28th Meeting, 80th Session, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)

Good afternoon. I call to order meeting number 34 of the 80th session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It is my great pleasure to welcome once again this afternoon distinguished delegation of Mexico and the head of delegation, her excellency Ms. Francisca Mendez Escobar, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva. I would also like to welcome the rest of the delegation, and also all those observing the dialogue in person and on webcast. We would like to invite the delegation to continue responding to any questions that are pending from Cluster 2 for a maximum of about 15 minutes, after which we could proceed to respond to questions posed yesterday on Cluster 3 by Cluster Leader for another 30 minutes. So the first 45 minutes, Your Excellency, is yours to determine which way you want to manage your time. After that, follow-up questions to all clusters will be posed, and then Ms. Laura Craciunuta will pose questions under cluster 4, and the delegation will have approximately 30 minutes to respond to those. To facilitate this process and to enable us to cover the full range of issues at hand, I would like to invite my colleagues and the distinguished delegation to kindly speak in a concise manner, giving due attention to the time allocations. With this, I have the pleasure to give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Mexico. You have the floor, madam. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Chair, and a good afternoon to all those present, a good morning to those following us online from Mexico, and, of course, good afternoon to my colleagues in the Mexican delegation. It is once again an honour to be appearing before this Committee. at the second-half of our interactive dialogue. And without further ado, I'd like to give the floor to Director-General César Villanueva so that he can begin responding, as the Chair has pointed out, to the pending questions from the second and third clusters from yesterday. Director-General, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, Your Excellency. And thanks once again to the expert members of the Committee. We shall continue addressing those pending issues that we have not had a chance to address from yesterday. And to get the ball rolling, I would like to focus on support and care for relatives of disappeared persons. Now, Mexico duly acknowledges and recognizes that the enforced disappearance of persons is one of the most painful situations facing our country, and resolving it is a national priority for the State. The search localisation and identification of disappeared persons, as well as comprehensive care and support for their relatives, is an integral part of a public policy aimed at guaranteeing and upholding human rights, justice, truth, and holistic reparation. This in line with the well-being, social justice, and institutional strengthening targets that are contained in our 2025 to 2030 National Development Plan, National Well-being Development Plan. We would like to reiterate that we do not tolerate or permit the disappearance of persons in any guise or in any format. We also recognize as a state our obligation to search for disappeared persons, to investigate the facts, to punish the perpetrators of the disappearances, and to guarantee the rights of the relatives. In 2025, we began a holistic reform of the general law on enforced disappearance of persons. including disappearances perpetrated by private persons, and the national search system, bolstering the responsibilities and actions of the authorities and the mechanisms for search and identification. These actions are part of the national search strategy for disappeared persons and non-located, which has three priority action lines as a strategy. These action lines are a part of an institutional holistic effort that has allowed us via different activities and different administrative steps taken in the field of search for disappeared persons, to look for the location of persons, and to work with public prosecutors to also address this issue. So we've been able to locate persons and work with public prosecutions to address the case. And a central part of this policy is support for relatives of disappeared persons. Between October 2024 and August 2026, we provided support to 6,670 relatives of disappeared persons. Right. We provided 7,549 psychosocial support and 1,056 medical support actions. We also provided 1,820 transfer support actions to the benefit of some 13,800 persons, and we carried out 395 medical actions working with the national healthcare system to support those people that we had supported. We also strengthened the protection measures available for searchers. At the end of September 2026, the protection mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists protected 344 persons, covering 148 different files related to search for disappeared persons, including 259 searches themselves and 85 relatives. In terms of access to justice, between October of 2024 and September of 2026, we supported 27,476 direct and indirect victims in and 2,200 different investigation cases, providing 15,970 individual support actions. Between January 2023 and September 2026, we issued 455 reparation orders covering an amount of more than 24.2 million pesos. The actions under the National Search Strategy cover the entire national territory. including regional meetings with relatives and national search organizations, coordinating authority between state and federal authorities. As a result of the various different actions that we have taken, as of 8 October 2026, we have been able to locate more than 16,000 persons who had been reported to disappear. We also maintain a policy of international cooperation in this area, working with United Nations organizations and organizations from various different countries to bolster search capacity and identification and investigation capacity as well. Alongside all of this, we do acknowledge that there are remaining challenges that are fairly sizeable in the areas of search and the identification of human remains, holistic reparation and protection of the relatives. And so we will continue to take steps to strengthen and bolster institutional framework across the country, including support for victims. And we will also take steps to strengthen international cooperation in order to ensure that we can guarantee truth, justice, and the location of all those persons who have disappeared. Turning now to a separate topic, I would like now to address the question raised by one of the experts on the situation of judges who have been elected as part of a judicial reform in line with international standards in economic, social, cultural rights and responsibilities borne thereunder by judges. Article 1 of the Constitution of Mexico obliges all authorities within the sphere of their mandate to promote, respect, uphold and protect human rights, as well as safeguard same. And so they need to apply the Constitution and also the provisions of all those international treaties to which Mexico is a party, including this covenant, the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. As part of our pro-human being approach, there is a We do have a unit which is responsible for ensuring conventional compatibility of action as well as constitutional compatibility, and which ensures conventional compatibility unless there is expressed constitutional provision that would allow for the same to be sidestepped. The judiciary has also created its own criteria in the areas of healthcare, security, safe water, drinking, housing, and the environment, amongst a whole host of other areas related to economic, social, and cultural rights, and the Supreme Court has strengthened the oversight of the courts through the publication of a handbook on social, cultural, economic, and environmental rights. I'll leave it there, Your Excellency. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Dr. Villanueva. At this juncture, we will take the opportunity to respond to the questions that were put to us by expert Hennebel about support for internally displaced persons or those displaced within Mexican territory. On this particular topic, I'd like to begin by sharing with you that Mexico recognizes that internal displacement can affect the enjoyment of various economic, social, and cultural rights, including rights to housing, healthcare, education, work, and an adequate standard of living. The actions that we have taken at the level of the Ministry of the Interior are focused on inter-institutional coordination. territorial delivery of action, and direct interaction with affected communities for the purpose of duly identifying needs and gaps, guaranteeing access to rights, and making swift progress towards holistic, dignified, and sustainable solutions to the problems that triggered the internal displacement. For example, in Chiapas State, the peacebuilding strategy coordinated the participation of 39 different government units and offices. in order to address the needs of affected communities by social conflict and displacement within the national territory, so at the domestic level. One among the most important outcomes, we would point to the provision of 34 houses to displaced families in Chennalau, attention, medical support, humanitarian support, and social support provided to displaced persons Diliers. and 2,345 actions of holistic support in Paljajur, including action to restore supply of electricity and safe drinking water, thus providing the necessary conditions to promote the safe return of those families who had otherwise been displaced. I would now like to point to the outcomes of the Mitraqan Plan, which would be a way of responding to another question asked by Dr. Hannabell. The Mitraqan Plan for Peace and Security represents a holistic strategy aimed at addressing the structural and root causes of inequalities, at strengthening regional development, and expanding effective access to economic, social, and cultural rights. It takes the guise of coordinated actions in the fields of healthcare, education, culture, infrastructure, the environment, employment, sport, and in development opportunities for indigenous peoples and Afro-Mexican communities. The outcomes of this plan demonstrate that we have been able to pursue a wide-ranging, multi-sectoral intervention. The Ministry for Wellbeing has allocated more than 33 million pesos, which represents some 1.6 million US dollars, for supporting programs that have benefited more than 1 million people. In the area of healthcare, we would point to the construction, renovation and expansion of hospitals, clinics and specialised services, as well as actions that have been taken to ensure action on chronic illnesses and, for example, cataracts. I would also like to respond to one very specific question that we were asked yesterday about the Verde Cruz National Reef Park. On this particular topic, we recognise the strategic and social value of the Vera Cruz Reef System, which is a protected natural marine area of national importance and indeed of international importance, which is home to an extraordinary degree of biodiversity and which also provides ecosystem services which are core for the protection of coasts, fishing, and well-being of local communities. The Vera Cruz Reef case is a relevant example of access to environmental justice. For example, in 2022, the Supreme Court of Justice of Mexico recognized in a ruling the legitimate interest held by local persons. and recognised that environmental protection issues related to the project to expand the port of Veracruz needed to duly factor in the cumulative and residual and potential waste impacts on the reef system worthy harbour expansion project to go ahead, thus strengthening the right of local communities to enjoy a healthy environment. Now to respond to a question that was asked by Ms. Lemos de Vasques on the right to strike and potential limitations on said right, here I would like to respond by saying that the right to strike constitutes a fundamental safeguard of trade union freedom and of collective negotiation, and is duly recognised in the Constitution. and also, of course, by various international human rights instruments that have been ratified by the Mexican State. As part of the new labour justice model that we have pursued, we have strengthened institutional mechanisms that are destined to promote social dialogue and peaceful resolution of collective labour disputes. Via the Federal Centre for Labour Conciliation and Registries, we have been able to provide specialised support during the pre-strike phase and in the collective discussions and negotiations that have included engagement at the federal level. We have been working with trade unions and employers' organisations, working with them to promote agreements without in any way undermining the collective rights of workers in so doing. I think it worth pointing out that since the rollout of the centre I referred to in 2020 and up to and including August 2026, we had received 12,016 requests for collective reconciliation, and 7,921 of those were concluded via an agreement between the parties, which represents 65.9% of all the cases that have been submitted to the centre for its consideration. 97.4% of the procedures that have now been concluded, representing the capacity of the centre to be able to resolve labour or workplace disputes via negotiation and conciliation processes. Finally, to respond to a question that was asked by Mr. Windhorst about addressing poverty through a social security lens. Here, I would say in response that the Mexican state provides complements to social protection via non-contributory social protection measures, for example, universal and targeted cash transfers throughout the life cycle. These can include educational grants, which we referred to yesterday. We have various different programs, such as the Benito Juarez Scholarship, Youth Writing the Future Scholarship, as well as youth forging the future. All of these provide scholarship groups. We also provide pensions for, for example, women between the ages of 60 and 64 earlier than the state pension rate, as well as for other older persons, prioritizing our action in highly marginalized communities, including indigenous communities. The purpose of all these social protection actions is to reduce levels of vulnerability, promote social and economic inclusion, and to guarantee higher standards of well-being. And this leads us to a question that was asked by Ms. Lemos about the pension, the old age pensions, particularly those for older women. On this particular person, the old age person, old age pension is a right that is recognised in Article 4 of the Constitution, a right that is enjoyed by all those over the age of 65 and over. It includes a payment of 3,200 pesos per month, which is paid out every two months. As of June 2026, the program provides benefits to 3.7 million people, of which 55.9% are women and 8.5% reside in municipalities or localities that are indigenous or Afro-Mexican. Now, with your indulgence, Chair, I think we can turn our attention to responding to the questions under cluster 3 that were put to us by member of the committee, Mr. Santiago Fiorello. To begin by responding to the questions that were asked about children and adolescents, I would like to say, firstly, that Mexico recognizes that the eradication of child labor and the protection of teenagers who are working and of their rights and their working conditions are fundamental priorities for guaranteeing and upholding the rights of children and adolescents. We duly recognize that. One significant step forward that we have taken is the incorporation in 2024 of Article 284 bis of the Federal Labor Code, which provides for an obligation to carry out periodic labor inspections in agricultural work centers. in order to verify, inter alia, that they are not using child labour in these agricultural businesses or farms. In 2025, we identified 1,072 workers under 18 based on the application of the specialised inspection protocols. In the relevant cases, the competent authorities for the protection of children and adolescents were involved and engaged. A National Child Labour Survey 2025 reported that the national rate of child employment had dropped from 13.1% in 2022 to 12.6% in 2025, which means that approximately 200,000 children and adolescents had no longer be compelled to work. Moreover, the National System for the Holistic Development of the Family has pursued awareness-raising activities that have involved the participation of children and adolescents, including a national forum on the prevention of child labour, which benefited 343 children and adolescents. They participated therein. It included capacity building. activities which provided capacity building to 251 civil servants and state agents. In the field of trafficking, the National Migration Institute has had, of August 2022, a protocol for the detention, identification, and support for migrants who are the victims or potential victims of human trafficking, including children and adolescents. This instrument helps support the detection, identification, and channelling to the appropriate offices of such cases. To strengthen the application of this mechanism, we register 3557, participants in a course that we ran on the Protocol itself, and 10,141 participants in various different training activities in the field of identifying and detecting human trafficking and responding appropriately thereto. The National Human Rights Commission fleshed out this state action via its own curriculum on human trafficking, which includes modules on the appropriate early identification of victims and the procedural steps that need to be taken to duly recognise their status and ensure that they are registered appropriately as victims of trafficking, as well as steps that need to be taken in order to ensure holistic care and support for these human trafficking victims. Visits were also carried out to places of housing and transit of migrant persons by the National Human Rights Commission, and they served to strengthen coordination with the state authorities and with specialised stakeholders, as well as local authorities and other organisations. With that, I'd now like to turn my attention to the question that was asked about crimes of sexual violence involving children and adolescents of which they are the victim. On this particular issue, we have strengthened our institutional response to sexual violence. Between 2017 and 2025, we tripled the number of specialised units for victims of sexual assault, sexual violence. We doubled the number of support actions provided via our healthcare services to this category of victims, and we increased by 40% the level of cases that we will provide immediate current support for in the first 72 hours of the registration of the case. We've also been able to take steps to better identify pregnancies as a result of sexual violence, and we've been able to increase the detection of such cases ninefold as compared with 2017, which are key steps taken to protect children and adolescents from sexual violence. We're currently rolling out the third phase of the national strategy for the reduction of teen pregnancy or adolescent pregnancy. a firm step towards the eradication of pregnancy of girls. This includes holistic education in sexual and reproductive health, access to sexual and reproductive health services, prevention actions, including prevention of sexual violence, protection of early forced child and teenage marriages and de facto unions. ensuring that in all of activities we ensure high levels of participation of children and adolescents. As a complement to all of that, the national system for the holistic development of the family has been developing and rolling out awareness raising and prevention actions on sexual violence, child abuse, sexual and reproductive health rights, sexual diversity, self-esteem, and relationships free of violence, which have been delivered to the benefit of both adolescents as well as civil servants who are responsible for delivering support, care, and other government actions related to adolescents. On 13 March 2025, we published in the Official Gazette of the Mexican Federation a reform to Articles 260 and 266 bis of the Federal Criminal Code, which cover the issues of sexual abuse. The purpose of that reform was to define that crime as the carrying out of any act of a sexual nature without the consent of the victim and We also, going forward, understand as sexual abuse explicit sexual images, for example, and we have also made abundantly clear that silence does not indicate consent, and the same holds true for any lack of resistance shown by the victim. That should not be taken as equivalent to consent and in no way indicating that sexual violence or sexual assault did not take place. We are also taking steps to make sure that we make more official and we have a more rigorous framework in the way we prosecute these crimes. On forced child labour and indigenous communities and rural communities here, Mr Furu, I would like to say to you that throughout the exercise 2020-25-26 of government action, the National Institute for Indigenous Peoples, via its programme for the holistic well-being of indigenous peoples, provided support to six community and regional projects aimed at preventing child early and forced marriage. These steps were rolled out in Chiapas, Guerrero, Michoacán, and Veracruz state. And they were spearheaded, led, and implemented directly by women from the Mixtec, Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Nahua, and Purépecha indigenous communities. The purpose of these projects was to strengthen the full exercise of the human rights of girls, women, and female teenagers from indigenous communities through capacity building activities, information campaigns. educational material and audiovisual content, thus contributing to the eradication of early or forced child marriages and unions, and also bolstering the right to a life free of violence. Turning now to the issue of paternity leave. which is a question asked under cluster 3 yesterday. Here, I would like to respond by saying that Mexico recognizes that the unequal distribution of care responsibilities is a major stumbling block to achieving substantive equality between men and women. Although the federal labor legislation is only provides for five days of paternity leave, currently, the Mexican state has rolled out measures to promote longer paternity leave schemes. I would point to the Mexican Labour Workplace Equality and Non-Discrimination Standard, which provides recognition and certificates to those who provide for practices such as teleworking, flexible hours, and paternity leave over and above those provided for in law, which would certify this organisation under this scheme. We are also analysing the potential ratification of ILO Convention 156 on workers with family responsibilities. We're also looking at recommendation 165, which is on instruments intended to bolster co-parenting and co-responsibility, as well as equality in the workplace. One particularly important step forward that we have taken was beheaded by the judicial administration organ via its institutional care and co-responsibility tool, which recognizes care as a human right. and as a shared responsibility between men and women. As part of this policy, steps have been taken to ensure that maternity and paternity leave are of equal length by the granting of three months of paternity leave, one of the most significant and most progressive steps that have been taken within the federal public institutions of Mexico. So it really is setting the tone and providing a model. Between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2026, 927 paternity leaves were granted under this scheme, thus strengthening the active participation of fathers in the care and upbringing of their children, and this from the in their early childhood years. With that, experts, I will now turn my attention to responding to the question about the holistic protection of children who are living with their mothers in places of deprivation of liberty, particularly penitentiary centres. We duly recognize as a country that children living with their mothers in penitentiary centers are rights holders. They enjoy all of the rights enshrined in the Constitution and in those international human rights treaties to which Mexico is a state party. In that understanding, we have rolled out specific measures to guarantee their holistic development as general, including their healthcare, adequate levels of food, and their family ties as contributing to their well-being, equality, and the protection of them as children, meeting all of the criteria contained in the National Development Plan 2025-2030. Child development centres in penitentiary centres provide specialised support intended to protect the holistic development of early childhood for those children living with their mothers in penitentiary centres. These spaces, for example, provide ongoing medical care, paediatric support, access to health care, and stimulating early development activities commensurate with each stage of development in early childhood years. We also guarantee access to an adequate level of food, support for breastfeeding, and complementary meal schemes that are supervised and overseen by trained health care staff, thus strengthening the right of these children to attain the best possible standards of health and to adequate levels of nutrition. Alongside all these actions, mothers themselves receive psychological support, social follow-up, and support to strengthen their family networks and ties, and their community networks and ties, thus promoting broader environments of protection, well-being, and development for their children that they can turn to when necessary. I will now respond to the question that was asked. about forced recruitment of teenagers, which was a question asked under cluster 3 by Mr. Furey. In response to this question, on 20 October 2026, the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico adopted a reform to the general law to prevent, punish, and suppress human trafficking crimes, which included a specific chapter or section on the forced recruitment of persons. This reform provides that the recruitment of children and/or adolescents by criminal groups will be duly expressly and explicitly recognised and punished as forced recruitment, as a standalone crime, thus strengthening the legal protection framework for children and adolescents.

This measure contributes to the prevention, attention, and sanction of practices that seriously violate the rights of boys, girls, and adolescents, and this in tune with what is enshrined in the general law on the rights of boys, girls, and adolescents, which forces or binds authorities to prevent and eradicate any form of incitement or coercion for children to participate in criminal acts or related crimes. With this reform, Mexico is strengthening the protection afforded, comprehensive protection afforded to boys, girls, and adolescents, and protects them against violence and organized crime. This using a human rights-based approach and a strengthened approach to strengthen the rights of children. Turning now to a question about measures to deal with violence. We are drawing forward efforts to protect boys and girls and adolescents, in particular those who find themselves in a vulnerable situation, through the National System for the Comprehensive Development of the Family and the Federal Procuratorship for the Protection of Boys and Girls and Adolescents. We provide services, residential reception services, medical care, psychological care, educational care, and food. support, as well as actions to restore rights in 2025, we granted more than 1.09 million services, comprehensive services for children of care, and in the first term, or quarter of 2026, we provided more than 540,000 additional services. The reform to the general law on the rights of boys and adolescents strengthened the monitoring of social assistance centers. As part of this process, we have 784 registers of centers identified nationwide, and we have type-certified supervision mechanisms in coordination with the 32 federative entities in Mexico, with the purpose to guarantee appropriate conditions for protection, security, and well-being for boys, girls, and adolescents. who live therein. In addition, Mexico is promoting family alternatives, care alternatives, to guarantee the right of boys and girls and adolescents to live in their own family. Giving the floor now to Hector Figueroa from the Statistics Institute in Mexico for more concrete data, statistics, statistics, Ectorio de la Flor.

Thank you, Ambassador. May I use this time to answer the question on the outcome of the poverty reduction strategies and its relationship with effective access to CESC and gaps for vulnerable groups? As we mentioned yesterday, the results of the The multidimensional poverty survey identified those in the country who are in moderate and extreme poverty, as well as populations vulnerable by income and social floors or lacks, highlighting evidence for decision making and to meet our progressivity, equality, and non-discrimination targets. Between 2020 and 2024, we saw a 14.4% percent reduction in the percentage of persons who are in poverty, from 43.9% to 29.6%, that was the change. This fall represents 17.2 million people. In addition, the percentage of persons who are in a situation of extreme poverty went from 8.5% to 5.3%, which represents 3.8 million people. within social floors area, five of the six floors or sorry, the great change was access to food. Lack of access to social security, that was remedied, and lack of access to basic services in terms of housing. In each one of these there was a fall of 8.1, 3.9, and and 3.8% respectively of all these three categories which I just mentioned. Within economic well-being now, the population under the poverty threshold for income was the one that went from 52% to 34%, more or less, which represents 20 million people whose poverty was alleviated, that is, poverty based on economic well-being. In 2024, I'd like to underscore that it was the first time that we included these in the results, information about Afro-Mexicans and indigenous peoples this year. 33.2% of the Afro-descendants were in a situation of poverty, which means that 1.2 million people, that is, and 7.6% in extreme poverty, which is 300,000 people. In 2024, the main poverty gaps and extreme poverty gaps were amongst rural and indigenous peoples. The percentage of indigenous population in this situation was 68.1% whereas it was 26.1% of non-indigenous population, a difference of 34.7%. In extreme poverty, the gap is 19.5%. If you look at rural and urban poverty was 45.8% in rural areas and 25 point something in urban areas, whereas the extreme poverty was 13.9 and 3% respectively between urban and rural, which means the gap was 20.8% and 10.9% respectively. Children under 18 and poverty and extreme poverty was worse from over 18s with gaps of 20.6% and 2.9% respectively. Additionally, these results, according to our figures, updating the biannual figures thrown up in 2016-2024, well, we have effective access indicators and This system puts the guarantee of rights as the central axis of the social development policy in place and offers a set of indicators that translates the legal obligations of the state into verifiable and comparable over time space information, thanks to which we can verify progress made towards the guarantee of these rights. The effective access indicators. it possible to know what progress has been made in education, health, social security, housing, and food, which are those dimensions which are also taken into account as far as multidimensional poverty is concerned, which grants analytical relevance and continuity to the system, which means that through its 53 indicators, it is possible to identify the institutional offer available the sufficiency of those services, whether they're effective or not, their accessibility, physical or economic accessibility, and whether we are abiding by our quality standards, which is all fundamental to guarantee the full exercise of social rights. Furthermore, in the inequality gap component, structural inequalities have been identified which affect specific peoples groups, boys and girls and adolescents, young people, elderly, indigenous women, and persons with disabilities. And also it includes a set of gender gap components, 81 indicators for that, thanks to which we can raise the visibility and setbacks where matters lag behind intersectionally. As a set, the components of our survey make it possible to make progress for us as the state in meeting our obligation to respect, protect, and guarantee human rights, and offers a solid basis for publication with a human rights-based approach. So, responding to your questions, we will elaborate with some results on food security and access to health. In Mexico, we use the Mexican scale for food security, EMSA, for multidimensional measurement of poverty, and for the food component of the SIDS, in the SIDS, that's another survey which contains information with the quality of food, with indicators on the following: food security and diversity of nutrition or the diet, the population in places where people eat fruit and veg as well as pulses. In health, we have three indicators: availability, accessibility, and quality, including indicators for rights holders who did not return to medical services once they had been there once, which went from 80.4%

I'm afraid the interpreter didn't get those figures, they were too fast.

Yes, 84.9 to 88.2%. With regards to the Inequality gaps indicators, we have indicators on the population from 0 to 17 who live in places where they eat fruit and veg on a daily basis, depending on the poverty situation. Also on access to health services, comparing children who live in poverty and those who do not live in poverty. We also make a comparison of access of children to social security. But we contrast that with those persons who, we link that with the poverty line, and we link that to access to social security also, and we compare that with ethnic origin or belonging to ethnic groups. On these last issues, the outcomes are the following: 27.1% to 30.9%. Thank you very much indeed.

Héctor, thank you very much indeed. Dr. Villanueva Esquivel, you have the floor to continue answering other questions. Mr. Villanueva, you have the floor.

Thank you, Ambassador. Within the time that we have been given, which we've been kindly given by the Chair of the CESC, we will continue to talk about an adequate standard of living, as well as the significant tax policy which the Government of Mexico and the State of Mexico have been developing to provide guarantee for respect for CESC as of never before. This has never been done before in Mexico. To set the context, the Supreme Court of Justice recognized that economic, social, and cultural rights and environmental rights are fundamental rights that could be claimed in courts, should be guaranteed with the state using the best available resources for that and governed by these principles of progressivity and non-regression. That policy shows us how to evaluate, assess, to adopt our budget. So, tax programme. We strengthen our collection through digitalisation, simplification and combating corruption, raising taxes in real terms. The income tax is progressive and public expenditure strengthens redistribution of wealth. We have safeguards against the reduction of poverty for priority areas and cross-cutting issues in the budget, making possible for us to follow up on these budgetary allocations. In 2026, the annex dedicated to the care represents about $24,900 million for pensions, health, scholarships, and care in pension for the elderly now, today, a constitutional right. has reached 13.7 million people, so 13.7 million people have it. We also have universal health access with 12,700 new clinical centers for $6,500 million in 17 strategic water projects, and the program Housing for Wellbeing has $1.7 million. We want to build 1.8 million homes in the next few years. With regards to the issue of food insecurity or food security, Miss Co has strengthened the realisation, progressive realisation of the right to nutritious, sufficient and quality food through a strategy called a social support strategy and a community development strategy coordinated by the international system for development, the comprehensive development of the family. This strategy has two Two main actions for those who are vulnerable, especially boys, girls and adolescents, pregnant women and breastfeeding women, people with disabilities, and the elderly, older persons, and those who live in rural areas, indigenous groups, and areas that are socially behind and isolated. We have four complementary programs: school food, food for the first 1,000 days of one's life, food for the vulnerable and food for people in emergency or disaster situations. The State of Mexico has strengthened the food security of priority groups and contributes to the effective exercise of the right to food, with focusing especially on people who are the most vulnerable, socially and economically speaking. Mexico recognizes the right to food as adequate food as a key component for comprehensive development of boys and girls and adolescents, and for the construction of conditions for well-being and equality. That is why it's driven forward actions designed to promote healthy life habits, strengthen food security, and guarantee protection, strengthen protection of the rights of children. The results speak for themselves. Pursuant to official figures between 2018 and 2024, the lack of access to nutritional and quality food fell by 22.2% to 14.4% of the population, which represents a reduction of 8.7 million people. Those who live in homes with food security rose from 60.5% to 70.3%, whereas the homes with food with diverse food 56.7 was to 69.4%. If you look at these strategies we have to guarantee health and food for people, for the public, we have made a significant progress, namely food in schools, in line with this healthy programme, we have binding labelling laws. especially for hazardous food, five mention calories and another other categories, warning that the normal so prohibits a certain number of wrappings to be used when they're hazardous for different groups. We'll continue now. on the guarantee of this right in the following questions.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. That's us done for this cluster. Thank you.

Thank you, Your Excellency. The floor is now open for follow-up questions. And I recognize Mr. Hannibal, Mr. Fiorio, Ms. Carla Le Moussequer, Mr. Winfur, and Ms. Rossi. Mr. Winfur, you have the floor. Mr. Hannibal, sorry. Mr. Hannibal, you have the floor.

Much appreciated, Madam Chair. Thank you for giving me the floor. I would also like to thank the delegation from Mexico for returning with a whole raft of answers, quite a broad scope thereof, and that is a challenge. I had a few follow-up questions which will cover various issues which have been raised so far. I'll endeavour to be as precise as possible, beginning with the judicial issue: what effective remedy have provided to judges and officials, magistrates whose job was lost after the reform, how does the state protect the career and the independence of judges? The judges are guarantors of economic, social, cultural rights when they hand down decisions which will protect, for example, the economic, social, cultural rights of the public, and because amparo is no longer possible to contest a constitutional reform, what remedies remain when such a reform is likely to infringe upon such rights? That was my first question. My second question has to do with the reform of Article 127, which applies the new ceiling to pensions already dispersed. How many pensions were effectively reduced as a result, and to what extent, and what impact assessments have been carried out? And also, how does the state justify the exemptions granted to certain categories? And what are the, once again, the remedies available for people who are concerned by these decisions? My third question has to do more with medicines. Specifically, do you have data on shortages of essential medicines and what families have to pay for And also, what was the effect of the successive passages of the Seguro Popular to the INSABI and then from the IMSS Bienestar? What was the impact on the continuity, the quality of care, and what concrete measures have been taken and what resources are planned to guarantee that you have sufficient staff? and equal pay for, especially for healthcare professionals in special, rural and marginalised areas. And finally, I would like to revisit an issue we weren't able to address in detail yesterday, but on the register of the national catalogue of the indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities and peoples, this register, this catalogue, if you want to register, in practice, If you don't register, you don't have access to the fund for Indigenous and African Mexican communities and peoples. And some urban or displaced communities are effectively excluded. So we wanted to know exactly what criteria are used for the registration.

Thank you. Mr. Furio.

Thank you very much for.

Giving me the floor. We have covered a huge range of very interesting issues. I have a whole range of questions. I will make a few now, and I'll make others in the next cluster on Articles 11 and 12. At this stage, I'd like to ask about the right to water and sanitation. What is the adoption stage of the Waters Act, and what's the schedule planned for its enactment and enforcement, potentially guaranteeing the effective participation of interested communities and peoples? Furthermore, what measures guarantee water security for human consumption, protection against pollution, and the overexploitation of water resources, and to recognize and appropriately finance the water and sanitation community systems? How does the state guarantee the continuous monitoring, the publication of reliable information on the quality of water and the participation, community participation, that is, in the design and implementation and assessment of the sanitation, water and plans? How do you punish responsible corporations when they have polluted, and how do you guarantee reparation for environmental and sanitary harm or damages? What regulations protect the country against fracking and in relation to the quality of the water and the environment, and especially when, especially when what is important, when there is severe water stress, furthermore, with regards to environmental pollution and the effects on health. We are concerned about the over 1,100 sites with toxic substances as a result of industrial pollution. I say this because what measures do you guarantee the identification of the sanitary laws and protection of the public against toxic substances, including cancers, neurological damage, problems of reproductive health? as well as specialized medical care and environmental remediation. Do you have a comprehensive monitoring program for repairing damage with enough resources, with the participation of affected populations or peoples rather? With regards to housing, forced evictions are a cause for concern, and IDPs in the country. especially indigenous communities, affected by violence, territorial conflicts, and megaprojects? What updated data do you have on forced evictions or areas affected and persons who have been displaced, IDPs, that is IDPs, and what measures guarantee their prevention and providing alternative housing and appropriate reparation? How does the State guarantee access for displaced communities to housing programmes and basic services, including outside of their territories of origin. On emergency situations now, what measures will make it possible to move from emergency assistance to a proper comprehensive reparation policy which contemplates, where appropriate, the restitution of lands and homes and means of livelihood? on social housing and accessibility and affordability. What are you intending to do to reduce the homes deficit, facilitate access to the land, and to strengthen production, social production of homes, including the construction of homes, guaranteeing affordable homes for affected populations, and ensuring that they do not become overly indebted? What eligibility criteria and outcome have the programs you have to support housing, which are now in place nationwide? And how do you ensure that really those who benefit are the lower income homes? And finally, indigenous communities in urban context, what measures ensure that these urban indigenous communities, migrant or displaced communities, have access on an equal basis to drinking water, sanitation, housing, and social infrastructure without unjustified exclusions because of administrative criteria or because of whether registered or territoriality. That's enough for me. I have more later. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Furey. Four other requests. Ms. Carla Lemos de Vasques, Ms. Laura Craciunotatu, Mr. Win Foer, and Ms. Rossi. Ms. Carla Lemos de Vasques, you have the floor, madam.

Much appreciated. I'd like to thank the delegation also for the information they have provided this afternoon. I have two clusters to address. First, health and mental health. According to information received, the State has not adopted measures to operationalize the reform 2022 to the General Health Act, nor have you adopted the programme of specific actions on mental health and addictions. Furthermore, we also have involuntary internments, especially in private psychiatric centres, which would focus more than 80% of the offer of treatment, of the treatment offer. So what concrete measures has the State adopted to enforce the prohibition of involuntary internment, including institutionalisation, inclusion, supervision? and sanction mechanisms of private centres, and what community and primary attention measures are created to replace the institutional model have you adopted? Could you provide up-to-date information on the coverage of the number of mental health professionals per 100,000 inhabitants of the budget set aside as well as the provision of psychiatric medicines, which, as far as we know, was affected by a crisis in 2022-2023? And finally, on persons with disabilities. The General Act for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities establishes the need to create a national council, a national programme and a national system. Could you kindly tell us whether you have created the council and its governing board, and when you are planning to have this national comprehensive programme guaranteeing a cross-cutting policy of inclusion for persons with disabilities beyond the sectoral instruments such as pensions, the employment programme or the subsidies which people are already entitled to and which you talked about yesterday? Thank you.

Thank you. Ms. Laura Craciun, your turn.

And also welcome to the distinguished delegation from my side. It is the first time that I'm taking the floor. I would like to go back to one question which was raised yesterday by the country rapporteur and maybe reformulate it a bit in order to try to receive an answer for you. This question refers to persons which are in different migratory refugee situation, including the ones which are deported from the United States and are de facto detained in CAS shelters, so those social services facilities. And sometimes this situation is prolonged in time, up to one year. And there are reports indicating that the basic economic, social, and cultural rights of these persons are denied. So I would like to ask the delegation if they could provide to us more information about the number of this person and their exact situation. And also, would it possible to maybe prove, demonstrate that these persons are able to access their full range of economic, social and cultural rights while they are de facto detained in these facilities. And I will come back on the cluster four with supplementary issues on this. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am. Mr. Winfar, sorry, Mr. Winfar, you have the floor.

I might come, I will come back to issues of food and nutrition. And thanks for giving us all the details on the right to food and the measures you have taken. Maybe just from the outcome indicator, stunted children, it has gone down from 27% in 1988 to the last review to 10%. So we were very optimistic last time, but since then, it is stable, or it has been increased. It's now, the latest figures we found is 13.5. So it has been increased again, and it correlates a lot with the extreme poverty in the southern countries. I mentioned yesterday already, Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca. So maybe what is the missing link, or maybe the additional things you need to do, maybe in the income side or other forms, in getting this addressed? Just your reflection on this, what is additionally needed? My second question relates that food is not only an issue of missing, it can also be too much or the wrong food, and you have a huge health problem with obesity, and I want to let you know obesity was in, uh, the year 2020, 3.5% of your population. It's today 37.1%, so it's cl- has close to doubled, yeah? And if you look to certain age groups, maybe the smaller kids, 5 to 11 years, it has been increased from 12.3 to 19%, or 12 to 19 years, it has been increased from 11 to 17.2%. So you have a huge, uh, obesity problem, yeah? And it's one of the core issues also for health, for healthy society, healthy life. So I know that you have done some policies. You have a sugar tax. You have a particularly, uh, guideline for the sale of, uh, of good food and, but the, the amount, the outcome is extremely alarming, yeah, in, in which obesity has been increased. So I would like to ask you what is, uh, what you are going to plan or to do to address this issue, yeah, which is not easy. Many societies worldwide are struggling with this, but you see to have a particularly large problem, and what is your idea? And it's one of the largest health issues also, yeah? Thanks.

Thank you, sir. Ms. Rossi.

Thank you, Chair. I take this opportunity to bid a good afternoon to the delegation, to thank them for the information they've shared with us up to this point. I would like to add a question surrounding natural resources, the environment, and the right to health. And piggyback on a question asked by Mr. Fjodor along the following lines: The Special Rapporteur of the United Nations on toxic substances and waste and human rights visited Mexico in March of 2026. And in his final report, he raised his concern about the proliferation of sacrifice zones around the country and the triggering of social unrest and social dispute. And all of this is a result of the industrial development model, which leads to a great deal of toxic waste, which is toxic both to the environment and persons. Amongst the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur, he urged the State to set itself a target of zero discharge of toxic waste as part of the industrial processes underway in the country, and also to adopt an holistic, coordinated national plan at both the federal and state level to remedy and restore and make up for the environmental harm related to industries such as hydrocarbon industry, including its fracking activities. And this needs to include support and restoration activities to local communities, including addressing the health needs of children in these communities close to these fracking and other related hydrocarbon So, I'd like to ask what your response is to those recommendations of the special rapporteur, and also if you could comment on the initiatives that are under way to prohibit the use of fracking in State territory, and how do you respond to requests from civil society organisations, indigenous groups, and collectives calling for an end to this fracking as a practice, particularly given that there's abundant evidence currently as to the risks to drinking water, the environment, health, et cetera, posed by fracking as a practice? I'd now like to come back to the whole issue of Amparo proceedings and the restrictions under the new 2025 law, because this is a fundamental mechanism for the protection of the right to a safe, clean, and healthy environment, and is subject to several restrictions, which contradicts the environmental protection policy. So I'd like you to explain that. Finally, a question on your drug policy. According to reports that we've received, the risk and harm reduction services in Mexico operate in a context of a lack of framing, binding national public policy, which has hindered these practices because they're not compulsory at the state level, they're merely voluntary. The general law on health vis-à-vis medicines such as naloxone to prevent overdoses and other drug control monitoring oversight systems But these systems are very strict in Mexico, so it's been very difficult to have access to substitute substances such as methadone, for example, as a way of promoting rehabilitation for drug consumers, particularly those who use heroin. So I'd like to see how you respond to these claims made that your access in Mexico to these substitutory alternative drugs to help wean people off hard drugs is very restricted and they're difficult to get hold of. Thank you very much.

Thank you for those follow-up questions, and there are many of them, and I request if you can possibly answer them within 20 minutes, but we can certainly play with time as well. But please, you have the floor.

Many thanks to the expert members of the committee and to you, Chair, and I will, without further ado, give the floor straight away to Dr. Vicianueva. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you very much, Ambassador. Once again, I'd like to thank the members of this committee for this very interactive, helpful, and useful dialogue, which have addressed all of the cross-cutting issues that are inherent in the protection and promotion of economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights in the country. So we welcome the interest shown in your questions and will try and respond to the best of our abilities. Turning now to the question asked about obesity. In Mexico, we have implemented guidelines for the preparation and distribution of foods and beverages, particularly in the national educational system, which have been applied. in more than 248 public and private schools, Mr. Winful. As part of these guidelines, it has prohibited the sale of junk food, and we've also sought to limit the sale of ultra-processed foods in order to boost the level of healthy food available in public and private schools. We've also rolled out a program of Healthy Life, Living Happy, in which 86% of the schools have already taken steps to eliminate the sale of junk food. In the school premises, some 2 million people have been trained online, and we have distributed some 300,000 manuals and guidebooks for those who prepare and sell food and beverages in the 32 federative entities. This material has also been made available to parents and other relatives, and so they are key partners in steps taken to ensure that children and adolescents have access to healthy food rather than being seduced by junk food, and making sure they have the best possible nutrition. I'd also like to take this opportunity to address the questions asked by Ms. Limas and also by Mr. Furio on a very important topic for Mexico, which is that of mental health, including prevention of suicide and prevention of addiction, which would, of course, circle back to a question asked by Ms. Rossi. In Mexico, we have a holistic mental health policy. We also have an addiction support policy, which is based on human rights, community support, intercultural sensitivity, and gender mainstreaming throughout these policies and programs. These actions contribute to the overall objectives of social justice, reduction of inequalities, and well-being that are part of our National Development Plan 2025-2030. So it all dovetails neatly together. We've also strengthened prevention, timely intervention, and effective access to mental health services for all people in Mexico. The National Mental Health and Addiction Commission coordinates the implementation and rollout of strategies to promote, prevent, and provide attention and care throughout the country via a community-based model which is focused on psychosocial recovery and restoration. There are multiple initiatives that have been rolled out, but I would point in particular to the National Strategy of Emotional Management, which is intended to bolster young people and adolescents' ability to recognise and manage their emotions. in order to prevent suicide. The Mexican Commission for Mental Health and Addictions has been a key part of this initiative. From the taking of office in 2024 of the current administration, up to and including the second quarter of 2026, we have been involved in 1,650,292 prevention activities, which have reached some 11 million people across the country. We have also held various different days and fairs and exhibitions intended at promoting health and to prevent addictions and mental health issues. We have also set up community health brigades, capacitating several hundred thousand people. These persons have been trained in early and preventing suicidal behavior, have been able to provide services to some 48,000 people. 16,500 healthcare personnel and 22,566 teaching staff have received training in mental health and prevention of addictions as frontline workers. We have also bolstered the specialised support that we provide in this area. Between October 2024 and June 2026, units of the National Mental Health and Addiction Commission provided 73,000 first-time consultations, with 65 follow-up specialised consultations, 48,000 emergency psychiatric interventions, and 7,800 hospitalisations as a result of this interaction by the Mental Health and Addiction Unit, or Commission, rather. We also have a Presidential Strategy for Peace and Tackling Addictions, which has increased its preventive actions in schools and communities. Between 2025 and 2026, there were 25,229 community-level activities, bringing together more than 1.5 million persons who benefited from these activities focused on mental health and addiction prevention. And several hundred thousand young people participated in these addiction prevention mechanisms as a result of that interaction, several of them were directed to specialized services. In the specific area of infrastructure in place, for healthcare teams and the provision of the respective services, we'd like to point out that Mexico continues to strengthen this infrastructure and the operational capacity of the healthcare system with the overall purpose of making headway in ensuring that the largest number of people population can enjoy the highest possible standards of physical and mental health on a progressive basis, or progressive roll-out basis. We've made concrete headway in this plan. Between September 2021 and July 2026, we carried out 16 healthcare infrastructure projects, including the building of clinics, hospitals, specialised units and community healthcare centres, which include mental health care units. Our national strategy has 10,500 healthcare facilities, including 9,000 primary care institutions, 650 secondary care institutions, and 1,000-plus mobile healthcare units or clinics, which means that we’re able to provide healthcare to rural and remote, as well as difficult-to-access areas. We’ve also rolled out a strategy to strengthen primary healthcare via the expansion of healthcare consultation clinics and offices. We have thus contributed to reduce territorial gaps, because this has been a key way, and we've expanded healthcare coverage and general GP care and primary healthcare provision and access in more regions of the country. We've also been modernizing hospital equipment. We've been developing telemedicine and reducing statistical equipment and data to guide evidence-based decision-making across the healthcare sector. All of these activities, I think, testify to the attention that the Mexican state pays to the right to health and to delivering thereon for its people. Drilling down further on the issue of medical supplies, which is a—this to respond to a question that was put to us by the members of the committee, we recognise that the timely availability of medical supplies and medicines and drugs is vital. It is an essential component of the right to enjoy the highest possible standards of physical and mental health, or to attain same. One of the main actions that the Mexican state has taken in terms of medical supplies are well-being pharmacies, which are strategically coordinated and linked with the home-by-home healthcare strategy and the primary healthcare model that we have adopted. Under this program, we carry out home visits, and healthcare staff can then identify needs, they can issue prescriptions, and they can facilitate timely access thereby to medicines and drugs for chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes, as well as to address epidemics and diseases. This began with a pilot project by the Mexican state, and since then we've been consolidating a universal network across the country. Some 5,200 pharmacies and more than 1,000 automatic dispensing machines for prescriptions, which is intended to make sure that drugs and medicines are made available in communities, including communities across the country, and that includes remote and hard-to-reach communities. It also means that goods can have less distance to travel to be distributed to these pharmacies and automatic dispensation systems. We've also bolstered the distribution network, the logistics network, via a centre for distribution as well as via our electronic prescription model. Between October 2024 and August 2026, 449.5 million different drugs and medicines were received, and 443 million of them have been distributed across the country. We have registered a 98% supply rate within the central logistics medical supplies centre, and stocks within hospitals and centres stand at an average of 97% of supplies as needed. We have also taken institutional steps to make sure that, inter alia, we also make available via that logistics network contraceptives, thus contributing to the effective exercise and enjoyment of sexual and reproductive health care rights. So this material is also made available by the logistics network that we have set up to be able to swiftly distribute medical supplies and medicines throughout the country. I'll leave it there for the time being. Thank you very much, Your Excellency.

Thank you very much, Dr. Vizinova, as the head of delegation. I would like to respond first to the very specific question asked to us by Ms. Tatu about migrants. I think it's very important to clarify that there is no detention of migrant women by force. That does not occur. If they're not able to prove that they're legally in Mexico, then they simply have to go to a migration center, and then we begin the administrative proceedings. That takes a maximum of 36 hours. The National Migration Institute carries out oversight activities using a human rights lens, ensuring the best interest of the child is upheld at all times, as well as the protection of the family unit and non-discrimination. As of January 2021, adolescents and children are not housed in migration stations or centres; rather, they are channelled towards specialised units run by the Unit for Children and Adolescents in order to ensure that the necessary protection measures can be enacted to support them. I would also like to respond to the question put by Dr. Rossi about the visit. of the Special Rapporteur on toxic waste, Mako Orijana, and specifically to address the questions that she asked about fracking. In Mexico, fracking is not a technique that we use. That said, we are currently assessing the use of technology and operational practices drawn from fracking, but that would have a lower environmental impact. If it is not proven that we can take these steps without an impact on the environment or on local people, then we will not proceed to develop such projects. So they're currently being explored, but they will only be allowed to go ahead or be greenlit if there's no environmental impact or impact on the local population. On the question asked by Mr. Fiore on the right to safe drinking water and sanitation, we recognize as Mexico the human right to water and sanitation. For us, it's a fundamental right that underpins a dignified life and is a sine qua non for the exercise of other human rights. Under the current administration, we have taken steps to strengthen the national legal framework on water and sanitation via the General Law on Water, which is the regulatory framework for Article 4 of the Constitution, which is intended to strengthen enjoyment of this right and to strengthen state oversight of the sustainable management and administration of water resources. Likewise, the National Water Plan 2024-2030 and the upcoming National Water Programme 2026-2030 will shape government action and policy to expand access to safe drinking water, to reduce territorial inequalities, to strengthen climate change adaptation, and to improve the holistic management of this precious resource. Amongst the main actions under this approach, I would point to the National Agreement for the human right to water and sustainability, as well as the rollout of 17 strategic projects on water infrastructure, representing an investment of 122.6 million pesos. We've also strengthened our safe drinking water, drainage, sewage, and sanitation program and focused on the restoration of river and water basins in various areas around the country. We've also strengthened transparency in the regulation and administration of water resources and sanitation via the Water for Wellbeing Administration Office. We've also consolidated, having identified relevant criteria for the protection of this resource. The Supreme Court of Justice of Mexico has reaffirmed that access to water should be guaranteed under the principles of availability, quality, accessibility, physical accessibility, that is, access to information, non-discrimination, and affordability. We have also strengthened protection for those who are particularly vulnerable, including children, agricultural subsistence level communities, and indigenous and communities and peoples, thus duly recognising our obligation to carry out free, prior and informed consent and consultation practices with these communities whenever public decisions might affect their local resources, including water resources and land resources. Turning now to the question that was asked about the right to adequate housing, here I would like members of the Committee to share with you that via the Housing for Wellbeing programme, The Mexican state is seeking to expand access to habitable solutions for low-income families and individuals through the construction of new housing units, as well as actions to improve and renovate existing housing units, to regulate property to make sure it meets standards, and to strengthen mechanisms for credit and financing. The strategy prioritizes women. older persons, young persons, persons with disabilities, indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities, as well as other vulnerable groups. For 2026, the budget allocated by the government stands at 1,789,925 US dollars. That's the budget for this decent housing program, which is administered by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. As part of this policy, we have set a six-year target of 1.8 million new housing units, complemented by actions to improve, renovate, and regularize existing housing units. The National Housing Commission participated with a target of 500,000 housing units, whilst the Institute for the National Housing Fund for Workers will contribute with the construction of 1.2 million housing units, which are destined principally for low-income workers. So this is significant progress, significant headway. As of 31 July 2026, 5,305 new housing units had been handed over. We had also provided additional credit lines and support to improve existing housing. 336,724 actions had been taken to regularise existing housing to provide legal certainty for housing owners or tenants. More than 5 million affiliated persons were beneficiaries of this programme, particularly they benefited from our credit improvement programme or for programmes to reduce debt and improve liquidity. Turning now to the right to health for persons with disabilities, and here I am addressing a question asked by the members of the committee. Here, I would like to comment that Mexico does recognize that persons with disabilities are full rights holders, including the right to attain the highest possible standard of physical and mental health, and to do so on an equal footing and absent any discrimination. In line with the aforementioned National Development Plan 2025-2030, The state has spearheaded policies aimed at eradicating physical, communication and administrative and social barriers which historically have circumscribed the effective access to healthcare services. One of the principal strategies that we have rolled out is the home-by-home, casa por casa healthcare strategy that we referred to yesterday, which provides medical and preventive services in the household, bringing them to the homes, particularly of older persons and persons with disabilities, with permanent disabilities, that is. This strategy has allowed us to overcome accessibility and mobility obstacles which previously hindered access to healthcare by these groups in society. As of the 30th of June 2026, 8.8 million home visits are being carried out, which means we met 88.7% of the target we had set for ourselves for the period in question. The Ministry of Health is continuing to strengthen this healthcare model via the development of new inclusive mechanisms and tools intended to ensure that accessible, inclusive, and free services, discrimination-free services, are made available. between 2025 and the third quarter of 2026. We have incorporated 223 health units within this model, so they've been certified within this model. 55,000 services have been provided via one-stop shops, including 6,000 action supports for persons with disabilities. And 6,379 support actions were taken to bolster accessibility, including the provision of auditory and visual material, tailored equipment and material, and physical accessibility tools. Alongside all of this, we strengthened training for healthcare staff, including training in Mexican Sign Language. Finally, healthcare services without social security have been strengthened. We've been able to strengthen certification for access to services to assess disability, focusing this via a psychosocial lens or psychosocial model, which means that we're able to address not just barriers to access in public life, but also in the immediate environment of the persons who access those services. Thank you very much indeed.

Thank you, Your Excellency. We have completed follow-up questions under the first three clusters, and now we will move on to questions on cluster 4, for which I will ask the cluster leader, Ms. Laura Maria Krushnyuta, to kindly pose her questions in 10 minutes. Thank you.

I would like to say that I will be addressing questions under cluster four, which relates to articles 13 and 14, the right to education, and also article 15, the right to take part in cultural life. And I will have eight issues to raise under each of these articles. So 16 in total, if the time allows me to, if not, then I will be using the follow-up. Starting with the right to education, the first issue that I would like to raise relates to public spending in education and investment per student. Public spending in education, and also I will touch upon a bit the Rita Sertina scholarship, which was also mentioned at the beginning of this debate by Her Excellency Ambassador Escobar. So with regard to public spending in education, this has declined during the last five years, dropping to 3.19% of the GDP in 2026, which is the lowest level since 2018. And apparently, almost 20% is cash transfer to Rita Sertina scholarship. scholarship. Secondly, as regards the investment per student, Mexico ranks last among the 38 members of the OECD, with an annual spending per primary school student, for example, amounting to almost 3,000 US dollars, while the international averages reaches almost 12,000 US dollars, which means almost four times higher. Plus, countries with lower GDP per capita in the region allocate more resources per student than Mexico. So my questions are: would it be possible to explain this decline in public spending in education and how this decline is in line with Mexico's obligation under Article 2 of our Covenant, namely the obligation to progressively realize the right to education within its maximum available resources, as well with the principle of non-retrogression? Would it be possible to share with us if there is a plan in the future to increase public spending in education, and if that is the case, what are the prospective data that you can share with us? Second, is there a plan to adjust the annual investment per student in all levels of education with a view to get closer to the international average? With regard to the Rita Certina Scholarship social program, This program faces several critics and is being qualified as universal scholarship based on a cash transfer. And the critics go in the sense that it risks to widen inequalities between Mexican states because aid is distributed equally to rich and poor areas, and the differential vulnerability is ignored. Apparently, this program has not improved coverage, retention, or the learning, but it creates a system that prioritized social transfers over the strengthening of the human capital. So my question here is, how do you respond to these critiques? Was there any impact assessment of the Rita Certina scholarship conducted with respect to its real potential to contribute to the improvement of coverage, retention, and learning results, and its ability to address the high level of dropouts in the country? My second issue relates to free primary education and for all. and the issue of de facto hidden indirect costs, and I will start by commending you for the improvement of the enrollment rates in primary education. Nevertheless, several reports indicate that the State Party has not yet eliminated all hidden costs in primary education, such as the one for books, uniforms, administrative contributions, which are still covered by the pupil's family. In 2019, this committee recommended the elimination of de facto hidden costs in primary education. And in your reply to the list of issues, you only indicate the constitutional and subsidiary legislation that guarantees free primary education without providing an answer to our question. So my questions here are If you eliminated all hidden costs in primary education, would it be possible to share some of the measures that you took in this regard and how these measures contributed to the eradication of this phenomenon? Or if not, and the issue was not solved, and such de facto costs still exist, what measures are in place or envisaged with a view to eliminate these indirect costs in primary education? My third issue relates to secondary and tertiary education, where we experience low enrollment rate and high dropout rates. And enrollment and continuation of secondary education continues to be a challenge in general for girls, children with different ethnic origin, children with disabilities from rural or remote areas, as well as children belonging to indigenous communities. Moreover, access to tertiary education is limited and very much dependent on the economic situation of the future students or on their cultural background. So my question is, would it be possible to provide disaggregated data and to explain how the measures taken by your government address this issue and have positively impacted the enrollment and continuation of secondary education? In the case of girls, children with different ethnic background, children with disabilities, rural, remote areas, as well as children belonging to indigenous community, both for secondary and tertiary education. Fourth, the situation of children in different migratory situation, including the ones deported from the US, and their de facto migrant detention in social assistance center. And I have to clarify maybe something in order for the answer to be calibrated to the question. So my first question was not about de jure detention of persons in migratory situation, which carries out certain legal consequences and for which Mexico has adopted a legal framework. But my question targeted de facto such detention. because of a migratory status, which is, according to some reports presented before us, happening in social services facilities, the CAS, which are operated by the Mexican National Migration Institute, for which there is no legal regulation in place because their legal duty is not to detain people, but to provide them with the required social services, and which can become problematic if this prolonged, the situation is prolonged in time. So my question here is, would it be possible to provide information demonstrating that these children, which are de facto detained there, are able to access their full economic, social, and cultural rights while they are in Mexico, including the right to education, because that's under cluster four. Five, illiteracy rate, and I have to commend you here for the achievements in the last year. The current literacy rate being around 96%. Nevertheless, this rate is 10% or even more lower in the southern part of the country in states like Chiapas, Guerrero, and Oaxaca, and heavily concentrated among all the population, women, indigenous community, remote and rural areas. And the question is if you address these particular groups with a certain category of measures. Then the issue of education of children with disabilities remains an issue, and they face not only physical but also systemic barrier in accessing and continuing different levels of education in the mainstream education. So if it is possible to provide more information on this. And I will move to cultural rights. And I would like to raise the issue of traditional knowledge protection and measures against cultural appropriation and illegal commercial exploitation or patenting of generic resources and traditional indigenous knowledge without their proper consent and fair compensation or recognition for the local community. And there were specific tension between this aspect and the IP rights. In the last years, there were many legal disputes between Mexico and international brands, including some well-known ones from the fashion industry, which showed the limits of the national regulatory framework which Mexico has adopted in this field. And there is also criticism in Mexico's capacity to effectively protect indigenous knowledge and cultural heritage against the above-mentioned practices. So apart from the legislation that was adopted in 2022, what measures are in place with a view to protect indigenous communities against such practices? Then there is a significant decrease in the budget of culture, but this decrease with more than 20% between 2017-2026. And if you can explain this reduction in budget in light of your obligation to progressively realize Article 15. And I will leave the other issues for the follow-up round. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll just take a two-minute break for the delegation to organize their work, and then Can I request, dear colleagues, to kindly settle down? We are resuming our session and give the floor to the distinguished delegation of Mexico to start responding to the questions posed by the cluster leader for cluster 4. Your Excellency, you have 30 minutes. You have the floor.

Thank you very much indeed. I'd like to thank the members of CESCS for the very interesting questions they put to us. Let us begin with cultural rights. A number of questions, very specific ones, were put to us in that connection, especially from Ms Tatu. Mexico recognizes that culture is a fundamental human right and an essential component of well-being, social cohesion, and sustainable development. In this framework, what the Ministry of Culture has done in particular, has contributed and does contribute to the objective of creating a well-being, social justice, and equality, and reduce inequality in our National Development Plan 2025-2030, which, as you've heard, we've mentioned many times, through the strengthening of the creation of artistic creation, education, cultural education, that is, creative industries and access to cultural property and services in 2026, public investment for cultural creation and infrastructure and similar was $3 billion, $25% increase since 2025, and from 56% in Those are the percentages. Let me just repeat this, because my understanding is that the interpreters didn't quite get it, and that is absolutely correct, Ms. Tatu. So, in 2026, public investment set aside for cultural creation infrastructure and tax breaks reached 3,320 million pesos, which is an increase of 37% as compared to 2025 and 56% as compared to 2024. These resources made it possible to strengthen supports to creators, to cultural infrastructure and mechanisms for financing for artistic projects and audiovisual or broadcasting projects. One of the main support mechanisms was the system to provide support to the creation of cultural projects, which between 2025 and June 2026 granted 3,010 stimuluses, quote unquote, for creators, male and female, from various disciplines. It also, we have a National Institute for Wellbeing and Literature, organize meeting for 354 people, creators, through public mechanisms that are transparent and they are selective in nature. As far as cinema is concerned, the program to support Mexican cinema was given resources to the tune of 193 million pesos and supported 19.8% more projects than the previous year. In addition, the stimulus for broadcasting creation in Mexico and Central America for indigenous communities and Afro-descendant communities selected 19 projects, thus strengthening the participation of historically underrepresented groups in audiovisual or broadcasting production. The tax break policy was also strengthened through new mechanisms to support cinema, through scene arts, visual arts, music and the editorial sector edition, we have the creation of the tax break for investment projects in broadcasting, creation with an annual set aside of 360 million pesos, that is a subsidy. We've also extended the cultural circulation nationwide between 2026 and the national circuit of peace festivals. included 189 free concerts and events, whilst the programme to support cultural programmes supported 149 festivals in 32 federal entities, reaching 4.5 million attendees. Between June 2025 and June 2026, we organised 514,121 artistic and cultural activities, which represents an increase of 39.5% as compared to the previous period. During the same period, support reached 49.7 million people, strengthening access of the general public to cultural goods and services nationwide. Culture is also a strategic sector for economic development. This is a key concept to grasp, Ms. Tatu. If you look at the satellite account for culture in Mexico between 2025, the cultural sector generated 8605, no, 865,600 million pesos, which is 2.8% of the GDP and supported around 1.43 million jobs. We also strengthened the cultural dissemination through audiovisual means, digital platforms. Also, during the period under review, we transmitted, broadcast 13,900 hours of programmes on culture, with a potential coverage of 73.6 million, so reaching 73 or 74 million people, as well as providing digital services to 2.4 million users. To answer another question, very important question, put by the expert, tattoo, on cultural, the cultural rights of indigenous peoples, may I tell you, distinguished experts, that Mexico acknowledges that indigenous peoples and Afro-Mexican communities are rights holders or holders of cultural, collective cultural rights, including the right to preserve, strengthen, and develop their languages, their knowledge, their cultural expressions, their heritage, and their forms of organization. In this framework, what the state does contributes to the well-being, social justice, equality, substantive equality and reduction of inequalities objectives. Our cultural policy means that we give leases of life to linguistic activities, to arts and crafts and the protection of the cultural heritage and recognition of the collective rights, also traditional knowledge of our indigenous peoples and communities. Now, amongst our main achievements I would highlight in particular the regional justice and development plans, which organize infrastructure, culture, education, well-being initiatives in indigenous and Afro-Mexican territories, and in particular, the justice and development plan, the regional one, of the Amuzgo people, coordinated federal actions for 1,671 million pesos, complemented with resources to rehabilitate culture houses, libraries, and community centers in Guerrero and Oaxaca, those two federative states. Mexico also strengthened the protection of sacred, indigenous sacred sites. We have a decree which recognizes and protects the sacred sites and the pilgrim routes of the Huichicuilca Nayeri, Odam, Adum and Mexican groups or peoples. The Huixquiluna root was inscribed, registered as UNESCO's World Heritage Site in 1995, and we published the catalogue of sacred places which registered 149 sites which have a spiritual and cultural value to the nation. Also, as far as strengthening communities is concerned, the program to build protect community and municipal cultures, supported 327 cultural indigenous projects, whilst the actions to promote arts and crafts benefited 38,324 arts and crafts artisans, as far as we've also trained, supported training, production, capacity, fair trade initiatives. The preservation of indigenous languages amounts To another priority of ours during the period of review, we produced material in 32 indigenous languages, reaching 1.4 million people, strengthening access in the process to culturally relevant contents. We also strengthened the mechanisms to protect collective rights as far as indigenous cultural heritage is concerned and Afro-Mexican heritage is concerned, and mediation and response initiatives to protect against undue use or misuse of cultural designs, cultural knowledge, and community archaeology. This was to respond to your question about, your very significant question, Ms. Tatu. May I also add, the Infrastructure, Communications, and Transport Ministry embodied an intercultural perspective in infrastructural projects through actions whereby the community is involved in terms of cultural relevance and supporting programs such as the artisanal routes or trails, reducing territorial isolation and strengthening communities by respecting the cultural identity of peoples. We also would like to highlight the creation of the Textile Museum of the Indigenous Peoples in Afro-Mexican communities, as well as the implementation of the Afro-Mexican Mexicanity project to strengthen the recognition of the historical memory, as well as identities and the cultural contributions of the Afro-Mexican communities. Currently, Mexico is implementing 22 justice and development plans, regional justice and development plans for 35 indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples, strengthening institutional cooperation, coordination, and indigenous participation in meeting their needs and in the exercise of their collective rights. Mexico acknowledges that people who there are still challenges for the effective protection of the collective heritage and the preservation of indigenous languages, as well as prevention of misuse and misappropriation of cultural expressions and the strengthening of the participation of communities, which is why We will continue to drive forward policies which strengthen self-determination, cultural diversity, and comprehensive intercultural and sustainable development for indigenous peoples and for Afro-Mexican communities. In addition, may I also add that Mexico is actively cooperating with and participating in the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO, we adopted the recent treaty on traditional knowledge associated to intellectual property. We have implemented projects with WIPO, World Intellectual Property Organization, also in cooperation with the Industrial Property Mexican Institute, on matters pertaining to intellectual property and people with disabilities, intellectual property and indigenous women, intellectual property and migrants. So, we consider that IP, intellectual property, is a key component to development, and we are using it as best as we can in cooperation with international institutions and agencies. You asked a question about well-being scholarships or subsidies. Distinguished delegates, may I say that well-being scholarships or, sorry, grants, are one of the main strategies used by the Mexican state to guarantee the effective exercise of the right to education and to reduce inequalities that affect access to, remaining in, and conclusion of studies under Article 4 of the Constitution. in tune with the objectives of the National Development Plan 2025-2030, as far as well-being, social justice, substantive equality and reduction of inequalities are concerned. The policy gives priority to support to students from low-income homes, indigenous communities, and communities with high levels of marginalisation, thus contributing to that ensuring that economic factors do not limit the continuity of educational pathways through the universal usual scholarship Rita, which the Ms. Tati referred to during the school year 2025-2026. 87,393 million pesos were set aside for that scholarship, four billion dollars for 14.9 million boys and girls and adolescents who belong to 11.1 million families, which means that 1.7 million students went to schools in indigenous regions and over 817,000 studied in schools that were highly marginalized. The universal education grant, Benito Juárez, set aside 41,536 million pesos, which is the equivalent of $2.3 billion. million dollars for 4.16 million students in the upper secondary school, 209,825 scholars were in schools which were in indigenous areas, thus enabling students to stay in school at a particularly vulnerable stage, where they're vulnerable to drop out of school?

At the higher educational level, the programme Youth Writing the Future, to which I've already referred to earlier, and the Heteros Bocanegra scholarship, paid out some $12.6 million in the benefit of some 465,000 university students. I think I want to highlight that 59.4% of the beneficiaries were women. thus contributing to closing the gender gap in access to and retention rates in higher education. 73,791 students pursue their studies in institutions located in indigenous communities. The progressive expansion of scholarships for well-being, or grants for well-being, reflects the Mexican State's commitment to the construction of a more inclusive and equitable education system, one in which no one has to interrupt their studies on economic grounds. We recognize that there are persistent inequalities that feed into educational attainment gaps, which affect in particular given groups of the population. And for that reason, we will continue to strengthen support mechanisms, including targeted support mechanisms, in order to ensure that resources reach as a priority those groups and individuals who are the most vulnerable, thus ensuring that we can make progressive headway towards the full enjoyment and attainment of the right to education. If you allow me now, Chair, I would like to give the floor to Dr. César Vizanueva to continue responding to the questions asked. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Your Excellency. I will continue to address the cluster of questions that were put to us under cluster four. Turning now to the integration of Afro-Mexican indigenous peoples and communities and the catalogue thereof. This is a living instrument that does not define, given its nature, the existence or non-existence of communities. What it does as an instrument is register those communities who wish to be registered under this tool, in line with the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples during their visit to Mexico in 2017. So it's a live document that is constantly being updated, this catalogue or registry. I would now like to touch on the issue of compulsory schooling in Mexico. Education is seen as a human right in Mexico, and it needs to be guaranteed throughout the life cycle of an inhabitant. In line with Article 3 of our constitution, the state has an obligation to provide and guarantee initial or both pre-school, primary, secondary, middle, and higher education. Education provided by the State under the Constitution is to be free of charge. In early years education, preschool education, primary education, secondary education, and middle school education are compulsory, which guarantees access to education and also guarantees educational retention rates, absent discrimination and absent economic barriers to the exercise of this right. The educational policy of Mexico further recognizes the strategic importance of early childhood and steps being taken there for the further development of the child and holistic development of the child throughout their lifetime, for which reason it is taking steps to ensure timely access to educational activities and services from early childhood. In the exercise of Mexico's obligation to guarantee the right to education and in exercise of our sovereignty as a nation, we have reconfigured the way in which we dispense and promote education in Mexico in order to ensure that we can better guarantee this right at the national level. For this reason, we have created the New Mexican School. This is an educational policy which shapes the way in which we guarantee the delivery of compulsory education throughout the educational life cycle, from early childhood to higher education, and ensures learning throughout one's lifetime is a possibility. The purpose is to strengthen inclusion, equity, educational excellence, and school retention. particularly for those groups of our population who have historically been confronted with greater inequalities, and to whom we have a debt and to whom we see as one of our main priorities in the Mexican state. The holistic development of the well-being of children, adolescents, and young people is at the heart of this approach via a humanist, intercultural, inclusive education, one that is linked to daily realities of each community. Throughout the school life cycle, 2025-2026, 3.8 million children received early childhood education, 61.5% of needs. At the primary level, 12.5 children are enrolled, representing 98% of children of this age who are in primary school. 6.3 million students at the secondary level, representing a coverage rate of almost 94% in this age group. To strengthen the implementation of the educational model that we have chosen and to respond to the question that was put about costs, the costs of education, I'm pleased to be able to share with you that we distributed 155, 165, 6 million school textbooks. made available to several million students and 1.2 million teachers. We also made available 1.5 million examples or copies of the 2025 curriculum plan as a way of consolidating the propagation of the New Mexican School approach in educational centers. Complementary to all of these efforts, we strengthened strategies aimed at the holistic well-being of educational communities, via content and material which is linked to healthy food, for example, holistic education in sexual and reproductive health and rights, in gender equality, in the culture of peace, in the prevention of violence, in mental health, in scientific and mathematics thought, as well as strengthening language practices and linguistics. We also promoted specific actions at the educational level to strengthen intercultural education via the updating of school material aimed at indigenous and Afro-Mexican pupils and students, and through the training of teachers in order to ensure that they can provide more relevant and targeted educational support and teaching. Against this backdrop, I would like to dig somewhat deeper into the steps that have been taken by the Mexican State to improve educational infrastructure via a multi-year programme which includes children in the design of bolstering integrity of our educational programme, which includes a programme which is called Our Schools. This is part of the drive by the Mexican State to ensure the effective enjoyment of the right to education by improving the physical infrastructure, equipment, and the services that are made available in public schools. This strategy strengthens the necessary conditions that are sine qua non for the effective enjoyment of the right to education via the direct delivery of school resources to community schools, thus improving educational spaces, schools, et cetera, particularly in those localities with high levels of marginalization, vulnerability, and social marginalization. One hallmark of this program is the model of community participation that it follows. participative school administration models. It is the schools and communities themselves that set their priorities and directly administer the resources earmarked to reach those targets and goals that they set for themselves. This fosters social co-responsibility, transparency, and the participation of parents and caregivers in decision-making surrounding schools and educational model that they deliver. This program also incorporates priority targets that allows for targeted support to be delivered to indigenous communities, to those territories that are priority targets as part of the regional development model that we'd all referred to, and also means that we can provide targeted support and educational models to areas of high levels of marginalization, thus reducing inequalities and promoting greater educational opportunities. The results that we've received to date as part of this program in Mexico demonstrate high coverage rates between 25-26. 75,608 educational communities benefited from this programme, including primary schools and 6,317 higher education institutes. In the first quarter of this year, the programme covered 73,443 school communities. including 67,000 primary schools and 5,700 middle school and high school facilities, thus representing the expansion of the programme in order to ensure that it covers not just primary and middle school or secondary school rates, but also high school and higher education facilities as well. We've also taken steps in teacher training to improve the quality of teaching. which you also, as an issue you also refer to in your questions under this cluster, I believe, we recognise that the effective guarantee of the right to education is underpinned by the quality standards of teachers. Our sectoral education programme 2025-2030 includes actions focused on ongoing training and professional development for teachers and on the recognition of the work that teachers carry out at all educational levels, thus contributing to the objectives of well-being, social justice, and equality that are duly included in our National Development Plan. In the current school year, 2025-26, basic education was provided to 22.8 million students with one 2 million countries, working in 233,000 schools across the country. We have a professional training programme for teachers which provides training courses, capacity building courses, which are targeted to educational staff with an emphasis on the improving of pedagogical practices, the way in which education is delivered, and ensuring that teaching in the classroom incorporates the priorities that are included in our new educational programme. 233,449 teachers and headteachers have engaged in ongoing training activities, 171,000 of whom have finished the training cycle and the rest of them are still undergoing it. 13,848 teachers also received specialised teaching in priority issues such as human rights education, gender equality, inclusive education, peaceful coexistence in school and in the classroom, sexual integrity, sexual education, and emotional and social development. Alongside these efforts, we have strengthened the mechanisms in terms of income and promotion for educational staff. We have, at the basic level, 115,253 teaching posts. We have also ensured that there are an additional 40,136 teaching hours that have been made available. At the middle and superior educational levels, we have allocated We have 6,997 teaching places and some 500 plus administrative post or head teacher post. This demonstrates what the impact of the Mexican policy has been to ensure that this is a partizary model, including students, pupils, teachers, head teachers, school leaders, community leaders, and parents in the design, rollout, and development of this Mexican education model. On migrants, specifically as a category of persons, the actions spearheaded by the Ministry of the Interior have contributed and will continue to contribute to the well-being, social justice, and reduction of inequality goals that we set for ourselves, particularly when it comes to holistic development and support for the most vulnerable in society and the protection of migrant persons. The strategy takes as its starting point that the right to identity is a key right and underpins all other rights, including the right to education, healthcare, and access to public services. For all of this, you need the necessary identification documents. So the regularization of the identification documents of migrant children and adolescents, or returned children and adolescents, has a direct impact on their ability to rejoin and integrate schools and education and continue their education in communities. The Ministry of the Interior, working with the Ministry of Public Education and the National Registry of Identity and Population, has bolstered its dual nationality project. And we also have an inter-institutional working group on the right to identity and access to education, which also helps support our efforts to ensure that everybody has access to identification, which will enable them to overcome barriers in access to education, which others would impact Mexican children and adolescents who are born in the United States who lack the necessary identity documents or birth certificate to prove their Mexican nationality. The results of these programs demonstrate that we have made significant headway between 2025 and March of 2026. The dual nationality project allowed the issuance of 11,081 single key identity documents for children and adolescents of Mexican families born in the United States, facilitating their access to a legal identity and thus their inclusion in the educational system. The strategy had a focalized scope in 26 municipalities where there are high levels of migration return in Baja California, Chihuahua, Guanajuato, Sinaloa, Sonora, and Zacatecas. territories in which there are large numbers of returnees and the steps that need to be taken to integrate dual nationals. These actions guarantee the progressive development of the right to education by facilitating the inscription, retention, and move from different educational levels by children and adolescents, avoiding exclusion or children dropping out of rates that might otherwise have been triggered by lack of access to documentation. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Dr. Vigenueva. I think that's all we have for the time being, Chair.

Thank you, Your Excellency. The floor is now open for follow-up questions, and I recognize Ms. Lordo-Cratchineau-Tatoo, then Mr. Furio. Ms. Tatoo, you have the floor.

My question is a follow-up, and many of the others would be new questions as such. So the follow-up question is in connection with your responses provided on the budget which was allocated to culture and also on the cultural projects. And we really appreciate your responses relevant to the projects conducted in the cultural field. Nevertheless, I would like to raise the issue of lack of financing for projects which were already approved. And according to Auditoría Superior de la Federación, this institution indicated that in 2022, 775 cultural projects which were previously approved have not received the approved amount of financing. So my question is, what is the execution rate for the resources that were previously approved for the above-mentioned projects? And with respect to the budget for culture, would it be possible to indicate the concrete amount from this budget that is effectively transferred to indigenous?

Could Ms. Tatu's microphone be moved for the interpreters, please.

Yes, thank you. With respect to the new questions, most of them are under Article 15, and I would like to raise the issue of data protection of indigenous people and to ask what are the legal guarantees for the protection of territorial, cultural, and linguistic data of indigenous people gathered by private technological companies? In digital, ITAI, engineering sectors, is this gathering of data based on the free, prior, and informed consent of these communities, and how these communities control this data and benefit from their value? With respect to participation in, with respect to the culture, I would like also to raise the issue of the risk of extinction for indigenous languages, and according to the National Institute for Indigenous Languages, 23 of these languages are at the risk of being extincted. What measures are in place to prevent this extinction and to ensure their survival? The next issue is related to the presence of women in STEM fields, which has improved, and there are data showing this, but still it's very low. So what measures are envisaged to continue to improve this situation? Then I would like to reiterate our request from the list of issues to provide details on the consultation processes which was held in the context of the adoption of the and on its concrete results. And also from our list of issues, would it be possible to provide more details on the legal relevance of the General Administrative Manual on the Information and Communication Technologies, which, according to your replies to our list of issues, sets out the guidelines for the implementation and management of digital platforms, prioritizing accessibility, information security, and compliance with human rights? And lastly, And I apologize for the amount of questions. On sexual violence in schools, which it seems to be also an issue, according to several reports, what indicator is Mexico using to assess the efficacy of the prevention, detection, and sanctioning of sexual violence in school and in schools? Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Tatu. Mr. Furio, you have the floor, sir.

Thank you very much. Unlike the colleague who took the floor before me, I'm not going to apologize for the quantity of questions we're asking because it's proportionate to the interest that the committee has in a dialogue such as this one and a state party such as this one with the Mexican delegation. It should come as no surprise that we have so many questions. So I will pick up and run with some questions related to indigenous peoples. Firstly, we are aware of the existence of this catalogue, this document which contains the registries of indigenous peoples. We're also aware that this national catalogue of Afro-Mexican and indigenous peoples and communities of Mexico includes the criterion of territoriality as one of the points for inclusion of peoples and communities in this catalogue or registry. But there are some limitations when it comes to urban communities, as well as to migrant indigenous communities and displaced communities, those who have been displaced from ancestral lands. It's been difficult for them to meet that criterion. So, what measures has the State Party adopted in order to ensure that displaced urban or migrant indigenous communities can have access on an equal footing to the resources allocated for their well-being, including safe drinking water, sanitation, housing, social infrastructure, without having to meet the criteria and for registry in the catalogue, et cetera, which they cannot necessarily meet. In other words, we want to avoid situations of discrimination. The delegation has also referred to the right to exercise consultation, free prior and informed consent. I would like to recall that the standard established by ILO Convention 169 refers to free prior and informed consent. I've heard you talk a lot about consultation, but sometimes the word consent is missing in what you say. So I'd like to ask what normal standard explicitly recognizes the right of indigenous peoples and communities to free prior and informed consent? which needs to go hand in hand with the consultation process, but upholding this consent is equally important as consultation. On some questions on housing, going back to previous clusters, and bear with me a second while I find my place. We're concerned by reports of forced evictions, or particularly of internally displaced persons. And we are worried also about questions surrounding affordability of housing and the availability of social housing. So I'd like to ask what measures the state intends to enact to reduce the shortage of housing overall, to facilitate access to land. to facilitate social housing and expansion in social or welfare housing? This is very important for us, and it's something that's particularly important with regard to urban indigenous communities. And I would ask further that what measures you have in place to ensure that urban indigenous communities can have access to housing in those urban areas. Turning now to returnees or returned persons, another situation, another vulnerable group. What have been the results of your flagship public policy, which is intended to ensure the sustainability of returned persons, particularly when it comes to social welfare, employment, and housing? And how do you guarantee that assistance and support is delivered to non-Spanish speakers, including those who speak indigenous languages? How does the State guarantee the continuity of medical health care to returnees once the temporary medical coverage that is provided for under the Mexico Embraces You programme, which is dedicated to returnees? What measures has the State adopted in order to ensure that older persons, particularly older women, are respected with regard to affordable housing, pension, protection from poverty, access to care and healthcare services, and community support are upheld and provided? Could you provide us with disaggregated information, disaggregated, that is, by federative entity and sex? How does the State guarantee that older persons, particularly vulnerable women, can have access in all federative entities to care services, to community support, and to adequate levels of social protection and welfare. A question now on the right to healthcare, particularly sexual and reproductive health, maternity health, and traditional births. What measures guarantee effective access and non-discriminatory access to sexual and reproductive health resources, including safe abortion? and prevention of obstetric violence? How has the State reduced inequalities in maternal mortality, particularly amongst indigenous and rural women, whose rates were higher than other groups? How does the State guarantee free, prior and informed consent from these women in all sexual health and reproductive health interventions? Turning now to drug consumption and the right to health. Mentions been made earlier of the reform to the general healthcare law, but the committee is concerned by the shortcomings in the implementation of the provisions on mental health and addiction on this General Healthcare Act. So I would like to build on questions asked by other colleagues who took the floor before me in previous rounds. What measures guarantee? access to sufficient treatment, protection and harm reduction programmes that are respectful of the human rights of drug consumers? I would also like to ask whether the delegation could provide us with updated information or data about persons who – drug addicts and other persons who have been cared for over the last five years. On the social welfare centres, the CAS, what standards make sure that medicines, healthcare, and timely psychological support is provided to those who are residents in these centres? Those are my questions. Thank you very much indeed.

Thank you, Mr. Furio. And the floor to give to you, madam. And you have 20 minutes. Yes, thank you.

I am much obliged to you, Chair. Thank you also to Dr. Fiore. Thank you very much for your interest in this conversation. This has been a very interesting exchange from our side as well. I'd like to begin by responding to one of the questions asked by Dr. Tatu, pertaining to data, very specific data from the OECD. In point of fact, Mexico invests around $13,500 per student as compared with around $12,000 per student in neighboring countries, as you pointed out. In terms of good governance, the response cannot just simply be a comparison of raw numbers between different countries. We need to see what it is that we're measuring and what social priorities we're addressing in a context of reduction of physical space and high levels of inequality. The OECD indicator measures expenditure by educational establishments, but leaves outside of its calculation those resources that the government transfers directly to households in order to support school retention rates and school completion rates for children, which is a very relevant element. We have set up an unprecedented level of scholarships and grants for students and pupils. This at the behest of the President herself. As she has said, providing a scholarship or a grant to a boy or a girl is not an expenditure, it's an investment. If you add up the expenditure at the institutional level and to in terms of these direct social transfer programs, that gap would no doubt reduce as measured by the OECD. So you have to factor in all of those elements and where we expend and provide resources and support. It's not just the raw numbers of expenditure per child through the educational model, through schools. With regard to Afro-Mexican and indigenous peoples and communities, and the program that's been in place since 2022, and which recognizes indigenous peoples and communities and Afro-Mexican communities and peoples as the rights holders and the owners of their cultural heritage, which is something you've repeated oft throughout this dialogue. To commercialize indigenous designs, if you wish to do that, you need to follow a process of free, prior, and informed consent and to agree the necessary conditions and how the benefits of the trading of that traditional or indigenous design will also be distributed or shared with the indigenous community itself. This is in line with a network and a treaty that Mexico is a part of, a treaty that was arrived at under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization, WIPO. So it's respecting those obligations in terms of the copyright of indigenous designs. Now for a question about migrant children in the care centres or shelters. In these centres for migrant children, which is part of the overall national DIF system, we have rolled out substantive programmes in the areas of social work, psychological support, pedagogical support, education, training, medical services, and nutrition. Placing at the heart of all these actions the best interests of the child and guided by the precepts of human rights, equality and non-discrimination. All of these actions are focused on children, migrant children and adolescents, whether accompanied or unaccompanied or separated. and we follow an inclusive approach in the delivery of those services. And all of this is under the auspices of the normative framework of those domestic and international instruments which guarantee the protection of children and adolescents in all spheres and in all groups. So, we operate in strict adherence to all of these provisions and responsibilities. I think it's worth highlighting that the entry of these children and adolescents to these migrant support centres for them, all the actions within these centres are focused on the restoration of their rights and to guarantee that their basic needs are met. We provide food, a safe space in which they can sleep, clothing, healthcare services, as well as activities intended to promote cultural dissemination and spaces for safe leisure activities and interaction. We also ensure full access to education, thus ensuring that they can resume their education Anybody under the age of 18 in these centres has access to these services. It's the National Institute for Migration working together with the Attorney General of the Nation for the Protection of Children and Adolescents, with that particular office, who are responsible for initiating the process of regularising the status of migrant children and adolescents in the country, and they do this via the relevant protection measures that have been issued by the Attorney General's Office when children and migrants or their accompanying relatives have expressed their desire for these children or adolescents, or for the families themselves, to remain in the country. The Attorney General's Office informs the National Institute of Migration on a request by the child, adolescent, or family and begins the process so that beneficiaries can have access to the offices then to carry out all the necessary paperwork, et cetera.

Once the social centre receives the communication, notification for the beneficiary to come to the National Migration Institute, then they provide support for the transfer for this to happen in coordination with the Italian General’s Office, and we implement a protocol for them to be given a visitor’s card that is granted on humanitarian grounds. Finally, may I refer to the issue of the catalogue or the register? mentioned in the questions and tell you that there are different categories for this register. One is traditional settlement or migrant resident, for example, the Masawa communities originally come from the state of Mexico, now they live in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. They were registered in the register, the catalogue, but they are registered as a self-identify and they keep those characteristics that pertain to the Constitution, one of which, namely, that they have economic culture unity; number two, that they be settled in a territory; number three, that they know their own authorities and they use their authorities according to their own regulatory systems. That's what the Constitution requires for the registration. Furthermore, if I were to go back to the comprehensive Act on Indigenous Peoples and Afro-Mexican. This document is currently being consulted with free, prior, and informed consultation, containing sections on cultural heritage, tangible and intangible, material and intellectual property, collective property of these peoples and communities, their knowledge, traditional knowledge, that is, their rights, as well as the obligations of the States in this field. Notwithstanding this, as previously mentioned by us, this document to date is being discussed with the indigenous peoples and communities and Afro-Mexican communities of the country in order for us to glean their opinions, their suggestions, and their queries to come up with a regulatory document which fully guarantees their rights and aspirations. Turning now to linguistic rights, about which you asked. specifically on that. Mexico recognizes that indigenous languages are an essential part of our cultural heritage and the identity of indigenous communities and Afro-Mexican peoples. One of the main, no, the main instruments are the following: the instrument for broadcasting 23 entities and 17 federal regions which broadcast contents in 35 national languages and strengthens access to information and communication and cultural expression. Also, let me tell you that between 2018 and 2025, the system broadcast 1.1 million hours of programmes, of which 55% was broadcast in indigenous languages, thus contributing to the linguistic preservation, dissemination of knowledge, traditional knowledge, and the strengthening of the rights, collective rights of the communities. May I give the floor to Ingenio Hector? Hector Figueroa Parafox.

Thank you very much, Ambassador. To elaborate on some data about the educational setback, or sorry, lagging behind. Between 2018 and 2024, situation, the poverty situation of improvement of the people under 18, the percentage of children, boys and girls, and adolescents, poverty fell by 50, by about 10 percent, a reduction of 11.6 percent, that is, which represents 5.6 million boys and girls and adolescents. This went hand in hand with the reductions in five of the social floors in the same period, or the greatest reduction is for Lack of access to food and nutritionists and quality foods, which went from 26.5% to 17.1%, for a reduction 8.5%, which 3.7 million boys and girls and adolescents fewer, followed by lack of access to basic services in terms of housing, which went from 23.2 to 17.6%. a reduction of 5.6 percentage points, which means that 2.6 million boys and girls and adolescents were benefited. With regards to educational lagging behind, for 2024, the people aged 3 to 21 who don't go to school and don't have basic education, compulsory education, is 14.9% of the population. The age 22 plus born from 1998 that doesn't have no completed studies, 34.5%. Population aged 16 plus born between 1982 and 1997 without full secondary education, 15.2%. Whereas 16 plus born before 1982 without completed primary education, 22%. This setback has to do with the normative cuts under the constitution to adjust the various compulsory levels of education in Mexico. If we look at the children aged 3 to 15 who don't go to school, only 8.1% is the percentage for those children who do not go to school. With regards to people aged 3 to 29 living in homes with income under the poverty line who go to compulsory public education and receives scholarships or grants, let me tell you that Chiapas, Guerrero, and Oaxaca have a greater coverage than the national average, which is 27.4%. In Chiapas, the percentage of children aged 3 to 29 receiving grants and who go to school is 43.8%. In Guerrero, 42.2 percent, in Oaxaca, 45 percent, and in Mexico, 66.4 percent. That will be me done.

Much appreciated, Mr. Figueroa. Mr. Villanueva,

thank you, Ambassador. Once again, thank you all for all of your questions, your specific questions which you, the experts, have put to us on this whole range of human rights crucial for our administration. Now, you've spoken about the progressive achievements we've made, which calls for specific, progressive questions from you, so we really appreciate the fact that you've honoured our policies by being so detailed in your questions. So, two points I'd like to respond to, to elaborate and complete your knowledge on the reduction of the budget as far as culture is concerned. You spoke or referred to something that occurred in 2022. However, over the last two years, the budget for culture was increased. on this issue, if you go, Mexico embraces you, México te abraza, for repatriated Mexicans from 2025, this program, we welcome you back. 34 agencies and centers provides housing, food, medical care, psychological treatment, first contact, documentation, access to social programs. labour support and transfer to committees of origin in January 2025. This programme began on 15 October 2026. Between the two, 309,000 plus repatriations occurred of co-nationals, of which 700,000 plus was by land and 132,911 was by air. 1.7 plus thousand services were provided as such as housing, food, medical and psychological treatment, legal advice, differentiated care for vulnerable groups. families and women heads of households or returnees as well, and help to transfer back to their communities of origin. In terms of issuance of ID papers, over 168,000 birth registrations and single ID cards were issued, in addition to 207,641 people benefited from the peasant well-being card. enabling them to transfer their resources back to the communities of origin. With regard to the specific issue which Mr. Fiore raised and which drew up to our attention, the elderly and mental health, through the network for primary care for mental health and addictions, we give the community in general and to the elderly in particular a treatment model for the consumption of psychotropic substances. including actions ranging from promotion, prevention, treatment of users of these substances or their relatives. Also through the Line for Life telephone line made-up of a multidisciplinary team of specialists dedicated to the care for mental health, including psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers, we provide comprehensive support to people who are in crisis, thus ensuring immediate professional and human intervention, giving priority to well-being and the recovery of people who use this service, including older persons. Moving on now to a question you asked about women in science and technology. The Ministry for Science, Humanities, and Technology and Innovation drove forward a national policy designed to guarantee the right of everyone to benefit from scientific and humanistic and technological development, thus strengthening the national capacities for research, specialized training, and innovation to contribute to the well-being of the population and to sustainable development. As part of this strategy, between September 2025 and June 2026, We published 15 calls for contributions for specialised research in Mexico and abroad, postgraduate programmes, technical assistance, and supports for inclusion. On 30 June 2025, we administered 85,434 grants and supports, of which 51.7% were for women, chiefly, and 48.3 for men, with an investment of $13,102 million. Also, as far as women are concerned and the role they play in this valuable agenda, as far as research is concerned, we fostered the participation of 4,734 female researchers in 666 scientific and humanistic projects, with a female participation of 47.2% and 318 women in charge of the technical coordination of these projects. In addition to that, we adopted 110 projects for technological development designed to meet priority challenges pertaining to food security, technological sovereignty, electromobility and health. As part of follow-up to the questions put on the issue of educational inclusion, and strengthening of special education, I would like to highlight that Mexico is continuing to strengthen inclusive education designed to ensuring that all boys, girls, and adolescents can exercise fully their right to education, and in particular for those who come up against obstacles to their learning and their participation in school attendance. As part of the strategy during the school year 2025-2026, we strengthened education, specialised education services through a national network made-up of 4,817 support service units to regular service and 1,722 multiple services centres providing support to children with disabilities, with also high achievers and students who need special assistance. Also during 2026, the programme to strengthen the The specialised education services benefited over 312,000 students through initiatives to improve accessibility, strengthen specialised attention, enlarge teacher training and improve teaching environments to respond to the various needs, educational needs of our pupils. We recognize that there are ongoing challenges pertaining to the coverage of our specialized services, accessibility of education infrastructure, and the strengthening of teacher training to meet the children's needs, which is why we're continuing to initiate actions to implement the right to education free of discrimination for.

All in the country.

This brings us, I believe, Madam Chair, to the end, within time, of our answers to the questions put to the Mexican State over the last two days. Thank you very much indeed.

Thank you so much, Your Excellency. It's been a pleasure. conducting this constructive dialogue with your State Party, and I know we posed many questions, but that shows the interest that we have. And of course, you responded in the right spirit, so really thank you and your delegation for your understanding and the responses that you provided. We've now come to the end of our questions, and in conclusion, i would like to request our country rapporteur, Mr. Ludovic Hennibel, to kindly make his concluding remarks. You have the floor, sir.

Chair, thank you for giving me the floor. Chair, Excellencies, members of the delegation, as we come to the end of this dialogue, I first and foremost would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to the Mexican delegation for having come, for being available to answer our questions. For the questions you were kind enough to put, to the many, many questions we put to you, be reassured, we won't at this stage add any more, in case you are wondering. This was a constructive dialogue which endeavours, aspires to be constructive. In other words, it's not a question of us just listening and not reacting. We need to recognise achievements. The difficulties also need to be named. the most demanding issues must be looked at in hard daylight, and it is in that spirit, you will have understood, that our exchange of views occurred. Mexico has acquired an institutional regulatory framework which is particularly ambitious as far as human rights is concerned. In fact, we began our dialogue by recalling that fact. And needless to say, the challenge today is for you to be able to reduce the gap that still separates the norm adopted on the one hand, its effective implementation on the other, and looking at what has really been achieved for the right holders. Now, this demand, this requirement, applies to individuals and communities who come up against the most sizeable obstacles: indigenous peoples, we've spoken a lot about, Afro-Mexican communities, also, women, migrant or displaced persons, people living in poverty, the relatives of disappeared persons, human rights defenders, as well as people who live in rural or marginalised areas. Our dialogue also shed to light the scale of some of your structural challenges, the reforms of the judiciary have regularly been mentioned, the territorial inequalities, the coordination between different levels of government, the availability of public resources, access to effective remedies, the consequences of organized crime, consequences of violence and organized crime, says the speaker. and the effects of mega-projects on economic, social, cultural rights, and also the need to have reliable data, thanks to which you can measure the concrete effects of public policies. Now, the government, needless to say, does not provide ready-made answers to all of these difficulties. What it does do is give guidance, inviting us to mobilise as much of the available resources we can combat discrimination, prevent things reoccurring, supporting persons concerned, and guaranteeing effective remedies when rights are violated. Needless to say, the Committee will continue to deliberate over these matters. We will adopt, as you know, our concluding observations on Mexico subsequent to this review, which will be neither a definitive judgment nor a conclusion to this dialogue, but will be designed rather to identify for us, to identify together after this constructive dialogue, your priorities, and will enable us to formulate concrete operational observations or recommendations. And that's when the work will start, truly. These recommendations will have to be translated into your budgets, into your laws, into your judicial decisions, into your public policies, and into your administrative practices. At least we will invite you to translate them thus, and their implementation will need all your authorities to work together, together with civil society and independent organizations, and of course, with the human rights holders as well. I really would like to extend heartfelt thanks to the members of the task force who worked upstream on this and worked in this dialogue, so I would like to thank all my colleagues in the Committee for the quality of their work and the quality of their questions and their reactions. I would like to thank also the Secretariat for its rigorous support and constant support in the preparation of this dialogue. I would also like to thank the interpreters who have had to follow in the various languages. the formulation of fairly lengthy questions and many, many, many figures provided most of the time without a script. Thank you for supporting us. Thank you to civil society organizations. Thank you to the human rights defenders. Thank you to those of you who shared with us your experience in confidence. Your contribution, your human contribution is invaluable. We hope that all this will enable us to, countries to translate in Mexico the Covenant into a reality. Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. And I'd now like to invite Your Excellency, the Ambassador, to kindly make her closing remarks. You have the floor, madam.

Thank you very much indeed, Madam Chair. distinguished experts from the Committee, members of civil society, distinguished colleagues with us online following this dialogue. As we come to the end of this dialogue, Mexico restates its commitment to the full realization of the economic, social, and cultural rights and environmental rights The progress we've described over these last two days attest to our main conviction, which is that development is only sustainable when it gives rise to effective rights, reducing inequalities, and improvement of living conditions for individuals. Public policies driven forward by the Mexican state start with it recognizing that inequalities affect in a differentiated manner individuals, and that is why specific answers are needed for those who historically have faced the major, most setbacks and most exclusion. Our Mexican humanism has guided what we have done to create a threshold of well-being and social justice: pension, grants, scholarships, access to health services, adequate homes, decent wages, the recognition of the rights of indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities and peoples represent much more than governmental programs or actions. What they mean is an enlargement of rights, enlargements of abilities, skills, and freedoms for millions of people, as was reflected in our exchanges, Mexico, over the last few years has succeeded, has posted significant progress in its economic, social, cultural performance, rights performance. However, we acknowledge that we still have challenges before us. Mexico values the high level of demand, your high standards with which you have looked at our challenges and our achievements, we take this meeting as an opportunity for us to strengthen our policies and to continue to improve our institutions. We would also like to acknowledge the huge collective effort which made this review possible. For months, agencies and entities belonging to the federal administration, all levels of government, independent constitutional bodies, as well as other state institutions worked together to prepare the information, to respond to the queries put to the Committee and to contribute to this constructive dialogue. Over 100 people, public officials, and at least 24 public institutions supported this work from Mexico online, remotely providing technical knowledge and experience, specialized experience to help us answer. We would like to express our acknowledgement and thanks to all of them who are supporting us remotely. I can assure you, madam Chair, that this exchange is not the effort of just a few people, but it is the result of institutional commitment, shared commitment to human rights. So we go home with your questions, your observations, and your recommendations. These will be a valuable guide to help us to make progress. We are convinced, remain convinced, that social justice and rights, human rights, are inseparable. And all of this only has meaning if it gives rise to decent lives and well-being for individuals. Mexico will continue to work with, responsibly, openly, and with conviction to respect, protect, and guarantee human rights, including ecological, social, and cultural rights, and to reduce inequalities, and to strengthen protection of everyone, and especially those who are vulnerable or who have been historically excluded. We are convinced that your concluding observations will take into account our achievements and the efforts we have described. That is what has spurred us on and continues to guide our efforts, namely that our Human rights need to become daily realities, that’s our aim. Nobody can be left behind, nobody can be left outside. Thank you so much once again, distinguished members of the Committee.

Thank you, Your Excellency, and I am very happy to know that you and your delegation have received our questions in a very constructive spirit. That was the whole intention of our dialogue with you. And by the level of our preparations, you could see that we were very interested and clearly very impressed by the work that you have done and your delegation has done. We will be showing concluding observations to our dialogue, and that will be made available to you on Friday, the 13th of November, and it will be made public the following week. In that concluding observations, we will identify three paragraphs, three issues that actually can be implemented within the next two years. So we would request you to kindly pay attention to those three recommendations for immediate implementation. And of course, we do request you to consider our recommendations that will be contained in the concluding observations for the next review as well. I want to, of course, join Mr. Ludovic Hannibal in thanking you and your delegation. I wish those who are returning back to the capital, a safe journey back. I don't know how difficult or easy it is to interpret or translate the Spanish language, but from what I could hear, I think it must have been a challenge because the speed at which I think our interpreters handled. handle the work, so very laudable. I am always in awe of the work they do, so thank you to them and to the conference services for the support that they have provided, and of course, to our Secretariat and the task force and our country rapporteur. So safe journey, and I hope that you can have a more relaxed time when you return back to your mission. Thank you. And the meeting is closed. Thank you.