26 May 1987

14th Plenary Meeting

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The Economic and Social Council,

Mindful of its central responsibilities under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,

Recalling its resolution l985/17 of 28 May l985, by which it established the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to be entrusted from l987 with the important task of examining the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,

Recalling also its resolutions and decisions relating to its Sessional Working Group of Governmental Experts on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including resolution l979/43 of 11 May l979, which remain in force in so far as they are not superseded or modified by resolution l985/17,

Reaffirming the importance of increasing public awareness of the Committee and the role that non-governmental organizations can play in that regard,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 41/121 of 4 December l986 on reporting obligations under United Nations instruments on human rights, which is of relevance to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and in which the Assembly reaffirmed the importance of maintaining summary records, and bearing in mind the relevance to the work of the Committee of the activities and experience of other United Nations treaty bodies,

1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on its first session, including suggestions and recommendations of a general nature approved by the Committee;

2. Urges all States that have not yet done so to become parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;

3. Invites States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to follow the recommendations made by the Committee to address the problems of non-submission and extended delays in the submission of periodic reports, in particular the need for States parties to submit and present their reports in a timely manner and to cover the entire cycle of initial reports before submitting second reports;

4. Invites also States parties to the Covenant to review the processes followed in the preparation of their periodic reports on implementation of the Covenant, including consultation and co-ordination with relevant governmental departments and agencies, compilation of data, and training of staff, with a view to ensuring full compliance with relevant guidelines improving the quality of description and analysis in such reports, and limiting reports to a reasonable length;

5. Urges the specialized agencies, regional commissions and other relevant United Nations bodies to extend their full co-operation and support to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by, inter alia, enabling their representatives to attend meetings of the Committee and submitting relevant information to the Committee;

6. Invites non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Council to submit to it written statements that might contribute to full and universal recognition and realization of the rights contained in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and requests the Secretary-General to make those statements available to the Committee in a timely manner;

7. Takes note of the recommendation of the Committee with regard to future sessions of the Committee but considers that the current provision of one annual session of three weeks' duration should be maintained for the time being and invites the Committee to explore further ways of expediting its consideration of periodic reports, such as by imposing time limits on oral interventions, avoiding duplication in questioning, requesting supplementary written material, and encouraging States parties to present reports that are as succinct as possible;

8. Welcomes the proposal of the Committee to set up a sessional working group to consider its methods of work and invites the Committee to develop as a matter of priority its general guidelines for the preparation of reports pursuant to articles 16 and l7 of the Covenant, taking due account of the compilation of guidelines prepared by the Secretary-General, and focusing on such specific information as would assist the Committee to carry out its mandate more effectively;

9. Invites the Committee to consider again at its next session the compilation of recommendations in the summary records of the Committee relating to its future work, paying particular regard to practices followed by other treaty bodies, including the preparation of general comments by the Human Rights Committee;

10. Requests the Secretary-General to bring the report of the Committee to the attention of the Commission on Human Rights, the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and other United Nations organs and their subsidiaries, specialized agencies concerned with providing technical assistance and the regional commissions;

11. Requests the Secretary-General to continue his efforts under the programme of advisory services in the field of human rights to assist States parties in discharging their reporting obligations under the Covenant, including holding training courses on the preparation of reports on the implementation of the Covenant, and requests the Secretary-General to advise States parties of the availability of such assistance;

12. Encourages the Secretary-General to give publicity to the proceedings of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and to ensure that it receives full administrative support so as to enable it to discharge its functions as effectively as possible;

13. Requests the Secretary-General to provide a compilation from official United Nations sources of statistics relevant to the Committee's consideration of the reports of States parties;

14. Decides to transmit the report of the Committee to the General Assembly at its forty-second session for consideration under the item on the International Covenants on Human Rights.