What is the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights?
The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) is comprised of 18 independent human rights experts who monitor State party compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The Committee is the only institution which has been given the legal authority by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations (and, thus, the States that comprise it) to issue authoritative decisions and pronouncements concerning how the Covenant is or is not implemented by States parties. This is why the Committee is so important in the overall effort to secure economic, social and cultural rights.

What human rights are contained in the ICESCR?

• Right to self-determination (art. 1)
• Right not to be discriminated against on the basis of gender (art. 2)
• Right to work (art. 6)
• Right to just and favourable conditions of work (art. 7)
• Trade union rights (art. 8)
• The right to strike (art. 8)
• Right to social security (art. 9)
• Right to protection of the family and child (art. 10)
• Right to an adequate standard of living, including food, clothing and housing (art. 11)
• Right to health (art. 12)
• Right to education (arts. 13 and 14)
• Right to participation in cultural life and the benefits of scientific progress (art. 15)

The full text of the ICESCR is available below.

Who are the members of the Committee?
The Committee is made up of 18 independent human rights experts who serve on the Committee in their individual capacities - not as government representatives. They come from various regions of the world including: Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin America, Europe and Oceania.

What does the Committee do?
As a treaty monitoring body, the Committee is responsible for holding States parties to the ICESCR to their legal obligations to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights contained in the Covenant. Among other things, the Committee monitors treatment of poor and other disadvantaged groups and assesses whether governments are meeting their obligations. The Committee does this by:

1. Receiving the obligatory States reports from governments every five years
2. Receiving parallel or shadow reports from NGOs
3. Requesting further information and clarification of particular issues that may constitute violations of the rights contained in the ICESCR
4. Conducting oral hearings (“constructive dialogues”), where it questions representatives of States parties regarding laws and policies related to economic, social and cultural rights
5. Listening to oral submissions from NGOs
6. Assessing all of the information it has received throughout the review process
7. Issuing Concluding Observations evaluating each State party’s performance based on this information and entailing specific recommendations
8. Reaching out to UN specialized agencies and programmes such as UNHCR, ILO and UNICEF for information on States Parties
9. Occasionally, in emergency situations, communicating directly with governments to inquire about particularly serious or emerging situations amounting to alleged violations of the Covenant

The Committee also develops law by adopting General Comments elaborating the content and meaning of specific rights and key implementation issues to assist States parties with their reporting obligations and domestic implementation of the ICESCR. Add links to all General Comments

When and where does the Committee meet?
The Committee holds two three-week sessions in Geneva, in May and in November.

Advocacy at the Committee should constitute just one of many strategies to improve conditions in your country. In this respect, it should complement and reinforce other activities and strategies carried out at the national or regional levels. In deciding whether this is in fact a strategy you would like to pursue, you should consider the following two questions:

Does the Committee have jurisdiction over my country? To be of assistance to your advocacy goals, the Committee has to have jurisdiction over your country. The Committee has jurisdiction over your country if your country has ratified or acceded to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Once a government has ratified or acceded to the ICESCR they become a State Party to it. You can find out here whether your country is a State party to the Covenant by following the link below.

In case your country is not a State party to the ICESCR, advocacy can be conducted with other UN mechanisms that have relevance for the protection and promotion of economic, social and cultural rights. For more information, go to the section on Using other UN Mechanisms

If your government is not a State party to the Covenant, the Committee's procedures and mechanisms are not available to you. If, however, you think that the Covenant could be important for your work, you may wish to try to convince your government to ratify or accede to the ICESCR. Generally, it is up to a government's parliamentary body to ratify or accede to a treaty, but your government's Foreign Ministry may also have some power over ratification decisions. If possible, you should contact your foreign ministry to learn more about the status of the ICESCR in your country.

Can your work at the Committee feed into an existing campaign or initiative in your country? NGOs that meet with the most success at the Committee are those which directly link their international efforts with a domestic campaign or initiative.

Though the Committee is very open to NGO participation, it is important to have a complete understanding of what can and cannot be achieved through efforts involving the Committee.

Assuming you have convinced the Committee that the problem you have raised is within the scope of their work and a pressing concern, what actions or results can you expect?

• Concluding observations published by the Committee about your government's performance under the Covenant. Concluding observations are the formal decisions of the Committee regarding the state of economic, social and cultural rights in the country concerned. Concluding observations can include very helpful language, including:
  - A finding that your government has violated the Covenant
  - A statement urging that your government adopt new legislation, for example regularization of land ownership arrangements
  - A statement urging the repeal of legislation, for example a law which discriminates against women will need to be overturned
  - An appeal to your government to implement existing laws, for example laws allowing the government to requisition housing left unoccupied by owners
  - A request that your government not undertake a planned action that would violate the Covenant, for example a mass forced eviction
  - Encouragement from the Committee that your government use your input when taking a decision with a bearing on economic, social and cultural rights
  - A recommendation that your government provide specific services, policies, and institutions, for example that the government should construct low-cost rental housing, develop a comprehensive housing policy or create a national Commission on Housing
• Letters to governments concerning emergency human rights situations involving pending and clear violations of the Covenant
• Written answers and video footage of government responses to questions you convinced the Committee to put to them
Read here examples of important concluding observations issued by the Committee in the past which address housing rights and eviction issues Update

Even if the Committee issues language that assists your work in the form of a concluding observation or urgent letter, it is unlikely that the government will implement the Committee’s recommendations without follow up activity from you. At the same time, many governments take their human rights obligations seriously, and the Committee’s activities may open up new opportunities for you to convince policy makers and judges, attract media attention and change public opinion. As such, the Committee’s actions have to be seen as a tool to support and complement your action at the national level.

State party reports must be submitted to the Committee every 5 years. In these reports, States should detail the status of implementation of all of the rights enshrined in the ICESCR and describe difficulties encountered in implementing their obligations under the Covenant. The submission of reports will trigger the review process by the Committee. However, in case of a persistent failure to report, the Committee can review a State party’s implementation of its obligations of the Covenant in the absence of a report.

The review process develops in two subsequent stages. Firstly, the Committee will undertake an initial consideration of the report at a meeting of the "Pre-Sessional Working Group" (normally immediately following a Committee session and generally 6 months prior to the appearance of a State before the Committee). During the Pre-Sessional Working Group meeting, the Committee drafts a "List of Issues" seeking further information and clarification from the State party on particular issues. The Committee transmits the List of Issues to the State party for written responses prior to the oral review of the State party. The List of Issues and the written responses form the bulk of the second stage of the process, ie. the oral review or so-called constructive dialogue. This oral review generally occurs 6 months — 1 year after the Pre-Sessional Working Group. Delegations of the State party are asked to attend Committee hearings for three hours sessions to answer Committee questions. On the first day of each Committee session, NGOs have an opportunity to make oral submissions concerning the economic, social and cultural rights situation in States appearing before the Committee at that session. During the oral review of the State party, however, NGOs do not participate, but can attend to monitor the proceedings.

Your best chance of getting the Committee's attention to your concerns, therefore, is during the period when the Committee first begins to consider your country's report.

Without question, using the CESCR in your domestic work can be resource intensive. Before embarking on an advocacy effort with the Committee, ensure that you have the resources to conduct an effective campaign while in Geneva, but more importantly, after your involvement with the Committee. The resources expended in terms of time can also be considerable. It is very important that your organization sends a representative or delegation to the actual Committee session, and it can also be very helpful if someone also attends the Pre-Sessional working group. You should also be prepared for the financial costs of doing this work, although the suggestions in this manual attempt to help your organization save money. While the actual costs will vary depending on your specific situation and needs, you should include in your planning the following items:

• Costs of preparing an alternative report and other advocacy materials
• Costs to cover access to email regularly while in Geneva
• Travel to the Committee’s Pre-Sessional working group in Geneva
• Travel to the Committee session in Geneva
• Hotel, food and transport in Geneva
• Costs of follow up activities, including media campaigns, litigation and other advocacy efforts

By advance arrangement, COHRE can help you with strategic advice, advocacy assistance and on-the-ground support during Committee sessions, such as computer use, faxes, office space and locating affordable hotels in Geneva. COHRE can also introduce you to Committee members and familiarize you with Committee procedures, where you can get documents copied, and where you can grab a decent meal!

At various times, COHRE has limited funds to assist domestic NGOs with Committee campaigns, including travel to Committee sessions. To discuss this possibility you must contact COHRE well in advance on cohre@cohre.org

Jeff King, An Activist’s Manual on the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Law and Society Trust and Centre on Economic and Social Rights, 2003).

This Manual provides detailed guidance on how an activist can apply the ICESCR to situations in his or her own country and effectively raise this before the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

This manual was completed in 2003. Since that time three new General Comments and a number of Concluding Observations have been adopted by the Committee. To the author's knowledge, no significant doctrinal developments have occurred. However, readers should in particular take note of General Comment No. 16 (concerning equal rights of men and women to the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights), No. 17 (concerning certain cultural and intellectual rights in respect of scientific or artistic works), and, significantly with regard to Chapter V of the manual, No. 18 (concerning the right to work). Furthermore, there have been significant legal developments in South Africa and elsewhere, and the chapter concerning the justiciability of social rights must be read in this light. Activists are encouraged to consult this website periodically for updated information. Feedback, both critical and positive, would be warmly welcomed at jeff@cohre.org
Jeff King
6 January 2007