International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession
by General Assembly
resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966
entry into force 3 January
1976,
in accordance with article 27
Preamble
The
States Parties to the present Covenant,
Considering that, in
accordance with the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United
Nations, recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable
rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom,
justice and peace in the world,
Recognizing that these
rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person,
Recognizing that, in
accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ideal
of free human beings enjoying freedom from fear and want can only be
achieved if conditions are created whereby everyone may enjoy his economic,
social and cultural rights, as well as his civil and political rights,
Considering the obligation
of States under the Charter of the United Nations to promote universal
respect for, and observance of, human rights and freedoms,
Realizing that the individual,
having duties to other individuals and to the community to which he
belongs, is under a responsibility to strive for the promotion and observance
of the rights recognized in the present Covenant,
Agree upon the following
articles:
PART I
Article 1
1. All
peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right
they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their
economic, social and cultural development.
2. All peoples may, for
their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources
without prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic
co-operation, based upon the principle of mutual benefit, and international
law. In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence.
3. The States Parties
to the present Covenant, including those having responsibility for the
administration of Non-Self-Governing and Trust Territories, shall promote the realization of
the right of self-determination, and shall respect that right, in conformity
with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
PART II
Article 2
1. Each
State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take steps, individually
and through international assistance and co-operation, especially economic
and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view
to achieving progressively the full realization of the rights recognized
in the present Covenant by all appropriate means, including particularly
the adoption of legislative measures. General
comment on its implementation
2. The States Parties
to the present Covenant undertake to guarantee that the rights enunciated
in the present Covenant will be exercised without discrimination of
any kind as to race, colour, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property,
birth or other status.
3. Developing
countries, with due regard to human rights and their national economy,
may determine to what extent they would guarantee the economic rights
recognized in the present Covenant to non-nationals.
Article
3
The
States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to ensure the equal
right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and
cultural rights set forth in the present Covenant.
Article
4
The
States Parties to the present Covenant recognize that, in the enjoyment
of those rights provided by the State in conformity with the present
Covenant, the State may subject such rights only to such limitations
as are determined by law only in so far as this may be compatible with
the nature of these rights and solely for the purpose of promoting the
general welfare in a democratic society.
Article
5
1. Nothing
in the present Covenant may be interpreted as implying for any State,
group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any
act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights or freedoms recognized
herein, or at their limitation to a greater extent than is provided
for in the present Covenant.
2. No restriction upon
or derogation from any of the fundamental human rights recognized or
existing in any country in virtue of law, conventions, regulations or
custom shall be admitted on the pretext that the present Covenant does
not recognize such rights or that it recognizes them to a lesser extent.
PART III
Article 6
1. The
States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right to work,
which includes the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his
living by work which he freely chooses or accepts, and will take appropriate
steps to safeguard this right.
2. The steps to be taken
by a State Party to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization
of this right shall include technical and vocational guidance and training
programmes, policies and techniques to achieve steady economic,
social and cultural development and full and productive employment under
conditions safeguarding fundamental political and economic freedoms
to the individual.
Article
7
The
States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone
to the enjoyment of just and favourable conditions
of work which ensure, in particular:
(a) Remuneration which provides all workers, as a minimum,
with:
(i) Fair wages and equal remuneration
for work of equal value without distinction of any kind, in particular
women being guaranteed conditions of work not inferior to those enjoyed
by men, with equal pay for equal work;
(ii) A decent living
for themselves and their families in accordance with the provisions
of the present Covenant;
(b) Safe and healthy working conditions;
(c) Equal opportunity
for everyone to be promoted in his employment to an appropriate higher
level, subject to no considerations other than those of seniority and
competence;
(d
) Rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of working hours and
periodic holidays with pay, as well as remuneration for public holidays
Article
8
1. The
States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to ensure:
(a) The right of everyone to form trade unions and join the
trade union of his choice, subject only to the rules of the organization
concerned, for the promotion and protection of his economic and social
interests. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right
other than those prescribed by law and which are necessary in a democratic
society in the interests of national security or public order or for
the protection of the rights and freedoms of others;
(b) The right of trade
unions to establish national federations or confederations and the right
of the latter to form or join international trade-union organizations;
(c) The right of trade
unions to function freely subject to no limitations other than those
prescribed by law and which are necessary in a democratic society in
the interests of national security or public order or for the protection
of the rights and freedoms of others;
(d) The right to strike, provided that it is exercised in conformity with the
laws of the particular country.
2. This
article shall not prevent the imposition of lawful restrictions on the
exercise of these rights by members of the armed forces or of the police
or of the administration of the State.
3. Nothing in this article
shall authorize States Parties to the International Labour
Organisation Convention of 1948 concerning
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize to take
legislative measures which would prejudice, or apply the law in such
a manner as would prejudice, the guarantees provided for in that Convention.
Article
9
The
States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone
to social security, including social insurance.
Article
10
The
States Parties to the present Covenant recognize that:
1. The widest possible protection and assistance should be
accorded to the family, which is the natural and fundamental group unit
of society, particularly for its establishment and while it is responsible
for the care and education of dependent children. Marriage must be entered
into with the free consent of the intending spouses.
2. Special protection
should be accorded to mothers during a reasonable period before and
after childbirth. During such period working mothers should be accorded
paid leave or leave with adequate social security benefits.
3. Special measures
of protection and assistance should be taken on behalf of all children
and young persons without any discrimination for reasons of parentage
or other conditions. Children and young persons should be protected
from economic and social exploitation. Their employment in work harmful
to their morals or health or dangerous to life or likely to hamper their
normal development should be punishable by law. States should also set
age limits below which the paid employment of child labour
should be prohibited and punishable by law.
Article
11 General
comment on its implementation
1. The
States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone
to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including
adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement
of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps
to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect
the essential importance of international co-operation based on free
consent. General
comment on its implementation
2. The States Parties
to the present Covenant, recognizing the fundamental right of everyone
to be free from hunger, shall take, individually and through international
co-operation, the measures, including specific programmes,
which are needed:
(a) To improve methods of production, conservation and distribution
of food by making full use of technical and scientific knowledge, by
disseminating knowledge of the principles of nutrition and by developing
or reforming agrarian systems in such a way as to achieve the most efficient
development and utilization of natural resources;
(b) Taking into account
the problems of both food-importing and food-exporting countries, to
ensure an equitable distribution of world food supplies in relation
to need.
Article
12 General
comment on its implementation
1. The
States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone
to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and
mental health.
2. The steps to be taken
by the States Parties to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization
of this right shall include those necessary for:
(a) The provision for the reduction of the stillbirth-rate
and of infant mortality and for the healthy development of the child;
(b) The improvement
of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene;
(c) The prevention,
treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases;
(d) The creation of
conditions which would assure to all medical service and medical attention
in the event of sickness.
Article
13 General
comment on its implementation
1. The
States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone
to education. They agree that education shall be directed to the full
development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity, and
shall strengthen the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
They further agree that education shall enable all persons to participate
effectively in a free society, promote understanding, tolerance and
friendship among all nations and all racial, ethnic or religious groups,
and further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance
of peace.
2. The States Parties
to the present Covenant recognize that, with a view to achieving the
full realization of this right:
(a) Primary education shall be compulsory and available free
to all;
(b) Secondary education
in its different forms, including technical and vocational secondary
education, shall be made generally available and accessible to all by
every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction
of free education;
(c) Higher education
shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by
every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction
of free education;
(d) Fundamental education
shall be encouraged or intensified as far as possible for those persons
who have not received or completed the whole period of their primary
education;
(e) The development
of a system of schools at all levels shall be actively pursued, an adequate
fellowship system shall be established, and the material conditions
of teaching staff shall be continuously improved.
3. The
States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for
the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to choose
for their children schools, other than those established by the public
authorities, which conform to such minimum educational standards as
may be laid down or approved by the State and to ensure the religious
and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.
4. No part of this article
shall be construed so as to interfere with the liberty of individuals
and bodies to establish and direct educational institutions, subject
always to the observance of the principles set forth in paragraph I
of this article and to the requirement that the education given in such
institutions shall conform to such minimum standards as may be laid
down by the State.
Article
14 General
comment on its implementation
Each
State Party to the present Covenant which, at the time of becoming a
Party, has not been able to secure in its metropolitan territory or
other territories under its jurisdiction compulsory primary education,
free of charge, undertakes, within two years, to work out and adopt
a detailed plan of action for the progressive implementation, within
a reasonable number of years, to be fixed in the plan, of the principle
of compulsory education free of charge for all.
Article
15
1. The
States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone:
(a) To take part in cultural life;
(b) To enjoy the benefits
of scientific progress and its applications;
(c) To benefit from
the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any
scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
2. The
steps to be taken by the States Parties to the present Covenant to achieve
the full realization of this right shall include those necessary for
the conservation, the development and the diffusion of science and culture.
3. The States Parties
to the present Covenant undertake to respect the freedom indispensable
for scientific research and creative activity.
4. The States Parties
to the present Covenant recognize the benefits to be derived from the
encouragement and development of international contacts and co-operation
in the scientific and cultural fields.
PART IV
Article 16
1. The
States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to submit in conformity
with this part of the Covenant reports on the measures which they have
adopted and the progress made in achieving the observance of the rights
recognized herein.
2. (a)
All reports shall be submitted to the Secretary-General of the United
Nations, who shall transmit copies to the Economic and
Social Council for consideration in accordance with the provisions
of the present Covenant;
(b) The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall also transmit
to the specialized agencies copies of the reports, or any relevant parts
therefrom, from States Parties to the present Covenant which
are also members of these specialized agencies in so far as these reports,
or parts therefrom, relate to any matters
which fall within the responsibilities of the said agencies in accordance
with their constitutional instruments.
Article
17 General
comment on its implementation
1. The
States Parties to the present Covenant shall furnish their reports in
stages, in accordance with a programme to
be established by the Economic and Social Council within one year of
the entry into force of the present Covenant after consultation with
the States Parties and the specialized agencies concerned.
2. Reports may indicate
factors and difficulties affecting the degree of fulfilment
of obligations under the present Covenant.
3. Where relevant information
has previously been furnished to the United Nations or to any specialized agency by any State Party to the present Covenant,
it will not be necessary to reproduce that information, but a precise
reference to the information so furnished will suffice.
Article
18
Pursuant
to its responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations in the
field of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the Economic and Social
Council may make arrangements with the specialized agencies in respect
of their reporting to it on the progress made in achieving the observance
of the provisions of the present Covenant falling within the scope of
their activities. These reports may include particulars of decisions
and recommendations on such implementation adopted by their competent
organs.
Article
19
The
Economic and Social Council may transmit to the Commission on Human
Rights for study and general recommendation or, as appropriate, for
information the reports concerning human rights submitted by States
in accordance with articles 16 and 17, and those concerning human rights
submitted by the specialized agencies in accordance with article 18.
Article
20
The
States Parties to the present Covenant and the specialized agencies
concerned may submit comments to the Economic and Social Council on
any general recommendation under article 19 or reference to such general
recommendation in any report of the Commission on Human Rights or any
documentation referred to therein.
Article
21
The
Economic and Social Council may submit from time to time to the General
Assembly reports with recommendations of a general nature and a summary
of the information received from the States Parties to the present Covenant
and the specialized agencies on the measures taken and the progress
made in achieving general observance of the rights recognized in the
present Covenant.
Article
22 General
comment on its implementation
The
Economic and Social Council may bring to the attention of other organs
of the United Nations, their subsidiary organs and specialized agencies
concerned with furnishing technical assistance any matters arising out
of the reports referred to in this part of the present Covenant which
may assist such bodies in deciding, each within its field of competence,
on the advisability of international measures likely to contribute to
the effective progressive implementation of the present Covenant.
Article
23
The
States Parties to the present Covenant agree that international action
for the achievement of the rights recognized in the present Covenant
includes such methods as the conclusion of conventions, the adoption
of recommendations, the furnishing of technical assistance and the holding
of regional meetings and technical meetings for the purpose of consultation
and study organized in conjunction with the Governments concerned.
Article
24
Nothing
in the present Covenant shall be interpreted as impairing the provisions
of the Charter of the United Nations and of the constitutions of the
specialized agencies which define the respective responsibilities of
the various organs of the United Nations and of the specialized agencies
in regard to the matters dealt with in the present Covenant.
Article
25
Nothing
in the present Covenant shall be interpreted as impairing the inherent
right of all peoples to enjoy and utilize fully and freely their natural
wealth and resources.
PART V
Article 26
1. The
present Covenant is open for signature by any State Member of the United
Nations or member of any of its specialized agencies, by any State Party
to the Statute of the International Court of Justice, and by any other
State which has been invited by the General Assembly of the United Nations
to become a party to the present Covenant.
2. The present Covenant
is subject to ratification. Instruments of ratification shall be deposited
with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
3. The present Covenant
shall be open to accession by any State referred to in paragraph 1 of
this article.
4. Accession shall be
effected by the deposit of an instrument of accession with the Secretary-General
of the United Nations.
5. The Secretary-General
of the United Nations shall inform all States which have signed the
present Covenant or acceded to it of the deposit of each instrument
of ratification or accession.
Article
27
1. The
present Covenant shall enter into force three months after the date
of the deposit with the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the
thirty-fifth instrument of ratification or instrument of accession.
2. For each State ratifying
the present Covenant or acceding to it after the deposit of the thirty-fifth
instrument of ratification or instrument of accession, the present Covenant
shall enter into force three months after the date of the deposit of
its own instrument of ratification or instrument of accession.
Article
28
The
provisions of the present Covenant shall extend to all parts of federal
States without any limitations or exceptions.
Article
29
1. Any
State Party to the present Covenant may propose an amendment and file
it with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Secretary-General
shall thereupon communicate any proposed amendments to the States Parties
to the present Covenant with a request that they notify him whether
they favour a conference of States Parties for the purpose of considering
and voting upon the proposals. In the event that at least one third
of the States Parties favours such a conference,
the Secretary-General shall convene the conference under the auspices
of the United Nations. Any amendment adopted by a majority of the States
Parties present and voting at the conference shall be submitted to the
General Assembly of the United Nations for approval.
2. Amendments shall come
into force when they have been approved by the General Assembly of the
United Nations and accepted by a two-thirds majority of the States Parties
to the present Covenant in accordance with their respective constitutional
processes.
3. When amendments come
into force they shall be binding on those States Parties which have
accepted them, other States Parties still being bound by the provisions
of the present Covenant and any earlier amendment which they have accepted.
Article
30
Irrespective
of the notifications made under article 26, paragraph 5, the Secretary-General
of the United Nations shall inform all States referred to in paragraph
I of the same article of the following particulars:
(a) Signatures, ratifications and accessions under article
26;
(b) The date of the
entry into force of the present Covenant under article 27 and the date
of the entry into force of any amendments under article 29.
Article
31
1. The
present Covenant, of which the Chinese, English, French, Russian and
Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives
of the United Nations.
2. The Secretary-General
of the United Nations shall transmit certified copies of the present
Covenant to all States referred to in article 26.
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