Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
September 17, 2009 The traditional UN Headquarters in New York will be held from September 23 to 25 and from September 28 to 29. days of international treatiesUN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon invited all UN member states to use this opportunity to expand their participation in multilateral international agreements.
On Wednesday, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Patricia O'Brien said at a press conference at UN headquarters in New York that about 25 states had responded to Pa Ki-moon's appeal.
Patricia O'Brien recalled that the UN Secretary-General is the depository of 530 multilateral treaties covering a wide range of interstate relations: from disarmament, human rights, the law of the sea and space, trade and the environment to combating international organized crime and terrorism.
Any State which has not yet done so may sign any of these treaties or deposit with the Secretary-General its instruments of ratification or accession.
The UN Secretariat is holding International Treaty Days for the tenth time. This event is timed to coincide with the General Assembly's general policy debate, which heads of state and government attend.
The focus in 2009 will be on agreements on terrorism, human rights, transnational organized crime, and nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. The focus will be on the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. A ceremony will be held on September 24 to open it for signature.
This Protocol was adopted on December 10, 2008, and will enter into force upon ratification by ten states. It will allow individuals to submit complaints about violations of their rights guaranteed by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to a specially created Committee.
The Optional Protocol will provide an international forum for exposing gross human rights violations, often linked to poverty and discrimination. Victims of such violations will now have the opportunity to report their situation to the international community.
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1966 and entered into force ten years later, in 1976. To date, it has been ratified by 157 countries. The Covenant proclaims that the ideal of free human beings, free from fear and want, can only be realized if conditions are created under which everyone can enjoy their economic, social, and cultural rights. Implementation of the Covenant is currently monitored by the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. It was established by a decision of the Economic and Social Council in 1985.
Unlike other committees established under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the core human rights conventions, its decisions are advisory in nature and it cannot receive complaints from individuals. Once the new Optional Protocol enters into force, this injustice to economic, social, and cultural rights will be corrected.
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