Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Sixty-seventh session

17 February–6 March 2020

Item 1 of the provisional agenda

A doption of the agenda

Annotated provisional agenda

Provisional agenda

1.Adoption of the agenda.

2.Organization of work.

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

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

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

6.Consideration of reports:

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

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

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

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

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

10.Miscellaneous matters.

Annotations

1.Adoption of the agenda

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

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

2.Organization of work

The sixty-seventh session of the Committee, established in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1985/17, will be held at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 17 February to 6 March 2020. The first meeting will be convened on Monday, 17 February 2020, at 10 a.m.

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

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

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

During the session, the Committee will discuss the general comments that are under preparation.

Regarding its working methods, the Committee will discuss the revision of the provisional rules of procedure under the Optional Protocol to the Covenant.

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

The Committee has been discussing follow-up consistently at its sessions, and the issue of follow-up to previous concluding observations is included as an item for discussion during dialogues with delegations and during the consideration of subsequent periodic reports and of working methods. The Committee adopted a written follow-up procedure at its sixty-first session and will continue to identify issues in its concluding observations to be included in this procedure. At its sixty-seventh session, the Committee will consider reports on follow-up to concluding observations adopted at the sixty-first, sixty-second and sixty-third sessions, as available.

5.Relations with United Nations organs and other treaty bodies

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

6.Consideration of reports

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

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

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

As at 13 December 2019, 19 reports had been received by the Secretary-General and were pending consideration by the Committee. Reports of States parties that are tentatively scheduled for consideration at the sixty-seventh and future sessions are set out in the table below. Other reports scheduled for consideration by the Committee at its subsequent sessions, subject to approval by the Committee, will be the next reports received by the Committee, generally in chronological order of receipt and in accordance with the duration of the session.

Status of State party reports pending consideration by the Committee

Reporting State	Symbol of report	Date received	Date due	Session at which the report is tentatively scheduled for consideration
1. Azerbaijan (fourth periodic report)	E/C.12/AZE/4	27 December 2018	31 May 2018	Future
2. Bahrain (initial report)	E/C.12/BHR/1	3 December 2019	30 June 2009	Future
3. Belgium (fifth periodic report)	E/C.12/BEL/5	9 December 2019	31 October 2019	Sixty-seventh
4. Benin (third periodic report)	E/C.12/BEN/3	15 November 2018	30 June 2010	Sixty-seventh
5. Plurinational State of Bolivia (third periodic report)	E/C.12/BOL/3	12 March 2019	30 June 2010	Future
6. Bosnia and Herzegovina (third periodic report)	E/C.12/BIH/3	11 March 2019	30 November 2018	Future
7. Czechia (third periodic report)	E/C.12/CZE/3	9 September 2019	30 May 2019	Future
8. Democratic Republic of the Congo (sixth periodic report)	E/C.12/COD/6	13 August 2019	30 June 2013	Future
9. El Salvador (sixth periodic report)	E/C.12/SLV/6	31 October 2019	30 May 2019	Future
10. Guatemala (fourth periodic report)	E/C.12/GTM/4	2 December 2019	30 November 2019	Future
11. Guinea (initial report)	E/C.12/GIN/1	29 March 2019	30 June 1990	Sixty-seventh
12. Kuwait (third periodic report)	E/C.12/KWT/3	30 November 2018	30 November 2018	Future
13. Latvia (second periodic report)	E/C.12/LVA/2	3 April 2019	30 June 2009	Future
14. Nicaragua (fifth periodic report)	E/C.12/NIC/5	23 May 2019	30 June 2013	Future
15. Norway (sixth periodic report)	E/C.12/NOR/6	31 October 2019	31 October 2019	Sixty-seventh
16. Serbia (third periodic report)	E/C.12/SRB/3	3 May 2019	30 May 2019	Future
17. Ukraine (seventh periodic report)	E/C.12/UKR/7	31 October 2019	31 October 2019	Sixty-seventh
18. Uzbekistan (third periodic report)	E/C.12/UZB/3	19 June 2019	30 May 2019	Future
19. Yemen (third periodic report)	E/C.12/YEM/3	11 July 2013	30 June 2013	Future

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

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

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

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

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

In accordance with rule 59, paragraph 1, of its rules of procedure, the Committee shall at each session consider the status of submission of reports under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant and may make appropriate recommendations to the Council, including recommendations to the effect that the Secretary-General should send reminders to States parties from which reports have not been received. In this regard, the Committee may also convene informal meetings with States. The Committee will have before it under this item the note by the Secretary-General on the status of submission of reports by States parties under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant (E/C.12/67/2).

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

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

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

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

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

10.Miscellaneous matters

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

Annex

Tentative programme of the sixty-seventh session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (17 February–6 March 2020)

First week: 17–21 February 2020
Monday, 17 February 2020
1st meeting	(public)	Item 1	Adoption of the agenda
	(private)	Item 2	Organization of work
		Item 5	Relations with United Nations organs and other treaty bodies
		Item 7	Submission of reports by States parties in accordance with articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant
		Item 10	Miscellaneous matters
2nd meeting	(public)	Items 3, 6 and 10	Meeting with civil society partners
Tuesday, 18 February 2020
3rd meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Guinea
4th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Guinea (continued)
Wednesday, 19 February 2020
5th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Guinea (continued)
6th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Belgium
Thursday, 20 February 2020
7th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports:Belgium (continued)
8th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports:Ukraine
Friday, 21 February 2020
9th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Ukraine (continued)
10th meeting	(private)	Items 2–10	Closed meeting
Second week: 24–28 February 2020
Monday, 24 February 2020
11th meeting	(public)	Items 3, 6 and 10	Meeting with civil society partners
12th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Benin
Tuesday, 25 February 2020
13th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Benin (continued)
14th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Norway
Wednesday, 26 February 2020
15th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Norway (continued)
16th meeting	(private)	Items 2–10	Closed meeting
Thursday, 27 February 2020
17th meeting	(private)	Items 2–10	Closed meeting
18th meeting	(private)	Items 2–10	Closed meeting
Friday, 28 February 2020
19th meeting	(private)	Items 2–10	Closed meeting
20th meeting	(private)	Items 2–10	Closed meeting

Third week: 2–6 March 2020
Monday, 2 March 2020
21st meeting	(private)	Items 2–10	Closed meeting
22nd meeting	(private)	Items 2–10	Closed meeting
Tuesday, 3 March 2020
23rd meeting	(private)	Items 2–10	Closed meeting
24th meeting	(private)	Items 2–10	Closed meeting
Wednesday, 4 March 2020
25th meeting	(private)	Items 2–10	Closed meeting
26th meeting	(private)	Items 2–10	Closed meeting
Thursday, 5 March 2020
27th meeting	(private)	Items 2–10	Closed meeting
28th meeting	(private)	Items 2–10	Closed meeting
Friday, 6 March 2020
29th meeting	(private)	Items 2–10	Closed meeting
30th meeting	(private/public)	Items 2–10	Closed meeting/close of session