Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Seventy-sixth session

Summary record (partial)* of the 30th meeting

Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Monday, 9 September 2024, at 10 a.m.

Chair:Ms. Crăciunean-Tatu

Contents

Opening of the session

Statement by the representative of the Secretary-General

Adoption of the agenda

The meeting was called to order at 10.10 a.m.

Opening of the session

The Chair declared open the seventy-sixth session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Statement by the representative of the Secretary-General

Ms. Lee (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)) said that, regrettably, the meeting of the Working Group on Communications scheduled for 6 September and the seventy-fifth session of the pre-sessional working group had both been cancelled because of the ongoing liquidity crisis affecting the United Nations. OHCHR, and the United Nations more broadly, was doing its utmost to ensure that the Committee’s work could proceed as smoothly as possible.

She wished tocongratulate those members of the Committee who had been re-elected for another term starting in January 2025 and to thank those who would depart at the end of 2024. The multiple conflict-related, environmental and other challenges facing the world highlighted the importance of having a strong, productive and independent Committee.

The fifty-seventh session of the Human Rights Council included several events relevant to the Committee’s work, including a panel discussion on promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights within the context of addressing inequalities, a biennial panel discussion on the right to development, and interactive dialogues concerning reports submitted by economic, social and cultural rights mandate holders. During the Council’s fifty-sixth session, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights had emphasized the need for an urgent, renewed commitment to prevent the vast and deepening human rights impact of the triple planetary crisis, which was the biggest existential threat ever faced by humanity. OHCHR looked forward to the further guidance that the Committee would provide on sustainable development as it related to the environment and the triple planetary crisis, particularly through its draft general comment on sustainable development and the Covenant.

The end of the Council’s fifty-sixth session had overlapped with the high-level political forum on sustainable development held under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. The outcomes of the forum had included the launch of the first-ever United Nations System-wide strategy on water and sanitation and the launch of the 2024 report of the expert group on climate and Sustainable Development Goal synergies.

The major event of the year at the United Nations was the Summit of the Future, which would take place in New York on 22 and 23 September 2024 and would be preceded by two Action Days on 20 and 21 September. OHCHR would host a side event on the critical role of human rights in realizing the Pact for the Future and was co-organizing side events on global tax reforms; fixing the international financial architecture; prioritizing Sustainable Development Goal 3 through universal health coverage, guaranteeing access to health care and removing financial barriers to the principle of leaving no one behind; and protecting the human rights of future generations.

OHCHR continued to be active in its support for treaty body strengthening, which had been the key topic at the thirty-sixth meeting of the Chairs of the human rights treaty bodies in New York in June 2024. The Chairs had noted marked progress in aligning working methods and, at a well-attended meeting with Member States, had called for resources to implement the predictable review schedule and other key strengthening proposals.

The Chair said that, in a challenging global context marked by overlapping crises, rising inequalities and numerous conflicts, the Committee’s work was more important than ever. The principles of equality, of the indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness of all human rights, and of the justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights, including through access to remedies in the event of their violation, should continue to guide the actions of States parties and other relevant actors.

Adoption of the agenda ( E/C.12/76/1 )

The agenda was adopted.

The discussion covered in the summary record ended at 10.25 a.m.