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25 April 2000
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CESCR
22nd Session
25 April 2000
Afternoon
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this afternoon heard non-governmental organizations (NGOs) express their views about country reports that the panel will consider during its three-week session.
While Committee experts prepared to question official Government delegations starting tomorrow morning, they asked representatives of various NGOs to provide specific and objective views on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights.
A representative from Save the Children, for example, pointed out that the Roma/Gypsy minority in Italy had a low-level of education. In part because of poverty, school enrollment for Roma/Gypsy children was nearly zero in secondary school because of the costs of textbooks and clothing.
Another NGO criticized an Egyptian law that turned large amounts of agricultural land into land that could be developed. The law also deregulated rent controls on this land. The law, it was charged, violated the right to adequate food, and also displaced thousands of small farmers from their land.
Concerning the situation of economic, social and cultural rights in Jordan, a representative of Habitat International Coalition said the most critical problem was the lack of binding legislation that called for equality between the sexes. There was, for example, an automatic retirement or pensioning term for women that prevented them from reaching higher levels in the workplace.
There were a number of general statements.
Representatives of the following non-governmental organizations addressed the meeting: the International Federation for Human Rights, Save the Children, Fian International, the World Organization Against Torture, the Habitat International Coalition, and the Centre for Housing Rights and Evictions. A representative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization also spoke.
The Committee will reconvene Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. to begin its consideration of the initial report of Georgia.
Comments on the Report of Italy
PASCUALE BANDIERA, of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), said a lot had happened since Italy presented its last report in 1997 and the significance of the changes must be looked at. The report said it was necessary to eliminate public interference with the regulation of the economy. It was necessary to train people, and to make the digital economy more available. The Government report only mentioned the latest issues concerning equality of women in the workforce. It mentioned the military. But family law had to be addressed. Other factors, like judges and the courts, also had to be addressed.
There needed to be a major upheaval, a total overhaul of the law. The campaign for liberalization and deregulation must also look at development. If there was going to be liberalization and deregulation, there would have to be price controls. A lot had been said about training. But workers rights had become more vulnerable. Everyone in the world was dealing with a new economy, but that should not eat up the old economy.
F. DONATI, of Save the Children, said the general pattern of Roma/Gypsy children's attendance in school in Italy indicated the amount of difficulties that these children and their families encountered. Whereas in primary school -- ages five to 10 -- the attendance rate varied from 30 per cent to 65 per cent, attendance dropped dramatically to 5 per cent or less in lower high school -- ages 10 to 14 -- and went down to practically zero in higher secondary school. Sending children to primary school was not too expensive and might help families by allowing parents time to earn some money. At higher school levels, though, costs for books and clothing became unbearable for families. Last year, a young Italian Roma student graduated from University, and it was carried by all the news media.
Comments on the Report of Egypt
SHERIF WADOOD, of FIAN International, said Egypt had failed to provide an environment that respected the right to adequate food. Every year 50,000 acres of agricultural land were turned into urban land and were lost. As a direct result of the World Bank Land Price Policy, which was implemented in 1997 after a five-year transitional period, rents had increased 300 per cent. Small farmers were not able to compete with larger farms. Many farmers had to leave the business. Before the law, they used to take loans against the coming harvest. Now, banks were denying them. Unfortunately, the Government did not fairly compensate these people. In demonstrations against this, some people had been shot, and in some cases, fatally wounded. This violence was a result of the Government's failure to take action during the five-year transitional period.
CARIN BENNINGER-BUDEL, of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), said while OMCT welcomed the efforts undertaken by the Government of Egypt to include gender perspectives in the report submitted to the Committee, it feared at the same time that its treatment remained superficial and one-sided. For example, while discussing articles 2 and 3, the Government report referred to the Constitution of Egypt which provided for equality of sexes. But it overlooked the fact that many aspects of law and traditional practices were discriminatory against women and consequently had negative effects on their enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. It ignored the current conservative trends which called for the return of women to their homes and attempted to undermine what women had achieved in the past decades.
Also unexpressed in the Government report was the low economic and social status which resulted in the lower enrollment of girls in schools. For every 100 boys enrolled in primary school, only 84 girls were enrolled. These inequalities were more pronounced in rural areas, with fully one-third of 10-year-old girls not enrolled in rural Upper Egypt. Comparing male and female illiteracy levels of all ages nation-wide, there was a significantly greater proportion of women who were illiterate; 62 per cent among females as opposed to 38 per cent for males.
JOSEPH SCHECHLA, of the Habitat International Coalition, said the Government's efforts to educate the public on human rights was limited. Human rights education was more aimed at national unity rather than the rights of the individual. The Government had a hostile attitude toward human rights and NGOs in general. The former Prime Minister had called the work of human rights groups harmful, and had threatened them.
There was no officially established poverty line in Egypt, and the official studies used their own poverty line. Recent studies had shown that one quarter were poor by any standard, and another quarter were on the fringe of poverty. Female headed households were more likely to be poor than their male counterparts. Poor women were the least supported in the health care system, and were the least represented in the educational sector.
Comments on the Report of Jordan
JOSEPH SCHECHLA, of the Habitat International Coalition, said the report from Jordan was positive in many respects. But the most critical problem that needed to be addressed was that there was no binding legislation that called for equality between the sexes. There was an automatic retirement or pensioning term for women. This had a negative effect on women's roles in the workplace because it limited their ability to reach higher levels.
There were efforts by the Government to support new businesses, but women-owned businesses only received 14.5 per cent support from an official fund. In 1999, unemployment was 15.6 per cent in the country -- 12.6 per cent for males, 30.9 per cent for females. The minimum wage in Jordan was not commensurate with price levels. Many small enterprises did not abide by the minimum wage, and the penalties for non-compliance were not severe, so there was no deterrent.
General Statements
K. SINGH, of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said the organization had been conducting activities that were related to the general comments on Article 13. UNESCO considered education an empowerment right.
UNESCO had also done work on cultural rights. There would be a paper presented to the Committee entitled, "Cultural Rights and Wrongs." At the policy level, some of UNESCO's activities related to linguistic rights. In fact, this could become a very important issue for UNESCO to work on in the coming years.
MICHAEL WINDFUHR, of FIAN INTERNATIONAL, said the Committee had decided it would be open to monitor States reports every five years, following the concluding observations. The question was how could the Committee deal with in-between information if NGOs did collect data. There was another point regarding the land policy and the World Bank. There was a policy on land in Brazil. The World Bank had a policy on land markets in many countries -- the Egyptian law was one example. Could the Committee take up a general discussion with the World Bank?
CARLA MULLINS, of the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, said the Committee should look at the NGO submissions about the situation in Australia. There was a report that outlined various areas of concern, like systemic discrimination against Australia's indigenous peoples, in which every right in the Covenant was violated. There were reductions in public housing funding even as the public housing rolls were increasing. This was expected to reach crisis proportions with the Summer Olympics approaching in 2000.
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22nd Session
25 April 2000
Afternoon
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this afternoon heard non-governmental organizations (NGOs) express their views about country reports that the panel will consider during its three-week session.
While Committee experts prepared to question official Government delegations starting tomorrow morning, they asked representatives of various NGOs to provide specific and objective views on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights.
A representative from Save the Children, for example, pointed out that the Roma/Gypsy minority in Italy had a low-level of education. In part because of poverty, school enrollment for Roma/Gypsy children was nearly zero in secondary school because of the costs of textbooks and clothing.
Another NGO criticized an Egyptian law that turned large amounts of agricultural land into land that could be developed. The law also deregulated rent controls on this land. The law, it was charged, violated the right to adequate food, and also displaced thousands of small farmers from their land.
Concerning the situation of economic, social and cultural rights in Jordan, a representative of Habitat International Coalition said the most critical problem was the lack of binding legislation that called for equality between the sexes. There was, for example, an automatic retirement or pensioning term for women that prevented them from reaching higher levels in the workplace.
There were a number of general statements.
Representatives of the following non-governmental organizations addressed the meeting: the International Federation for Human Rights, Save the Children, Fian International, the World Organization Against Torture, the Habitat International Coalition, and the Centre for Housing Rights and Evictions. A representative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization also spoke.
The Committee will reconvene Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. to begin its consideration of the initial report of Georgia.
Comments on the Report of Italy
PASCUALE BANDIERA, of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), said a lot had happened since Italy presented its last report in 1997 and the significance of the changes must be looked at. The report said it was necessary to eliminate public interference with the regulation of the economy. It was necessary to train people, and to make the digital economy more available. The Government report only mentioned the latest issues concerning equality of women in the workforce. It mentioned the military. But family law had to be addressed. Other factors, like judges and the courts, also had to be addressed.
There needed to be a major upheaval, a total overhaul of the law. The campaign for liberalization and deregulation must also look at development. If there was going to be liberalization and deregulation, there would have to be price controls. A lot had been said about training. But workers rights had become more vulnerable. Everyone in the world was dealing with a new economy, but that should not eat up the old economy.
F. DONATI, of Save the Children, said the general pattern of Roma/Gypsy children's attendance in school in Italy indicated the amount of difficulties that these children and their families encountered. Whereas in primary school -- ages five to 10 -- the attendance rate varied from 30 per cent to 65 per cent, attendance dropped dramatically to 5 per cent or less in lower high school -- ages 10 to 14 -- and went down to practically zero in higher secondary school. Sending children to primary school was not too expensive and might help families by allowing parents time to earn some money. At higher school levels, though, costs for books and clothing became unbearable for families. Last year, a young Italian Roma student graduated from University, and it was carried by all the news media.
Comments on the Report of Egypt
SHERIF WADOOD, of FIAN International, said Egypt had failed to provide an environment that respected the right to adequate food. Every year 50,000 acres of agricultural land were turned into urban land and were lost. As a direct result of the World Bank Land Price Policy, which was implemented in 1997 after a five-year transitional period, rents had increased 300 per cent. Small farmers were not able to compete with larger farms. Many farmers had to leave the business. Before the law, they used to take loans against the coming harvest. Now, banks were denying them. Unfortunately, the Government did not fairly compensate these people. In demonstrations against this, some people had been shot, and in some cases, fatally wounded. This violence was a result of the Government's failure to take action during the five-year transitional period.
CARIN BENNINGER-BUDEL, of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), said while OMCT welcomed the efforts undertaken by the Government of Egypt to include gender perspectives in the report submitted to the Committee, it feared at the same time that its treatment remained superficial and one-sided. For example, while discussing articles 2 and 3, the Government report referred to the Constitution of Egypt which provided for equality of sexes. But it overlooked the fact that many aspects of law and traditional practices were discriminatory against women and consequently had negative effects on their enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. It ignored the current conservative trends which called for the return of women to their homes and attempted to undermine what women had achieved in the past decades.
Also unexpressed in the Government report was the low economic and social status which resulted in the lower enrollment of girls in schools. For every 100 boys enrolled in primary school, only 84 girls were enrolled. These inequalities were more pronounced in rural areas, with fully one-third of 10-year-old girls not enrolled in rural Upper Egypt. Comparing male and female illiteracy levels of all ages nation-wide, there was a significantly greater proportion of women who were illiterate; 62 per cent among females as opposed to 38 per cent for males.
JOSEPH SCHECHLA, of the Habitat International Coalition, said the Government's efforts to educate the public on human rights was limited. Human rights education was more aimed at national unity rather than the rights of the individual. The Government had a hostile attitude toward human rights and NGOs in general. The former Prime Minister had called the work of human rights groups harmful, and had threatened them.
There was no officially established poverty line in Egypt, and the official studies used their own poverty line. Recent studies had shown that one quarter were poor by any standard, and another quarter were on the fringe of poverty. Female headed households were more likely to be poor than their male counterparts. Poor women were the least supported in the health care system, and were the least represented in the educational sector.
Comments on the Report of Jordan
JOSEPH SCHECHLA, of the Habitat International Coalition, said the report from Jordan was positive in many respects. But the most critical problem that needed to be addressed was that there was no binding legislation that called for equality between the sexes. There was an automatic retirement or pensioning term for women. This had a negative effect on women's roles in the workplace because it limited their ability to reach higher levels.
There were efforts by the Government to support new businesses, but women-owned businesses only received 14.5 per cent support from an official fund. In 1999, unemployment was 15.6 per cent in the country -- 12.6 per cent for males, 30.9 per cent for females. The minimum wage in Jordan was not commensurate with price levels. Many small enterprises did not abide by the minimum wage, and the penalties for non-compliance were not severe, so there was no deterrent.
General Statements
K. SINGH, of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said the organization had been conducting activities that were related to the general comments on Article 13. UNESCO considered education an empowerment right.
UNESCO had also done work on cultural rights. There would be a paper presented to the Committee entitled, "Cultural Rights and Wrongs." At the policy level, some of UNESCO's activities related to linguistic rights. In fact, this could become a very important issue for UNESCO to work on in the coming years.
MICHAEL WINDFUHR, of FIAN INTERNATIONAL, said the Committee had decided it would be open to monitor States reports every five years, following the concluding observations. The question was how could the Committee deal with in-between information if NGOs did collect data. There was another point regarding the land policy and the World Bank. There was a policy on land in Brazil. The World Bank had a policy on land markets in many countries -- the Egyptian law was one example. Could the Committee take up a general discussion with the World Bank?
CARLA MULLINS, of the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, said the Committee should look at the NGO submissions about the situation in Australia. There was a report that outlined various areas of concern, like systemic discrimination against Australia's indigenous peoples, in which every right in the Covenant was violated. There were reductions in public housing funding even as the public housing rolls were increasing. This was expected to reach crisis proportions with the Summer Olympics approaching in 2000.
* *** *