Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

List of issues in relation to the combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of Angola *

I.General information

1.Noting that the State party’s Constitution (2010) enables the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to be directly applied in domestic courts, please provide information on the cases in which the provisions of the Covenant have been invoked before or applied by domestic courts.

2.Please update the Committee on the steps taken to increase the resources allocated to the Ombudsman and to widen its mandate so as to enable it to address human rights issues. Please also indicate if the State party intends to revise the Ombudsman Law with a view to establishing a human rights institution in compliance with the Principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (Paris Principles).

3.Please provide information on the contents of the 2015 presidential decree regulating the establishment and maintenance of non-governmental organizations in Angola, and on the impacts it would bring to such organizations working on economic, social and cultural rights. Please state if and how civil society organizations were consulted in the preparation of the national report.

4.Please provide information on the measures taken to lift restrictions on the right to association and indicate the steps taken to guarantee the work of human rights defenders working on economic, social and cultural rights.

II.Issues relating to general provisions of the Covenant (arts. 1-5)

Article 1 (2) – Free disposal of natural wealth and resources

5.Please provide information on the legal framework governing extractive activities and in particular the mechanisms in place to ensure that affected communities, notably indigenous peoples in southern Angola, are consulted prior to granting concessions for extraction activities. Please also describe the steps taken to ensure that such activities do not negatively affect indigenous peoples’ traditional ways of living.

Article 2 (1) – Maximum available resources

6.Please provide information on the impact of measures taken to combat corruption in the State party, including within the judiciary. Please also provide up-to-date information on the reform of the judicial system.

Article 2 – Non-discrimination

7.Please indicate the measures taken to adopt a comprehensive anti-discrimination law that complies with article 2 of the Covenant.

8.Please provide information on the measures taken, and their impact, to prevent and combat discrimination against internally displaced persons, persons with disabilities and migrants.

Article 3 – Equal rights of men and women

9.Please describe the measures taken to harmonize the State party’s legislation with article 3 of the Covenant, in particular with regard to women’s rights to inheritance and property, and to repeal provisions in the State party’s domestic laws that discriminate on the basis of sex.

10.Please specify the measures taken to improve the representation of women in political and public affairs, including in high-level decision-making, the judiciary and civil service, which remains very limited, and in the economy of the State party.

III.Issues relating to the specific provisions of the Covenant (arts. 6-15)

Article 6 – The right to work

11.Further to paragraph 109 of the State party’s report, please provide data on the level of unemployment in the past four years, disaggregated to the extent possible by sex, ethnicity, province, rural or urban environment, age-group and health status. Please also describe the impact of the measures taken to address unemployment.

Article 7 – The right to just and favourable conditions of work

12.Please provide information on the new Labour Law (2015) and describe its main aspects, while explaining if and how it reflects the principles embodied in articles 6 and 7 of the Covenant, including regarding the minimum age for employment, child labour, labour inspections, equal pay for work of equal value and sexual harassment.

13.Please indicate if the national minimum wage is indexed to the cost of living and allows for a decent living by workers and their families.

14.Please describe the steps taken to provide workers in the informal economy with minimum labour and social security rights protection, and specify the measures taken to gradually regularize the status of these workers.

Article 8 – Trade union rights

15.Please provide information on the measures taken to bring the legal framework on trade union rights in line with article 8 of the Covenant.

Article 9 – The right to social security

16.Please provide information on the measures taken, and their impact, to widen the coverage of social security benefits, with a view to ensuring that the poorer and those working in the informal economy, among others, can gain access to such benefits.

Article 10 – Protection of the family, mothers and children

17.Please indicate if marital rape is criminalized and provide information on the impact of the 2011 Law against domestic violence on reducing the occurrence of domestic violence in the State party. Furthermore, please describe the measures taken to systematically collect disaggregated data on gender-based violence, including domestic violence.

18.Please indicate if polygamy is outlawed in the State party and explain the measures taken to reduce its prevalence. Please describe the measures taken, and their impact, to prevent early marriage, which is still practiced, particularly in the east of the country. Please update the Committee on the steps taken to combat the incidence of accusing children of witchcraft and the ill-treatment they are subjected to as a result thereof.

19.Please describe the progress made and incentives put in place to increase the birth registration rate. Please indicate if the new decree on free birth registration has been finalized. If so, please provide information on the main aspects of this decree, including its coverage and duration, and the measures taken to disseminate it among communities and describe its impact thus far.

Article 11 – The right to an adequate standard of living

20.Please describe the measures taken, and their impact, to alleviate poverty and extreme poverty, particularly among disadvantaged and marginalized groups and individuals, including women in rural areas, families with a large number of children, single-parent families, and children living in street situations. Please also indicate if and how economic growth has been translated into reducing poverty in recent years.

21.Please provide disaggregated data on the occurrence of malnutrition and hunger in the State party and describe the impact of the National Strategy for Food and Nutrition Security on combating such incidences.

22.Please update the Committee on the situation of housing deficit in the State party and describe the impact of the measures taken on that subject, including the “200 homes by municipality” programme. In doing so, please identify the groups of persons who experience particular difficulties in the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing.

23.Please update the Committee on the steps taken to address forced evictions, which are still carried out in various provinces. Please indicate if the National Assembly resolution on forced evictions has been made operational and, if so, please provide information on its implementation and impact. Furthermore, please indicate if the State party intends to adopt a human rights-based housing policy and a legal framework governing forced evictions.

Article 12 – The right to physical and mental health

24.Please provide information on the trends in allocating resources to the health sector, indicating their proportion of the national budget since 2013. Please also describe the steps taken to improve access to basic health services, in particular in rural areas.

25.Please provide information on the progress achieved in reducing maternal, child and under-five mortality rates. Please also provide up-to-date information on the steps taken to prevent teenage pregnancies, which remain prevalent in the State party.

26.Further to paragraph 227 of the State party’s report, please provide up-to-date information on the progress in achieving the strategic goals concerning mental health, particularly including developing legislation and a strategy on mental health.

Articles 13 and 14 – The right to education

27.Please provide information on the measures taken, and their impact, to increase primary and secondary school enrolment and attendance rates and to prevent primary and secondary school children from dropping out, particularly girls and children in rural areas.

28.Please provide information on whether primary education is free of charge, de jure and de facto, and indicate the steps taken to prevent hidden school costs.

29.Further to paragraph 247 of the State party’s report, please provide up-to-date information on the steps taken, and their impact, to further reduce the rate of illiteracy in the State party. Please also provide data on illiteracy prevalence, disaggregated by sex, age, province and rural/urban area.

30.Please specify the measures taken to increase the accessibility to and availability of schools, including the number of classrooms at the secondary level.

Article 15 – Cultural rights

31.Please provide information on the measures taken to preserve the cultures of ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples in the State party and indicate the measure taken to protect and respect the right of those groups to theirtraditional lands and resources.