COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIALAND CULTURAL RIGHTSForty-second sessionGeneva, 4-22 May 2009
PROVISIONAL AGENDA AND ANNOTATIONS ANDTENTATIVE PROGRAMME OF WORK
Note by the Secretary-General
1.The forty-second session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, established in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1985/17, will be held at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 4 to 22 May 2009 (Palais Wilson). The first meeting will be convened on Monday, 4 May 2009 at 10 a.m.
2.The attached provisional agenda and annotations for the forty-second session of the Committee have been prepared by the Secretary-General in accordance with rule 4 of the rules of procedure of the Committee.
3.The attention of the States parties is drawn, in particular, to the annotations to item 8 containing the list of reports that will be before the Committee at its forty-second and future sessions.
GE.09-41043PROVISIONAL AGENDA
1.Opening of the session.
2.Election of Chairperson and other officers of the Committee.
3.Adoption of the agenda.
4.Organization of work.
5.Substantive issues arising in the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
6.Follow-up to the consideration of reports under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant.
7.Relations with United Nations organs and other treaty bodies.
8.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.
9.Submission of reports by States parties in accordance with articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant:
10.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.
11.Miscellaneous matters.
ANNOTATIONS
1.Opening of the session
The forty-second session of the Committee will be opened by the representative of the Secretary‑General who will preside over the meeting until the election of the Chairperson of the Committee.
2. Election of Chairperson and other officers of the Committee
In accordance with rule 14 of the rules of procedure, the Committee shall elect from among its members a Chairperson, three Vice-Chairpersons and a Rapporteur. The officers of the Committee shall be elected for a term of two years (rule 15). Under rule 53 of the rules of procedure, elections shall be held by secret ballot, unless the Committee decides otherwise in the case of an election to fill a place for which there is only one candidate.
3. 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. In accordance with rule 6, the Committee may revise the agenda during a session and may, as appropriate, delete or defer items.
4. Organization of work
In accordance with rule 8 of its rules of procedure, at the beginning of each session, the Committee shall consider appropriate organizational matters, including the schedule of its meetings. In this connection, the attention is drawn to the draft programme of work for the session set out in the present document, which was prepared by the Secretary-General in consultation with the Chairperson of the Committee and in accordance with established practice.
5.Substantive issues arising in 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 with a view to assisting States parties in fulfilling their reporting obligations. The Committee decided at its fourteenth session (28 April-17 May 1996) that as from its fifteenth session its discussions relating to the implementation of the Covenant (days of general discussion, consideration and adoption of general comments, methods of work, NGO submissions, etc.) would be conducted under this agenda item. At the present session, the Committee will review the status of development of draft general comments on the right to take part in cultural life (art. 15 (1) (a) of the Covenant) and on the principle of non-discrimination (art. 2 (2)).
6.Follow-up to the consideration of reports under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant
At its fourteenth session, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, recognizing the importance of periodically reviewing the implementation by States parties of its suggestions and recommendations, requested the secretariat to submit to it, as from the fifteenth session, a document indicating all cases where a follow-up had been suggested by the Committee. In this connection, the attention of the members of the Committee is drawn to document E/C.12/2007/3 which contains the requested information.
7. Relations with United Nations organs and other treaty bodies
The Committee decided at its sixth session to nominate individual members to follow the work of each of the other treaty bodies. Such members are to follow as closely as possible the work of the relevant committees, to liaise where possible with members of these committees and to present an oral report on developments of both a procedural and substantive nature in their work which appeared to be of specific relevance to the work of the Committee (E/1992/23, paras. 371-373).
Under this agenda item, the Committee will consider matters emanating from the last meeting of Chairpersons and the last Inter-Committee Meeting (ICM) and discuss issues to be raised at the next meetings scheduled to take place in June 2009. The reports of the previous meeting of Chairpersons/ICM, as well as any intersessional meetings, will be available to Committee members.
Meetings of the Joint Expert Group UNESCO (Committee on Conventions and Recommendations)/Economic and Social Council (Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) on the Monitoring of the Right to Education, established by decision 2003/310 of 25 July 2003 of the Economic and Social Council and 162/EX/Decision 5.4 of the Executive Board of UNESCO (2-31 October 2001), will be convened during the session. The Joint Expert Group is composed of four members: two members from the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and two members from the UNESCO Committee on Conventions and Recommendations. The tenth meeting of the Joint Expert Group will take place in Paris on 8 May 2009.
8. 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. Representatives of the reporting States are entitled to be present at 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 reply to questions which 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, in notes verbales dated 28 May 2008, 29 May 2008 and 10 December 2008, informed the States parties concerned of the opening date and duration of the forty-second session of the Committee, and invited them to send representatives to attend the meetings of the Committee at which their reports would be considered. Following consultations with the Permanent Missions of the concerned States parties about the dates at which their respective reports would be examined, a tentative timetable for consideration of those reports was prepared by the Secretary‑General in consultation with the Chairperson of the Committee.
As at 19 February 2009, 28 reports as listed below had been received by the Secretary‑General and were pending consideration by the Committee. The reports of the States parties which are scheduled for consideration at the forty-second (May 2009), forty-third (November 2009) and forty-fourth (May 2010) sessions of the Committee are identified in the last columns of the tables that follow. The reports indicated to be scheduled for consideration at sessions of the Committee further in the future are the next five reports received by the Committee, according to chronological order of receipt. Their scheduling for consideration by the Committee at its forty-third and future sessions is subject to approval by the Committee.
The following tables do not include States parties that were requested to submit reports by a specific deadline, failing which the Committee would proceed to examine the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights in their territories in the absence of a report.
Reports received and pending consideration(ordered by the type of report and date received by the Committee)
|
Initial reports |
Symbol |
Date received |
Date due |
Scheduled for consideration at |
|
1.Cambodia |
E/C.12/KHM/1 |
13.11.2008 |
30.06.1994 30.06.1999 30.06.2004 30.06.2009 |
42nd session, May 2009 |
|
2.Chad (Initial – third periodic reports) |
E/C.12/TCD/3 |
18.09.2007 |
30.06.1997 30.06.2002 |
43rd session, November 2009 |
|
3. Kazakhstan |
E/C.12/KZS/1 |
13.11.2007 |
30.06.200830.06.2013 |
44th session, May 2010 |
|
4. Turkey |
E/C.12/TUR/1 |
25.06.2008 |
30.06.200530.06.2010 |
|
Second periodic reports |
Symbol |
Date received |
Date due |
Scheduled for consideration at |
|
5. Afghanistan (Second-fourth periodic reports) |
E/C.12/AFG/4 |
04.09.2007 |
30.06.1995 30.06.2010 |
44th session, May 2010 |
|
6.Brazil |
E/C.12/BRA/2 |
10.07.2007 |
30.06.200630.06.2011 |
42nd session, May 2009 |
|
7. Cameroon |
E/C.12/CMR/2 |
26.11.2008 |
30.06.2001 30.06.2006 |
|
|
8. Democratic Republic of the Congo (Second-fifth periodic reports) |
E/C.12/COD/5 |
14.08.2007 |
30.06.199229.06.2012 |
43rd session, November 2009 |
|
9.Madagascar |
E/C.12/MDG/2 |
10.08.2007 |
30.06.199030.06.199530.06.200030.06.2005 |
43rd session, November 2009 |
|
10.Mauritius (Second-fourth periodic reports) |
E/C.12/MUS/4 |
03.03.2008 |
30.06.199530.06.2010 |
44th session, May 2010 |
|
11. Moldova |
E/C.12/MOL/2 |
05.09.2008 |
30.06.200830.06.2013 |
|
|
12. Sri Lanka (Second-fourth reports) |
E/C.12/LKA/4 |
09.06.2008 |
30.06.199530.06.2010 |
|
|
13. Switzerland (Second-third reports) |
E/C.12/CHE/3 |
14.05.2008 |
30.06.1999 30.06.2009 |
|
|
14. Yemen |
E/C.12/YEM/2 |
03.07.2008 |
30.06.200830.06.2013 |
|
Third periodic reports |
Symbol |
Date received |
Date due |
Scheduled for consideration at |
|
15. Algeria |
E/C.12/ALG/3 |
31.12.2007 |
30.06.200630.06.2011 |
44th session, May 2010 |
|
16.Dominican Republic |
E/C.12/DOM/3 |
22.08.2008 |
30.06.199930.06.2009 |
|
|
17. Estonia |
E/C.12/EST/3 |
31.10.2008 |
30.06.2007 |
|
|
18. Israel |
E/C.12/ISR/3 |
20.01.2009 |
30.06.2008 |
|
|
19.Republic of Korea |
E/C.12/ROK/3 |
27.06.2007 |
30.06.200630.06.2011 |
43rd session, November 2009 |
|
20. Uruguay (Third-fourth periodic reports) |
E/C.12/URU/4 |
01.04.2008 |
30.06.200030.06.2010 |
|
Fourth periodic reports |
Symbol |
Date received |
Date due |
Scheduled for consideration at |
|
21.Australia |
E/C.12/AUS/4 |
07.08.2007 |
30.06.2005 30.06.2010 |
42nd session, May 2009 |
|
22.Cyprus (fourth- fifth report) |
E/C.12/CYP/5 |
20.07.2007 |
30.06.199930.06.2009 |
42nd session, May 2009 |
|
23. The Netherlands Fourth-fifth reports and The Netherlands and Antilles - Fourth report |
E/C.12/NLD/5 E/C.12/ANT/4 |
09.04.2008 and 16.12.2008 |
30.06.200730.06.2012 |
|
|
24.United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – (fourth-fifth reports) |
E/C.12/GBR/5 |
07.08.2007 |
30.06.200730.06.2012 |
42nd session, May 2009 |
|
Fifth periodic reports |
Symbol |
Date received |
Date due |
Scheduled for consideration at |
|
25.Colombia |
E/C.12/COL/5 |
22.01.2008 |
30.06.2006 30.06.2011 |
44th session, May 2010 |
|
26. Germany |
E/C.12/DEU/5 |
16.09.2008 |
30.06.2006 |
|
|
27. Poland |
E/C.12/POL/5 |
05.09.2007 |
30.06.200730.06.2012 |
43rd session, November 2009 |
|
28. Russian Federation |
E/C.12/RUS/5 |
30.06.2008 |
30.06.200830.06.2013 |
(b)Reports submitted by specialized agencies in accordance with article 18of 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 organization in the course of the discussion by the Committee of the report of each State party to the Covenant. The representatives of the States parties presenting reports to the Committee shall be free to respond to, or take into account, the statements made by the specialized agencies. The Secretary-General has invited the following specialized agencies, United Nations organs and financial institutions to send representatives to attend the meetings of the Committee: International Labour Organization (ILO), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), World Health Organization (WHO), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and World Trade Organization (WTO).
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.
9.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. The Committee will have before it under this item the following document:
Note by the Secretary-General on the States parties to the Covenant and the status of submission of reports (E/C.12/42/2).
10.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 the 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.
11. Miscellaneous matters
At its twenty-first session (1999), the Committee decided to include in its agenda a standing item, “Miscellaneous matters”, under which it may consider any issue falling outside the scope of other standing agenda items.
TENTATIVE PROGRAMME OF THE FORTY-SECOND SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
(4-22 May 2009)
First week: 4-8 May 2009
Monday, 4 May |
||||
|
1st meeting |
(public) |
Item 1 |
Opening of the session |
|
|
(private) |
Item 2 |
Election of officers |
||
|
(public) |
Item 3 |
Adoption of the agenda |
||
|
Item 4 |
Organization of work |
|||
|
(public) |
Item 9 Item 11 |
Submission of reports by States parties in accordance with articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant Miscellaneous matters |
||
|
2nd meeting |
(public) |
Item 7 |
Relations with United Nations organs and other treaty bodies |
|
|
Item 5 |
Substantive issues arising in the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: NGO submissions |
|||
Tuesday, 5 May |
||||
|
3rd meeting |
(public) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: Australia (fourth periodic report, E/C.12/AUS/4) |
|
|
4th meeting |
(public) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: Australia (continued) |
|
Wednesday, 6 May |
||||
|
5th meeting |
(public) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: Australia (continued) |
|
|
6th meeting |
(public) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: Brazil (second periodic report, E/C.12/BRA/2) |
|
Thursday, 7 May |
||||
|
7th meeting |
(public) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: Brazil (continued) |
|
|
8th meeting |
(public) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: Brazil (continued) |
|
Friday, 8 May |
||||
|
9th meeting |
(public) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: Cyprus (fourth-fifth periodic reports, E/C.12/CYP/5) |
|
|
10th meeting |
(public) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: Cyprus (continued) |
|
Second week: 11-15 May 2009 |
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Monday, 11 May |
||||
|
11th meeting |
(public) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: Cambodia (initial report, E/C.12/KHM/1) |
|
|
12th meeting |
(public) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: Cambodia (continued) |
|
Tuesday, 12 May |
||||
|
13th meeting |
(public) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: Cambodia (continued) |
|
|
14th meeting |
(public) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: United Kingdom (fourth-fifth periodic reports, E/C.12/GBR/5) |
|
Wednesday, 13 May |
||||
|
15th meeting |
(public) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: United Kingdom (continued) |
|
|
16th meeting |
(public) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: United Kingdom (continued) |
|
Thursday, 14 May |
||||
|
17th meeting |
(private) |
Item 5 |
Substantive issues arising in the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Review of draft general comment No. 20 on non-discrimination |
|
|
18th meeting |
(private) |
Item 5 |
Substantive issues arising in the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Review of draft general comment No. 20 on on non-discrimination |
|
Friday, 15 May |
||||
|
19th meeting |
(private) |
Item 5 |
Substantive issues arising in the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Meeting with the Rapporteur on the Right to Water Discussion of Methods of work |
|
|
20th meeting |
(private) |
Item 5 |
Substantive issues arising in the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Review of draft general comment No. 21 on the right of everyone to take part in cultural life |
Third week: 18-22 May 2009
Monday, 18 May |
|||
|
21st meeting |
(private) |
Item 5 |
Substantive issues arising in the implementation of the international Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Review of draft general comment No. 21 on the right of everyone to take part in cultural life |
|
22nd meeting |
(private) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: Adoption of concluding observations |
Tuesday, 19 May |
|||
|
23th meeting |
(private) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: Adoption of concluding observations |
|
24th meeting |
(private) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: Adoption of concluding observations |
Wednesday, 20 May |
|||
|
25th meeting |
(private) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: Adoption of concluding observations |
|
26th meeting |
(private) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: Adoption of concluding observations |
Thursday, 21 May |
OFFICIAL HOLIDAY (no meetings) |
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Friday, 22 May |
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|
27th and 28th meetings |
(private) |
Item 8 |
Consideration of reports: Adoption of concluding observations |
|
Item 6 |
Follow-up to the consideration of reports under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant |
||
|
Item 10 |
Formulation of suggestions and general recommendations |
||
|
Item 11 |
Miscellaneous matters |
||
|
(public) |
Close of session |