COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL
AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
Pre-sessional Working Group
3-7 December 2001
List of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration
of the second periodic report of Georgia on articles 1-15 of the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(E/1990/6/Add.31)
I. GENERAL FRAMEWORK WITHIN WHICH THE
COVENANT IS IMPLEMENTED
A. Land and people
1. According to the report, in recent years 1.5 million people have left the country, primarily for economic reasons. Please provide information on what effective measures the State party has undertaken to stem the flow of so many Georgians leaving the country.
2. Please provide information on the status of internally displaced persons within the country (280,000 persons) and indicate what effective measures the State party has taken to ensure their effective enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights.
B. General legal framework within which human rights are protected
3. Has the State party formulated a National Plan of Action on Human Rights, as recommended by the Committee in its concluding observations on Georgia's initial report (E/C.12/1/Add.42)?
4. Does the State party intend to ratify International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions No. 2 (Unemployment Convention), No. 81 (Labour Inspection Convention), No. 102 (Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention) and No. 182 (Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention)?
C. Information on the rights recognized in the Covenant
5. Please indicate the measures taken by the State party to inform the general public and government employees, particularly those serving in law enforcement agencies, of the rights recognized in the Covenant.
6. Please provide information on the mandate, powers and degree of independence of the Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and for Ethnic Relations.
7. Please provide information on human rights education in the State party's schools and universities.
II. Issues relating to the general provisions
of the covenant (arts. 1-5)
Article 2.2 - Non-discrimination
8. Please provide information on what effective measures the State party has undertaken to rectify the situation whereby women are mostly employed in low-paying jobs and are not well
represented in official and senior management posts (para. 88 of the report). Please also provide information on the considerable discrepancy in wages between men and women and measures taken to address this problem.
Article 3 - Equality between men and women
9. Please provide information on what effective measures the State party has taken to guarantee gender equality in the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights and provide updated information on the implementation of the National Plan of Action adopted in this respect, as requested in the Committee's concluding observations (para. 27).
III. ISSUES RELATING TO SPECIFIC PROVISIONS
OF THE COVENANT (arts. 6-15)
Article 6 - Right to work
10. Please provide updated statistics on unemployment levels in the country, as well as on the measures undertaken to deal with this problem.
11. Please clarify what the dividing line is between the unemployed and the self-employed (according to paragraph 25 of the State party's report, nearly 58 per cent of the labour force).
12. Please explain whether any specific measures have been taken under the National Employment Programme to combat unemployment (para. 40 of the report). Please also explain if the State Employment Service has been created (para. 42 of the report).
13. Please provide updated information on vocational training of the unemployed, as well as on the retraining for specialists (para. 58 of the report). Please explain why almost half of the unemployed who underwent vocational training have not received the relevant certificate.
14. Please provide information on what measures have been taken to provide greater access to the workplace for the disabled, as recommended in the Committee's concluding observations (para. 25).
Article 7 - Right to just and favourable conditions of work
15. Please provide information on what measures the State party has taken to deal with the problem of the low level of wages and salaries during the period between the initial and the second periodic report.
16. Please indicate what measures have been taken by the State party to ensure the timely payment of wages, as recommended in the Committee's concluding observations (para. 24).
17. Please provide updated information on work accidents and on what effective measures have been taken to deal with this problem.
Article 8 - Trade union rights
18. Please provide statistical and other information, showing trends over the past five years, on the number of persons in the economically active population who belong to trade unions.
19. Please provide information on the right to strike, as well as on the causes and frequency of strikes.
Article 9 - Right to social security
20. Please provide information on the operation and results of the State Social Programme, mentioned in paragraph 103 of the report.
21. Please provide updated information on the Special State Programmes for the disabled, mentioned in paragraph 115 of the report.
22. Please provide information on State expenditure on social security, as well as information on social programmes undertaken by the State party, and whether social benefits are sufficient to sustain a decent standard of living.
23. Please provide information on the existing levels of social benefits (pensions and unemployment benefits) and whether they are sufficient for a decent standard of living.
24. Please provide information on what basis the subsistence minimum is determined.
Article 10 - Protection of the family, mothers and children
25. Please provide information on the implementation of the Committee's recommendations on measures undertaken by the State party to prevent domestic violence, particularly against women and children (concluding observations, para. 27).
26. Please provide updated statistics on trends in marriages, divorces and births over the last five years.
27. Please provide updated statistics on child labour, especially with regard to children between the age of 7 and 17.
28. Please provide information on the implementation of the Committee's recommendations (concluding observations, para. 28) on child beggars, as well as on the problem of child pornography and prostitution.
Article 11 - Right to an adequate standard of living
29. Please provide information on what basis the minimum wage is determined and whether it is sufficient to maintain a decent standard of living.
30. Describe the specific measures taken in the State party to implement the provisions of paragraph 23 of the Committee's concluding observations, particularly with respect to the poverty threshold level.
31. The State party's report indicates that there is a steady decline in the consumption of staple foods in the country (para. 157), although "public food supply has improved noticeably" (para. 164). Please explain this contradiction and provide updated information on food production and consumption.
32. Please provide updated information on housing, particularly on State expenditure on low-cost housing construction. In this regard, please provide information on the problem of homelessness.
Article 12 - Right to physical and mental health
33. Please provide information on the progress in implementing the Strategic Plan to improve Health Care in the State party over the period 2000-2009 (para. 189 of the report).
34. Please provide updated information on the cut in the funding for health-care programmes in 1998-2000 (para. 190 of the report).
35. Please provide updated information, especially with respect to legislative measures, on health care for the neediest population groups (paras. 204-206 of the report), in particular low-income families, IDPs and disabled persons.
36. Please provide information on what measures the State party has taken with respect to the improvement of awareness and knowledge of the public with regard to reproductive and sexual health, as recommended in the Committee's concluding observations (para. 30).
Articles 13 and 14 - Right to education
37. Paragraph 240 of the report mentions a chronic lack of funding for the education system. Please provide updated information on the budgetary expenditure on education.
38. Please provide updated information on the extent of school drop-out and what effective measures the State party is undertaking to deal with this problem. Please provide information on the numbers of school-age children not attending school.
Article 15 - Right to take part in cultural life
39. Please provide updated information on budgetary allocations for cultural activities.
40. Please provide information on any periodical publications or radio and television broadcasts in the languages of minorities living in Georgia.