been made, women are still at a disadvantage in society and, in view of the gender-based wage gap, particularly so in the labour market (art. 3).
21. The Committee urges the State party to redouble its efforts to achieve the priority objectives set at the second meeting of the Interministerial Committee for Women ’ s Rights and Equality between Women and Men in 2014 and calls upon it to:
(a) Adopt targeted measures to support the women who are at the greatest disadvantage in the labour market, including immigrant women, women living in priority urban zones and women residing in rural areas;
(b) Develop occupational assessment tools with a view to revising wage levels in occupational groups in which women have traditionally been overrepresented;
(c) Increase the representation of women in decision-making posts in public bodies and promote greater gender balance in businesses, irrespective of their size;
(d) Raise public awareness of the responsibilities of men with regard to domestic chores and childcare by taking action to counter sexist stereotypes conveyed in textbooks and by the media;
(e) Increase the amount of resources being invested in the development of the early childhood services that have been planned;
(f) Raise public awareness of the provisions of Act No. 2012-954 of 6 August 2012 on sexual harassment and on the penalties for discrimination against a person subject to harassment.
Unemployment
22.The Committee notes with concern that the unemployment rate, particularly youth unemployment, long-term unemployment and unemployment in the overseas departments and regions and overseas communities, remains high despite the measures adopted by the State party in that connection. The Committee is also concerned at the fact that the social benefits regime no longer matches up with the unemployment profile and that this mismatch deprives young people and the long-term unemployed of sufficient protection (art. 6).
23. The Committee recommends that the State party monitor the various mechanisms in place for unemployed persons and businesses, such as the youth guarantee programme, the plan for combating long-term unemployment and the schemes provided for under the Employment Security Act of 2013, in order to determine how effective they are in providing access to employment to target groups and in promoting hiring and job creation. It requests the State party to give unemployed persons in the overseas territories the resources required for finding work by investing in the development of learning opportunities and training programmes tailored to the local job market. The Committee also recommends that the State party take steps to ensure that unemployment benefits are adequate. It draws the State party ’ s attention to its general comment No. 18 (2005) on the right to work.
The right to just and favourable working conditions
24.The Committee is concerned by the fact that derogations from acquired rights regarding working conditions, including derogations intended to increase the flexibility of the labour market, are being proposed in the current labour bill (draft legislation aimed at introducing new freedoms and new safeguards for businesses and workers) without it having been demonstrated that the State party has considered all other possible solutions (arts. 6 and 7).
25. The Committee urges the State party to make certain that the mechanisms for increasing the flexibility of the labour market that it is proposing do not have the effect of rendering employment less stable or reducing the social protection available to workers. It calls upon the Committee to ensure that any and all retrogressive measures relating to working conditions:
(a) Are unavoidable and fully justified in relation to the totality of the rights under the Covenant in the light of the State party ’ s obligation to pursue the full realization of those rights to the maximum of its available resources;
(b) Are necessary and proportionate to the situation, i.e., that the adoption of any other measure, or the failure to adopt any measures, would have an even more adverse impact on Covenant rights;
(c) Are not discriminatory and do not have a disproportionate impact on disadvantaged or marginalized groups.
26. The Committee draws the State party ’ s attention to its general comment No. 23 (2016) on the right to just and favourable conditions of work.
Trade union rights
27.The Committee condemns the reprisals taken against trade union representatives and observes with concern the shrinking of democratic space for collective bargaining (art. 8).
28. The Committee urges the State party to adopt effective measures for the protection of persons involved in trade union activities and for the prevention and punishment of all forms of reprisal. It also urges the State party to ensure that the collective bargaining process is effective and to uphold the right to union representation in accordance with international standards as a means of protecting workers ’ rights in terms of working conditions and social security.
Social vulnerability and the right to social security
29.While noting that the elimination of stigmatization is one of the principles underpinning the multi-year plan for poverty reduction and social inclusion, the Committee finds it regrettable that the plan does not provide for specific measures for removing the stigma attached to recipients of social assistance benefits, who are among the most disadvantaged and marginalized segments of the population. It also finds it regrettable that the line of action focusing on access to rights and minimum social benefits does not provide for any procedural measures for reducing the high rate of non-utilization of benefits in the State party. In addition, the Committee is concerned that the residential address requirement prevents many people living in situations of hardship from receiving benefits (art. 9).
30. The Committee urges the State party to take the following actions as part of its implementation of the multi-year plan for poverty reduction and social inclusion:
(a) Adopt measures designed to change public opinion that tends towards stigmatizing poverty and recipients of social assistance benefits through awareness-raising campaigns aimed at conveying a rights-based approach to poverty;
(b) Reassess social security eligibility requirements, procedures and application processing times with a view to ensuring that they are suitable, reasonable, proportionate and transparent;
(c) Determine the non-procedural causes of the high rate of non-utilization of social benefits and identify corrective actions in consultation with persons living in situations of hardship and with civil society;
(d) Guarantee effective access to the various types of social security benefits, including health-care benefits, in overseas departments and regions and overseas communities;
(e) Expedite the adoption of the bill on the elimination of discrimination against people living in situations of hardship.
Poverty
31.The Committee is concerned at the incidence of poverty among certain disadvantaged and marginalized groups.
32. The Committee urges the State party to assess the impact of the multi-year plan for poverty reduction and social inclusion, not only in terms of the plan ’ s objectives but also of the effects on disadvantaged groups, such as single-parent families, the long-term unemployed, asylum seekers and households living in priority urban zones.
Poverty in the overseas departments and regions and overseas communities
33.The Committee notes with concern the high unemployment and poverty rates in the overseas departments and regions and overseas communities, including Réunion, French Guiana and Mayotte. In view of the fact that circumstances in the overseas territories differ from those in metropolitan France, the Committee considers that the targeted mechanisms, such as the negotiated price capping scheme known as the bouclier qualité-prix and the measures for driving growth and employment in the overseas departments and regions and overseas communities, are insufficient and fragmentary and are not soundly based on a human rights approach (arts. 7 and 11).
34. Drawing the State party ’ s attention to the statement on poverty and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (E/C.12/2001/10), the Committee recommends that the State party take a rights-based approach to the formulation of policies for reducing poverty in the overseas departments and regions and overseas communities and urges it to:
(a) Combat extreme poverty, in particular in Mayotte, as a matter of priority and ensure that persons living in extreme poverty have access to social benefits; and
(b) Allocate budgetary resources for the implementation of the multi-year plan for poverty reduction and social inclusion in the overseas territories which are in proportion to the prevailing inequalities and establish a timetable for closing existing gaps in the enjoyment of the right to an adequate standard of living.
The right to housing
35.The Committee is deeply concerned by the fact that the State party is underinvesting in the implementation of its policies for realizing the right to adequate housing. It remains concerned about housing shortages, including shortages of social housing, affordable housing and emergency shelters, in the State party. It notes with concern that many people still have no fixed abode and that, as a result, new informal settlements are appearing. The Committee finds it equally worrisome that over 40 per cent of requests for emergency shelters have gone unanswered and that, in 80 per cent of the cases in which shelter was provided, it was made available for just one night.
36.The Committee notes that the housing construction projects provided for under the multi-year plan for poverty reduction and social inclusion are not sufficient to meet the demand for permanent accommodation. It wishes to draw the State party’s attention to the adverse consequences that a denial of the right to housing has on the exercise of other rights, such as the right to social security and the right to work (art. 11).
37. The Committee wishes to draw the State party ’ s attention to its general comment No. 4 (1991) on the right to adequate housing and urges the State party to:
(a) Undertake investments, on the basis of geographical priorities, that are proportional in size to the scale of the housing shortage;
(b) Give due priority to persons with no fixed abode and, to that end, devise a strategy, in extensive genuine consultation with those affected, for doing away with homelessness and, above all, for helping people to find permanent housing solutions that will, in turn, enable them to exercise other Covenant rights;
(c) Remove certain obstacles that impede access to housing which are associated with the law on the enforceable right to housing (known as the “ DALO ” law), such as the requirement regarding the legality of a person ’ s presence in the country;
(d) Reassess the adequacy of the administrative procedures involved in providing access to social housing, of the eligibility requirements for social housing and housing allowances and of the amounts of those allowances;
(e) Establish a timetable and targets for requisitioning vacant housing;
(f) Extend the coverage of the rent control system to other towns where it is deemed to be necessary;
(g) Introduce mechanisms for the establishment of domicile for persons with no fixed abode or without an address so that they will not be found to be ineligible, by virtue of that status, for social entitlements.
Forced evictions
38.The Committee regrets the shortcomings that have been observed in the application of Act No. 2000-614 of 5 July 2000 on the reception and housing of Travellers (known as the “Besson II” law), as the halting-site implementation rate falls short of the target levels set in departmental plans for the accommodation of Travellers. It notes that prefects are authorized to exercise “powers of substitution” in order to mitigate shortcomings in the implementation of such plans on the part of municipalities. The Committee is also concerned by the number of forced evictions carried out in the State party, whether they be tenant evictions, evictions of persons from informal settlements or evictions of members of the Roma community or of Travellers from campsites. It notes with concern that many of these evictions have been conducted in the absence of rehousing solutions (art. 11).
39. The Committee requests the State party to take the necessary steps to reduce the number of forced evictions as much as possible by working with the parties concerned to find other solutions. The Committee urges the State party to:
(a) Give adequate and reasonable notice to all affected persons prior to an eviction and to provide them, on a systematic basis, with information on the legal remedies available to them;
(b) Prevent the eviction of persons that possess priority status under the law on the enforceable right to housing;
(c) Defer the implementation of eviction orders regarding households whose members include schoolchildren;
(d) Ensure that all evictions are coupled with appropriate rehousing or resettlement solutions;
(e) Avoid the use of force or, at the least, limit the need to resort to force when carrying out evictions.
40. Moreover, the Committee recommends that an assessment be conducted of the interministerial circular of 26 August 2012 on preparatory and supporting measures for the evacuation of illegal camps. It also recommends that resources be allocated for the attainment of the target levels set out in departmental plans for the accommodation of Travellers. The Committee invites the State party to refer to its general comments No. 4 (1991) on the right to adequate housing and No. 7 (1997) on the right to adequate housing: forced evictions.
Right to housing in overseas departments and regions and overseas communities
41.The Committee finds it regrettable that so many persons are living in informal settlements in overseas departments. In addition, inasmuch as national statistics do not indicate that these departments are subject to shortages, the Committee is concerned at the insufficiency of the measures taken to address the situation and at the fact that flexibility in the allocation of budgetary resources translates into a failure to set priorities for action. The Committee also finds the length of the waiting list for social housing to be regrettable (art. 11).
42. The Committee urges the State party to take the following actions in the course of its implementation of the overseas housing plan:
(a) Ensure that Act No. 2011-725 of 23 June 2011, which sets forth specific provisions regarding informal settlements and measures designed to do away with substandard housing in overseas departments and regions and overseas communities, supports the right to housing and is aligned with international standards regarding forced evictions;
(b) Take steps, as a matter of urgency, to upgrade or clear informal settlements in consultation with their inhabitants and allocate the necessary funds for that purpose;
(c) Provide supplementary social benefits until such time as social housing is made available.
43. The Committee invites the State party to refer to the Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-Based Evictions and Displacement (see A/HRC/4/18, annex I).
Disparities in the enjoyment of the right to health
44.The Committee notes with concern the limited nature of access to health services in priority urban zones and in rural areas where medical personnel are in short supply (arts. 12 and 2 (2)).
45.The Committee requests the State party to regularly monitor the effectiveness of the mechanisms put in place as part of the national health strategy to expand access to health services in priority urban zones and in rural areas where medical personnel are in short supply, to appraise their impact on the enjoyment of the right to health and to take corrective action if necessary.
46.The Committee is concerned by the unfavourable situation with respect to the enjoyment of the right to health in overseas departments and regions and overseas communities. Among the problem areas identified in the National Overseas Health Strategy, it wishes to draw attention, in particular, to the high rates of maternal and infant mortality in Mayotte and in French Guiana (arts. 12 and 2 (2)).
47. In addition to the measures provided for in the National Overseas Health Strategy, the Committee urges the State party to:
(a) Invest more resources in the most disadvantaged departments in order to equalize the level of health expenditure per capita;
(b) Deploy more qualified health-care personnel to overseas territories;
(c) Further the development of maternal, reproductive and child health-care services as a priority area of action in order to heighten the efficiency of the health-care system;
(d) Continue to maintain the health watch in French Guiana in order to monitor the situation with respect to mercury contamination in Amerindian communities;
(e) Further the development of public water supply and sanitation systems and provide access to those systems at an affordable price in order to reduce the prevalence of parasitic and infectious diseases.
48. The Committee invites the State party to refer to its general comment No. 14 (2000) on the right to the highest attainable standard of health.
The right to education
49.The Committee notes with concern the low school enrolment rate for Roma children and instances in which some mayors have refused to allow certain children to enrol in school (art. 13).
50. Recalling that the principle of non-discrimination in access to education applies to all school-age persons in the State party, regardless of their administrative situation, the Committee calls upon the State party to ensure that mayors fulfil their duty to keep a record of the school-age children in their district, including those who live in informal settlements, and to make certain that they are enrolled in school.
Education as a means of levelling the playing field
51.The Committee takes note with concern of the low school completion rate for persons from socially and economically disadvantaged groups (arts. 13, 14, 11, 2 (2)).
52. The Committee urges the State party to take the following steps as part of its efforts to rectify the impact of social and economic inequalities on school performance:
(a) Uphold the principle of the right to an appropriate, quality education with a view to ensuring that the mechanisms put in place do not further stigmatize target population groups;
(b) Provide the necessary resources in terms of both budgetary allocations and qualified instructors;
(c) Facilitate whenever possible individualized assistance for students where necessary;
(d) Ensure that indirect costs associated with school attendance at the secondary and tertiary levels do not reduce the accessibility of education for persons from disadvantaged households;
(e) Revisit the relaxation of the school assignment system and, if necessary, monitor the effects of that modification on the profile of priority establishments and adopt specific measures designed to foster social diversity;
(f) Assess the effects of the introduction of the priority education policy on the correlation between socioeconomic origin and academic success.
The right to education in overseas departments and regions and overseas communities
53.The Committee takes note with concern of the difficulties encountered in exercising the right to education in overseas departments and regions and overseas communities. In particular, the Committee observes that the long distances that indigenous children in French Guiana must travel to school limits their access to education or prompts them to drop out of school. The Committee is also concerned by the fact that many children have never attended school and by the high dropout rate in Mayotte. In addition, the Committee is concerned by the fact that little effort has been made to adapt the content of school curricula to overseas cultural environments.
54. The Committee requests the State party to adopt a rights-based approach to the promotion of education in overseas departments and regions and overseas communities and to place priority on the availability, accessibility, quality and adaptability of school instruction. It urges the State party, inter alia, to:
(a) Establish a detailed package of measures for achieving the full realization of the principle of compulsory primary education that is free of charge for all, especially in Mayotte;
(b) Remove barriers to access to education and expand the availability of schooling in reasonably accessible locations by providing transportation for schoolchildren and by developing support facilities and accommodations for children who leave their village in order to continue their studies;
(c) Include the effort to discourage students from dropping out of school as one of the priorities in the education module of the Mayotte 2025 strategy paper;
(d) Reinforce the teaching of regional languages and instruction in those languages in the overseas departments and regions and overseas communities;
(e) Develop teaching approaches that are suited to the needs of students within their own social and cultural environment and to the needs of local communities.
55. The Committee invites the State party to refer to its general comment No. 13 (1999) on the right to education.
Cultural and linguistic rights
56.While mindful of the adoption of policies for the promotion of regional languages and the amendment in 2008 of article 75 (1) of the Constitution, which now states that “regional languages form part of the heritage of France”, the Committee finds it regrettable that the State party considers that those policies and the constitutional amendment do not constitute the recognition of a right or freedom for regional or linguistic groups or the indigenous peoples of overseas territories (art. 15).
57. The Committee recommends that the State party recognize and promote the right of members of regional or minority linguistic groups and, in overseas departments and regions and overseas communities, of indigenous peoples to use their own language as one aspect of their right to take part in cultural life, not only in private, but also in public, in areas where regional languages are traditionally spoken. The Committee wishes to draw the State party ’ s attention to paragraphs 32 and 33 of its general comment No. 21 (2009) on the right of everyone to take part in cultural life.
D.Other recommendations
58. The Committee invites the State party to recognize the competence of the Committee under article 10 on inter-State communications and under article 11 on an inquiry procedure of the Optional Protocol to the Covenant.
59. The Committee encourages the State party to consider signing and ratifying the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
60. The Committee requests the State party to circulate the present concluding observations widely among all sectors of society, in particular among members of Parliament, government officials and the judicial authorities, and to report to the Committee in its next periodic report on the steps taken to act upon those recommendations. It also encourages the State party to involve civil society organizations in the national-level discussions to be held in advance of the submission of its next periodic report.
61. The Committee requests the State party to submit its fifth periodic report by 30 June 2021 and invites it to submit as soon as possible a core document in accordance with the harmonized guidelines on reporting under the international human rights treaties, including guidelines on a common core document and treaty-specific documents (HRI/MC/2006/3).