FOURTH WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN: ACTION FOREQUALITY,DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE
Statement of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(Adopted at the twelfth session, on 17 May 1995)
1.The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights held its firstsession in 1987. It was preceded by the Sessional Working Group ofGovernmental Experts of the Economic and Social Council which had functionedsince 1979, six years before the World Conference to Review and Appraise theAchievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Developmentand Peace was held at Nairobi in 1985. The Committee is mandated to monitorcompliance by States parties with their obligations under the InternationalCovenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Committee is composedof 18 independent experts who are each elected for a term of four years by theEconomic and Social Council.
2.The monitoring mechanism provided for under the International Covenant onEconomic, Social and Cultural Rights consists of the consideration of Statesparties’ reports on the implementation of the Covenant. These reports areprepared and submitted to the Committee every five years on all the articlesof the Covenant.
3. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is the only legally binding international treaty of the United Nations that dealsexclusively with economic, social and cultural rights. The Covenantarticulates a wide-ranging set of human rights: the right to work; the rightto fair wages and to just working conditions; the right to strike and tofreedom of association; the right to social security; protection of thefamily; the right to an adequate standard of living and to freedom fromhunger; the right to physical and mental health; the right to education; andthe right to take part in cultural life and to enjoy the benefits ofscientific progress and creative activity.
4. The guiding principles governing the application of the Covenant areexpressed in article 2, which provides that States parties are obligated toachieve progressively the full realization of the rights set forth in theCovenant by all appropriate means without discrimination of any kind, and inarticle 3, which guarantees the equal right of men and women to the enjoymentof all the economic, social and cultural rights enshrined in the Covenant.
5.The Committee has long recognized the reality that violations ofeconomic, social and cultural rights result in some of the most persistentforms of inequality and of discrimination, particularly against women, theelderly, the disabled and other vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.Almost 50 years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of HumanRights, women today continue to bear the burden of particular obstacles to theenjoyment of their economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights.
6. At its fifth session, in 1990, the Committee adopted new guidelinesregarding the form and content of reports to be submitted by States partiesunder articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant (E/C.12/1991/1), with a view toensuring that principal concerns would be elaborated methodically. Theguidelines provide a uniform framework for reports, thus enabling theCommittee to conduct a constructive dialogue with States parties in aconsistent manner. They focus on issues which the Committee regards asindicative of the extent to which economic, social and cultural rights areenjoyed by all constituents of States parties to the Covenant.
7. The text of the guidelines reflects the Committee’s abiding concern inits repeated reference to the specific situation of women in relation to therights protected by the Covenant. In their reports, States parties are askedto identify the persons or group of persons who are particularly vulnerable ordisadvantaged with regard to the practical application of the Covenant, and toprovide statistical indicators on the subject.
8. The Committee’s experience in its consideration of 103 reports thus farshows that women in particular continue to suffer the effects of poverty, ofdiscrimination in education, in employment and in the family, of inequalitiesin health care, of sexual harassment, abuse and exploitation, and of lack ofaccess to economic opportunities, social security and adequate housing. TheCommittee has cited the particular difficulties of single mothers and elderlywomen. It is regrettable that, in many instances, customs and traditionsassign a role to women that is detrimental to the enjoyment of their humanrights.
9. It is precisely for this reason that the Committee has considered theeconomic, social and cultural rights of women to be a critical area ofconcern, and has continued its efforts to induce States parties to protect andpromote these rights, for which they are accountable under the provisions ofthe Covenant. In its concluding observations adopted after consideration ofgovernment reports, the Committee has recommended specific measures to betaken by States parties to address principal concerns. For example, theCommittee has recommended to certain States parties that, among other things,"the ... authorities should continue their efforts to ensure de facto equalitybetween men and women, especially in the areas of access to employment,remuneration for equal work, working conditions, the right to social securityand participation in higher education" (E/1995/22-E/C.12/1994/20, para. 258);"the Government should take immediate steps to introduce a comprehensiveanti-discrimination legislation especially in relation to all forms ofdiscrimination against women" (ibid., para. 298); "efforts should include bothlegislative measures and educational activities aimed at overcoming thenegative influence of certain traditions and customs" (ibid., para. 118); "theState party should adopt the necessary measures to accord greater priority tothe education of women, including the eradication of female illiteracy";(ibid., para. 141); and "the obligation to ensure equal opportunity for womenwarrants particular attention, especially in relation to the right to work,family-related rights and the right to education" (E/1994/23-E/C.12/1993/19,para. 129).10. The Mission Statement of the Fourth World Conference on Women: Actionfor Equality, Development and Peace, to be held in Beijing, reaffirms thefundamental principle set forth in the Vienna Declaration and Programme ofAction, adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights, that the human rightsof women and of the girl child are an inalienable, integral and indivisiblepart of universal human rights.
11. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rightscontains rights which are applicable to all persons, including women of allages, from the girl child to the elderly woman. It thus constitutes anindispensable element in any comprehensive framework for the promotion andprotection of the rights of women.
12. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights therefore enjoinsthe Fourth World Conference on Women to urge all States to ratify theInternational Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and to set agoal of universal ratification by the year 2000.
13. In view of the central importance of the reporting mechanism provided forunder the Covenant, the Committee invites States parties to the Covenant todevote particular attention to the situation of women in their reports. Thiswill contribute significantly to a constructive and meaningful dialogue withthe Committee regarding the condition of women.
14. In addition to reports submitted by States parties, the Committeewelcomes submissions of information from a wide range of sources. Theseinclude United Nations specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizationsand non-governmental organizations, all of which are invited to participateduring the Committee’s annual sessions. These entities are thereforeencouraged to provide the Committee with information on the situation ofeconomic, social and cultural rights from a more gender-specific perspective.
15. In response to the recommendation of the 1993 World Conference on HumanRights and at the request of the Commission on Human Rights, the Committee onEconomic, Social and Cultural Rights is at present drafting an optionalprotocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and CulturalRights. This protocol would enable individuals to submit complaints ofviolation of their economic, social and cultural rights. It would provide aneffective means towards achieving the fulfilment of the rights of women. Forthis reason, the Committee calls upon the Fourth World Conference on Women tosupport this undertaking.