Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Fift y-first session4–29 November 2013

Item 1 of the provisional agenda

Adoption of the agenda

Provisional agenda and annotations

Note by the Secretary‑General

1.The fifty-first 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 (Palais Wilson) from 4 to 29 November 2013. The first meeting will be convened on Monday, 4 November 2013 at 10 a.m.

2.The attached provisional agenda and annotations for the fifty-first 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 States parties is drawn, in particular, to the annotations to item 6 containing the list of reports that will be before the Committee at its fifty-first and future sessions.

Provisional agenda

1.Adoption of the agenda.

2.Organization of work.

3.Substantive issues arising in 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.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 for the election of the officers when 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.

2.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, attention is drawn to the tentative 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 in accordance with established practice.

3.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.

During the session, the Committee will discuss methods of work, general comments under preparation and other matters.

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 maintains the issue of follow-up to previous concluding observations as an item of discussion during dialogues with delegations, when considering subsequent periodic reports.

5.Relations with United Nations organs and other treaty bodies

Under this agenda item, the Committee will continue to consider, as required, matters emanating from the Meetings of Chairpersons of Human Rights Treaty Bodies, the last one having taken place from 20 to 24 May 2013. Documentation relating to this meeting is being made available to Committee members. Members will also be informed of activities undertaken by other treaty bodies as they relate 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. 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 informed the States parties in, through notes verbales, of the opening date and duration of the fifty-first session of the Committee, and invited them to send representatives to attend the meetings of the Committee at which their reports would be considered. A tentative timetable for consideration of those reports was prepared by the Secretary‑General in consultation with the Chairperson of the Committee.

As at 15 July 2013, 49 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 tentatively scheduled for consideration at the fifty-second (April/May 2014) and fifty-third (November 2014) 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 seven to eight reports received by the Committee, exceptionally ten for the fifty-first and fifty-second sessions, generally according to chronological order of receipt. Their scheduling for consideration by the Committee at its fifty-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.

Initial reports	Symbol	Date received	Date due	Scheduled for consideration at
1. Burundi	E/C.12/BDI/1	16 Jan. 2013	30 June 1992
2. Djibouti (initial and second periodic reports)	E/C.12/DJI/1-2	21 July 2010	30 June 2009	Fifty-first session Nov./Dec. 2013
3. Gabon	E/C.12/GAB/1	26 Oct. 2011	30 June 1990	Fifty-first session Nov./Dec. 2013
4. Gambia	E/C.12/GMB/1	9 May 2012	30 June 1990
5. Indonesia	E/C.12/IDN/1	20 Jan. 2012	22 May 2007	Fifty-second session (Apr./May 2014)
6. Montenegro	E/C.12/MNE/1	26 Dec. 2011	30 June 2008
7. Thailand	E/C.12/THA/1	22 Aug. 2012	30 June 2002
8. Uganda	E/C.12/UGA/1	6 Dec. 2012	30 June 1990

Second periodic reports	Symbol	Date received	Date due	Scheduled for consideration at
9. Albania (second and thirdperiodic reports)	E/C.12/ALB/2-3	9 Apr. 2010	30 June 2009 30 June 2014	Fifty-first session Nov./Dec. 2013
10. Armenia	E/C.12/ARM/2	8 July 2011	30 June 2000	Fifty-second session (Apr./May 2014)
11. Bosnia and Herzegovina	E/C.12/BIH/2	9 Aug. 2010	30 June 2010	Fifty-first session Nov./Dec. 2013
12. China (second report) Hong Kong, China (third report) Macao, China (second report)	E/C.12/CHN/2 E/C.12/CHN-HKG/3 E/C.12/CHN-MAC/2	30 June 2010	30 June 2010	Fifty-second session (Apr./May 2014)
13. Czech Republic	E/C.12/CZE/2	30 Nov. 2010	30 June 2007	Fifty-second session (Apr./May 2014)
14. Egypt (second to fourth periodic reports)	E/C.12/EGY/2-4	11 May 2010	30 June 1995 30 June 2000 30 June 2005	Fifty-first session Nov./Dec. 2013
15. Greece 16. Guyana (second to fourth periodic reports)	E/C.12/GRC/2 E/C.12/GUY/2-4	31 Aug. 2012 10 Sept. 2012	30 June 2009 30 June 2000
17. Kenya (second to fifth periodic reports)	E/C.12/KEN/2-5	1 July 2013	30 June 2013
18. Kuwait 19. Kyrgyzstan (second andthird periodic reports)	E/C.12/KWT/2 E/C.12/KGZ/2-3	31 Mar. 2010 3 Apr. 2012	30 June 2009 30 June 2005 30 June 2010	Fifty-first session Nov./Dec. 2013
20. Lithuania	E/C.12/LTU/2	1 Feb. 2010	30 June 2009	Fifty-second session (Apr./May 2014)
21. Monaco (second and third periodic reports)	E/C.12/MCO/2-3	26 May 2011	30 June 2009	Fifty-second session (Apr./May 2014)
22. Serbia	E/C.12/SRB/2	24 Mar. 2011	30 June 2010	Fifty-second session (Apr./May 2014)
23. Slovenia 24. Sudan	E/C.12/SVN/2 E/C.12/SDN/2	22 June 2011 27 July 2012	30 June 2010 30 June 2003
25. Tajikistan (second and third periodic reports)	E/C.12/TJK/2-3	22 Sept. 2011	30 June 2011
26. Uzbekistan	E/C.12/UZB/2	2 July 2010	30 June 2010	Fifty-second session (Apr./May 2014)
27. Viet Nam (second to fourth periodic reports)	E/C.12/VNM/2-4	15 Sept. 2011	30 June 1995 30 June 2000 30 June 2005

Third periodic reports	Symbol	Date received	Date due	Scheduled for consideration at
28. El Salvador (third to fifth periodic reports)	E/C.12/SLV/3-5	5 Jan. 2011	30 June 2010	Fifty-second session (Apr./May 2014)
29. Guatemala 30. Ireland	E/C.12/GTM/3 E/C.12.IRL/3	16 Dec. 2011 7 May 2012	30 June 2008 30 June 2007
31. Nepal	E/C.12/NPL/3	12 July 2011	30 June 2011
32. Romania (third to fifthperiodic reports) 33. Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	E/C.12/ROU/3-5 E/C.12/VEN/3	15 Nov. 2011 29 May 2012	30 June 1994 30 June 1999 30 June 2004 30 June 2006
34. Yemen	E/C.12/YEM/3	11 July 2013	30 June 2013

Fourth periodic reports	Symbol	Date received	Date due	Scheduled for consideration at
35. Austria	E/C.12/AUT/4	28 July 2010	30 June 2010	Fifty-first session Nov./Dec. 2013
36. Belarus (fourth tosixth periodic reports)	E/C.12/BLR/4-6	19 Nov. 2010	30 June 2009	Fifty-first session Nov./Dec. 2013
37. Belgium	E/C.12/BEL/4	9 July 2010	30 June 2010	Fifty-first session Nov./Dec. 2013
38. Chile	E/C.12/CHL/4	21 March 2012	30 June 2009
39. France	E/C.12/FRA/4	23 May 2013	30 June 2011
40. Iraq	E/C.12/IRQ/4	22 May 2013	30 June 2000
41. Mongolia 42. Morocco	E/C.12/MNG/4 E/C.12/MAR/4	22 Feb. 2012 24 Jan. 2013	30 June 2009 30 June 2009
43. Paraguay	E/C.12/PRY/4	6 October 2011	30 June 2011
44. Portugal	E/C.12/PRT/4	31 Jan. 2011	30 June 2005

Fifth periodic reports	Symbol	Date received	Date due	Scheduled for consideration at
45. Italy	E/C.12/ITA/5	9 Aug. 2012	30 June 2009
46. Norway	E/C.12/NOR/5	28 June 2010	30 June 2010	Fifty-first session Nov./Dec. 2013

Sixth periodic reports	Symbol	Date received	Date due	Scheduled for consideration at
47. Canada 48. Finland	E/C.12/CAN/6 E/C.12/FIN/6	17 Oct. 2012 15 July 2011	6 June 2010 30 June 2010
49. Ukraine	E/C.12/UKR/6	21 June 2011	30 June 2011	Fifty-second session (Apr./May 2014)

(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 organization. The Secretary-General has invited the specialized agencies concerned to designate representatives to provide information.

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. 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.12/51/2).

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 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.

9.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 fift y-first session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ( 4–29 November 2013 )

First week: 4 – 8 November 2013

Monday, 4 November
29th meeting	(public)	Item 1	Adoption of the agenda
	(private)	Item 2 Item 7 Item 9	Organization of work Submission of reports by States parties in accordance with articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant Miscellaneous matters
		Items 3 & 5	Relations with United Nations organs and other treaty bodies
30th meeting	(public/private)	Items 3 & 5	Meetings with partners
Tuesday, 5 November
31st meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Kuwait
32nd meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Kuwait (continued)
Wednesday, 6 November
33rd meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Albania
34th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Albania (continued)
Thursday, 7 November
35th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Belgium
36th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Belgium (continued)
Friday, 8 November
37th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Bosnia and Herzegovina
38th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Bosnia and Herzegovina (continued)

Second week: 11 – 1 5 November
Monday, 11 November
39th meeting	(public/private)	Items 3 & 5	Meetings with partners
40th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Djibouti (initial report)
Tuesday, 12 November
41st meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Djibouti (continued)
42nd meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Djibouti (continued)
Wednesday, 13 November
43rd meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Belarus
44th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Belarus (continued)
Thursday, 14 November
45th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Egypt
46th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Egypt (continued)
Friday, 1 5 November
47th meeting	(private)	Item 6	Closed meeting
48th meeting	(private)	Item 6	Closed meeting

Third week: 1 8 – 22 November

Monday, 1 8 November
49th meeting	(public/private)	Items 3 & 5	Meeting with partners
50th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Gabon (initial report)
Tuesday, 1 9 November
51st meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Gabon (continued)
52nd meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Gabon (continued)
Wednesday, 20 November
53rd meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Austria
54th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Austria (continued)
Thursday, 2 1 November
55th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Norway
56th meeting	(public)	Item 6	Consideration of reports: Norway (continued)
Friday, 22 November
57th meeting	(private)	Item 6	Closed meeting
58th meeting	(private)	Item 6	Closed meeting
Fourth week: 25 – 2 9 November
Monday, 25 November
59th meeting	(private)	Item 6	Closed meeting
60th meeting	(private)	Item 6	Closed meeting
Tuesday, 26 November
61st meeting	(private)	Item 6	Closed meeting
62nd meeting	(public)	Item 6	Informal meeting with States
Wednesday, 2 7 November
63rd meeting	(private)	Item 6	Closed meeting
64th meeting	(private)	Item 6	Closed meeting
Thursday, 2 8 November
65th meeting	(private)	Item 6	Closed meeting
66th meeting	(private)	Item 6	Closed meeting
Friday, 2 9 November
67th meeting	(private)	Item 3	Substantive issues arising in the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
		Item 4	Follow-up to the consideration of reports under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant
		Item 8	Formulation of suggestions and general recommendations
		Item 10	Miscellaneous matters
68th meeting	(private)	Item 10	Miscellaneous matters
	(public)		Close of session