COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL
AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
Thirtieth session
Geneva, 5-23 May 2003
PROVISIONAL AGENDA AND ANNOTATIONS
Note by the Secretary-General
1. The thirtieth 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 5 to
23 May 2003. The first meeting will be convened on Monday, 5 May 2003,
at 10 a.m.
2. The attached provisional agenda and annotations for the thirtieth
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 6 containing the list of reports that will be before
the Committee at its thirtieth session.
PROVISIONAL AGENDA
1. Opening of the session.
2. Election of officers.
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. 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. Relations with United Nations organs and other treaty bodies.
9. Follow-up to the consideration of reports under 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 thirtieth 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 officers
In accordance with rule 14 of its rules of procedure, the Committee
shall elect from among its members a Chairperson, three Vice-Chairpersons
and a Rapporteur, with due regard for equitable geographical representation.
3. Adoption of the agenda
Under rule 5 of the rules of procedure, the first item on the provisional
agenda of any session shall be the adoption of the agenda, except for the
election of its officers when required under rule 14. In accordance with
rule 6 the Committee, during a session, may revise the agenda and may,
as appropriate, add, 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 of the members of the Committee is drawn to the draft programme
of work for the session, prepared by the Secretary-General in consultation
with the Chairperson of the Committee and in accordance with established
practice (E/C.12/2003/L.1).
5. Substantive issues arising in the implementation of the International
Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
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, NGOs submissions, methods
of work, consideration and adoption of general comments, etc.) would be
conducted under this agenda item. The Committee decided to accord the highest
priority at its thirtieth session to the consideration and adoption of
a draft general comment on article 3 of the Covenant (equality between
men and women in the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights).
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.
At its twenty-ninth session, the Committee requested the Secretary-General
to schedule five reports from five States parties for consideration at
its thirtieth session.
In accordance with rule 62, paragraph 2, of the Committee's rules of
procedure, the Secretary-General has in a note verbale dated 5 December
2002 informed the States parties concerned of the opening date and duration
of the thirtieth session of the Committee, as well as of the dates at which
their respective reports will be examined and has invited them to send
representatives to attend the meetings of the Committee.
As at 5 January 2001, the reports listed below had been received by
the Secretary-General. The reports of the States parties which are scheduled
for consideration by the Committee at its thirtieth session are identified
by an asterisk. The tentative timetable for consideration of those reports,
prepared by the Secretary-General in consultation with the Chairperson
of the Committee, is contained in document E/C.12/2003/L.1.
Initial reports
| Republic of Moldova |
E/1990/5/Add.52
|
| Brazil* |
E/1990/5/Add.53
|
| Yemen |
E/1990/5/Add.54
|
| Lithuania |
E/1990/5/Add.55
|
| Greece |
E/1990/5/Add.56
|
| Kuwait |
E/1990/5/Add.57
|
Second periodic reports
| Israel* |
E/1990/6/Add.32
|
| New Zealand* |
E/1990/6/Add.33
|
| Guatemala |
E/1990/6/Add.34
|
| Democratic People's Republic of Korea |
E/1990/6/Add.35
|
| Ecuador |
E/1990/6/Add.36
|
Third periodic reports
| Luxembourg* |
E/1994/104/Add.24
|
| Iceland* |
E/1994/104/Add.25
|
Fourth periodic reports
| Russian Federation |
E/C.12/4/Add.10
|
| Spain |
E/C.12/4/Add.11
|
(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 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 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.
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 article 16 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:
A note by the Secretary-General on the States parties to the Covenant
and the Status of submission of reports (E/C.12/12/2003/2).
8. 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)
9. 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.12/2003/3 which contains the requested information.
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 inscribe
on its agenda a standing item, "Miscellaneous matters", under which it
may consider any issue falling outside the scope of other standing agenda
items.