21st Meeting, 80th Session, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) Date: 2 November 2026 Language: English Transcript: https://transcripts.un.org/en/cescr/21 Transcripts available through this tool are created by using automatic speech recognition and are not official records nor official documents of the United Nations. Official records and official documents are available on the Official Document System of the United Nations. --- CESCR · Chair [18:42]: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, colleagues and friends. I would like to call to order and declare open the 80th session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and welcome all those observing our work, both from this meeting room and online. I am pleased to see that most of our colleagues are present. and we all look forward to proceeding with our work. Before we proceed with our work of the 80th session, it is my pleasure to invite the representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Mahamane Cisse-Gorou, to deliver the opening statement. Mr. Cisse-Gorou is the Director of the Council and the Treaty Mechanisms Division. Mr. Cisse-Gorou, sir, you have the floor. OHCHR · Director, Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division [19:30]: Good morning, bonjour. Madam Chair, distinguished members of the Committee, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, it is my pleasure to welcome you to Geneva for the 80th session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This session takes place at a significant moment. We are commemorating the 60th anniversary of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. For six decades, these two covenants have served as the foundation of the international human rights framework. Together, they affirm a simple but powerful truth: all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent, and mutually reinforcing. Progress in one cannot be sustained without progress in the others. I welcome the joint event of the two committees on 6 November, which will provide an opportunity to celebrate this milestone, reflect on achievement, and renew our commitment to the full realization of human rights for all. Madam Chair, the relevance of the Covenant today is undeniable. Despite remarkable global progress and unprecedented level of wealth, millions of people continue to be denied basic rights. More than a third of humanity still lives in poverty or in precarious conditions. Too many people lack access to quality education, healthcare, adequate housing and social protection. At the same time, growing inequalities, rising debt burden, and economic insecurity are deepening social tension and eroding trust in institutions. These realities remind us that economic, social, and cultural rights are not aspirations for the future; they are essential rights that must be realized now. And the covenants remain a vital guide for addressing these challenges and ensuring that economic progress translates into human dignity, equality, and opportunity for all. Madam Chair, distinguished members, your role has never been more important. Yet, the treaty body system is facing unprecedented challenges. The United Nations liquidity crisis has significantly reduced available meeting time, resulting in postponed reviews, delays in the consideration of communications, and increased uncertainty for all stakeholders. These constraints affect not only treaty bodies, but also State parties. national human rights institutions, civil society organizations, and most importantly, the people whose rights we collectively seek to protect. In this context, I wish to express my deep appreciation to all partners who continue to support the Committee's work, particularly civil society organizations and national human rights institutions. Their expertise, engagement, and independent perspective remain indispensable in ensuring that the lived realities of rights holders inform the Committee’s work. Chair, Committee members, The Office of the High Commissioner continues to promote and to protect economic, social, and cultural rights through investigation, public counsel, technical assistance, and capacity building in collaboration with states, national human rights institutions, civil society, and the United Nations agencies. These efforts seek to strengthen the implementation of the international standards and to integrate rights in our public policies and decisions that affect the daily lives of our populations. And so, in February this year, the Office of the High Commissioner contributed to promoting the right to social security by drafting, along with the International Labour Organization, a technical note to strengthen the social protection systems based on human rights, namely in contexts of conflict and post-conflict. In June of this year, it launched the Global Alliance for Human Rights, which is a platform bringing together stakeholders in order to push forward specific actions and to have common approaches for human rights adapted to the lives of the populations. The Office of the High Commissioner also strives to move forward at the attainment of economic, social, and cultural rights, thanks to initiatives such as the Knowledge Pool on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, created in 2024 at the behest of the Human Rights Council. This initiative sets a link between international standards on human rights and their national level implementation by providing support adapted to the contexts and technical solutions based on good practices. The online platform currently has over 100 documented best practices throughout the world, as well as a database of stakeholders and resources, allowing states to draw inspiration from others' experiences in order to improve the enjoyment of these rights. The Office of the High Commissioner also pursues the promotion of a human rights-based economy by integrating human rights in economic policies, development strategies, financial frameworks and economic governance frameworks. This approach aims to narrow inequalities and to ensure that economic decisions contribute to the attainment of human rights. We are ready to support States and other stakeholders in the specific implementation of these approaches at the national level. Distinguished members of the Committee, Strengthening the treaty body system remain a priority. To this end, OECHR has presented a number of proposals aimed at making the system more effective, accessible, and sustainable. This including bringing closer to stakeholders, simplifying state reporting through a multilingual digital platform, and strengthening nomination process while preserving states' prerogative and the independence of the treaty bodies. We look forward to continuing this dialogue with you and to identifying practical solutions that preserve the quality, independence, and effectiveness of the system. Ultimately, however, a strong treaty body system requires predictable and sustainable resources and support from member states. Such investment is essential to maintain one of the most important pillar of the international human rights architecture. Madam Chair, distinguished members, during this session, you will review the report of Austria, Eswatini, Mexico, and Pakistan, consider list of issues, assess follow-up measures, and continue your important work on the draft general comments concerning economic, social, and cultural rights in situations of armed conflict. This work could not be more timely. Around the world, Conflict continues to disrupt access to health care, education, housing, social protection, and essential services. The protection of economic, social, and cultural rights is therefore not only a development imperative, it is increasingly a peace, security, and resilience imperative. Let me conclude with deep appreciation for your dedication and commitment particularly in these challenging times. 60 years after the adoption, the Covenant remains as relevant and necessary as ever. It continues to offer a vision of societies built on dignity, equality, solidarity, and justice. In a world facing growing uncertainty and division, Your work demonstrates that human rights remain a practical roadmap for addressing today's challenges and building a better future. Thank you again for your unwavering commitment and your expertise. I wish you a productive session, fruitful deliberations, and every success in advancing the rights and dignity of all people everywhere. I thank you. CESCR · Chair [29:04]: Thank you, Mr. Sisiguru, for this information and above all, for expressing such confidence in the work of our Committee and its contribution to the continued and heightened protection of economic, social and cultural rights around the world in the face of today's ever more complex challenges and setbacks. The Committee also welcomes the accession of Andorra on 22 September 2026 to the Covenant, becoming the 174th State Party to the Covenant. Given today's numerous challenges, it is most clear that our work and the work of other treaty bodies is as important as ever in holding up the importance of international law and human rights frameworks as a tool towards peace and sustainable development. As such, a reminder to state parties and all other relevant stakeholders that the principles of equality, indivisibility, interdependence, and interrelatedness of all human rights, as well as their justiciability, must continue to guide their approach to addressing the many challenges which we face worldwide. As we have only a short opening segment, let us continue with our order of business today. I turn to item number 1 of the provisional agenda and annotations, which is the adoption of the agenda. Let us quickly review the provisional agenda. Regarding item number 2, We will discuss the details of the organization of our work throughout this session, and in a closed meeting, our primary responsibility, state party review. In the spirit of focusing on our core mandate, we will start with the dialogues with state parties as of this afternoon itself. Regarding item number three, the Committee will focus on the draft general comment on the application of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in situations of armed conflict. Regarding item number 4, the Committee will discuss the follow-up reports for Cambodia and Portugal at this session. Regarding item number 5, we are grateful to all the UN partners at the national level who provide support to States in their efforts to follow up to the recommendations of the Committee. Regarding item number 6, I would like to confirm that the Committee will review the reports of Eswatini, Pakistan, Mexico and Austria. Regarding item number 7, since our last session, we have received the periodic reports of Montenegro, Switzerland, Japan, and Iran. The Committee thus has 44 reports in all awaiting our consideration. Item number 8, the Committee will adopt the concluding observations on the State parties reviewed in the first week of the session. The concluding observations will be communicated to the respective permanent missions by Friday, 13 November, and publicly available on Monday, 16 November. The Committee will also adopt lists of issues regarding Burkina Faso, Estonia, Slovakia, and Zambia. Regarding item number 10, amongst the events, our Committee, together with the Human Rights Committee, will hold a joint commemoration event to mark the 60th anniversary of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The event will take place on Friday 6th in conference room number 14, Palais Nation, from 3 o'clock to 5:30. The commemoration will bring together the members of the two committees, state parties, United Nations agencies, and other international organizations, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders to reflect on the achievements made over the past 60 years through the implementation of the two covenants and the work of the committees, as well as on the continued relevance of the covenants in addressing current and emerging human rights challenges. Are there any members who wish to comment on the agenda? I see no requests. The agenda is adopted. I would like to take the opportunity allowed us, in this public meeting, to invite all interested parties and stakeholders in the work of the Committee to join us on 6 November for our joint anniversary event, either in person or by following it on the UN webcast. Colleagues, in the interest of saving time, we will immediately proceed in closed session with the adoption of the internal programme of work and related items. You may find the internal programme of work on the extranet. With this, I would now like to announce that the public meeting is adjourned. The committee will reconvene at 3:00 PM this afternoon in public to proceed with the dialogue with the delegation of Eswatini. Thank you all. The meeting is closed. Dear colleagues, we have finished with the public part of our morning meeting.