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Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is a United Nations body of 18 experts that meets three times a year to consider the five-yearly reports submitted by UN member states on their compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).  The ICESCR was adopted on the 16th of December 1966.  As of December 2009 there were 160 state parties to the covenant.  For up to date information on state parties go to: http://treaties.un.org/Pages/Treaties.aspx?id=4&subid=A&lang=en.  The ICESCR is one of the 8 core human rights treates.  This covenant covers human rights including the right to self determination, economic rights, right to food, health, water, and shelter.

More information on the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights can be found here: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cescr/index.htm
General Guidelines

There are no specific page limits though it is always better if they are short and specific and ideally, not more than 10 pages.

By post you must submit 25 hard copies for the session and 10 hard copies for the pre-session

Deadline for submission to pre-session: NGO reports need to be submitted to the secretariat one week before the pre-sessional working group meets.

  • This information to the Pre-session should be made available in the form of a report discussing the implementation of the Covenant in the State party on an article-by-article basis. It is particularly helpful to formulate, at the end of each section specific questions which the pre-sessional working group may consider incorporating in the list of issues with respect to the State party concerned.

Deadline for submission to session: NGOs should deliver their report and summary to the secretariat one week prior to the session.

  • For submission to the session NGOs should submit written information in the form of a "parallel" report, providing a supplementary or alternative interpretation, or second opinion, concerning the status of implementation of the economic, social and cultural rights enshrined in the Covenant in that country. Where possible, it is useful to submit a summary of the report in all the working languages of the Committee.

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cescr/NGOs.htm#aii
Contact Information

Susan Mathews 


Secretary of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Tel: 0041-22-917 91 54, 
fax: 0041-22-917 90 22

E-mail: smathews@ohchr.org 


Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights 
Office 1-025, Palais Wilson 
Palais des Nations 
8-14 Avenue de la Paix 
1211 Geneva 10 
Switzerland