Decisions adopted by the Committee at its nineteenth session : . 04/12/98.
E/1999/22,paras.518-529. (Decision)

Convention Abbreviation: CESCR
B. Decisions adopted by the Committee at its nineteenth session

Day of general discussion

518. In accordance with the decision taken at its eighteenth session, the Committee held its day of general discussion on the right to education as enshrined in articles 13 and 14 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on 30 November 1998 (see chap. V above, paras. 462 to 514). Particular effort was made to relate the discussion to the work of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights, who participated in the discussion.

519. At its twentieth session, the Committee will devote its day of general discussion to the consideration of the draft general comments on the right to education: "Plan of action for primary education" (art. 14 of the Covenant) and "Right to education" (art. 13 of the Covenant).

Follow-up to the day of general discussion
on the right to education

520. The Committee devoted its day of general discussion at its nineteenth session to the right to education (arts. 13 and 14 of the Covenant). For the first time in the history of the human rights treaty-body system, participants included a Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights, Ms. Katarina Tomasevski, and a member of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, Mr. Mustapha Mehedi, in addition to representatives of UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, non-governmental organizations and independent experts.

521. Among the issues raised during the discussion were, first, the use of indicators and benchmarks as a means of measuring the progress of States parties in relation to the right to education and, secondly, the need for closer cooperation between United Nations bodies concerned with the realization of the right to education.

522. Accordingly, given the importance of these issues, the Committee requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to consider the possibility of organizing a workshop to identify key benchmarks and indicators in relation to the right to education which might be utilized by the Committee, as well as other United Nations treaty bodies and human rights organs, specialized agencies and programmes. The workshop participants should include representatives of this Committee, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Human Rights Committee, the Commission on Human Rights and the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, and the World Bank.

523. The Committee considered that such a workshop might in fact be the first of a series of meetings designed to identify key benchmarks and indicators in relation to each of the rights of the Covenant.

Plan of Action to strengthen the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (work plan of the expert assistance staff member as adopted by the Committee at its nineteenth session)

524. The Committee has set out a number of considerations which underlie the responsibilities of the expert assistance staff member.

525. First, it must be borne in mind that the scope of the work should primarily encompass technical and substantive assistance to the Committee.

526. Secondly, it is emphasized that the position has been called for in the Plan of Action as an addition to the existing support provided to the Committee by the Secretariat. Filling the position should not lead to a decrease of the support presently furnished, which, inter alia, would lead to an increased workload for the Secretary of the Committee.

527. Thirdly, the Committee is of the opinion that adequate material requirements are to be met, with a view to facilitating the incumbent's work.

528. Fourthly, the incumbent is to report to the Committee at each session on the tasks undertaken and the results thereof.

529. Finally, in the Committee's view, it must be taken into account that the level of expertise provided by the incumbent is reflected in the Professional level afforded to the position, in order to ensure the fulfilment of the incumbent's substantive tasks. The main objectives are to provide expert support and advice to the Committee's work by establishing foundations for the long-term improvement of the Covenant's monitoring system. To serve these objectives, the following tasks have been envisaged:

(a) Information:

- collection, analysis and synthesis of information regarding both reporting States parties and non-reporting States parties;

- collection, analysis and synthesis of information from other sources, in particular from national and international NGOs;

- timely, systematic and orderly provision of information to the members of the Committee, and notably to the country rapporteurs, before, between and during sessions;

(b) Consideration of reports:

- analysis of a limited number of country reports from States parties for the purpose of consideration by the Committee;

- analysis of the situation of at least one non-reporting State party for each session of the Committee, on the basis of the information from all available sources;

(c) Follow-up:

- follow-up and monitoring of government measures taken on the basis of Committee recommendations and suggestions formulated in its concluding observations;

- monitoring and analysis of the extent of progress made by States parties over time;

(d) Other substantive responsibilities:

- Preparation of substantive papers for the consideration of the Committee, such as (draft) general comments and papers for the purpose of the days of general discussion.