The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights opens fiftieth session with an important innovation.

On April 29, 2013 the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), opened its fiftieth session with an important innovation: on the fifth of May of this year, the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will enter into force, meaning that victims of violations of rights stated in the Covenant will be allowed to submit statements to the Committee and seek justice at the international level.

Uruguay became the tenth country to ratify the Protocol on February 5, 2013, allowing the Committee to start receiving statements submitted by individuals. According to M. Ibrahim Salama, Director of the Human Rights Treaties Division of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, who delivered a speech during the Opening Session, this mechanism will contribute to the development of a new jurisprudence which will clarify the scope of application of the economic, social and cultural rights.

The Director also reiterated that this will be a very important year for debates concerning the development of the Post-2015 Agenda and the review of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Beyond 2014.

In the last months, civil society groups also called for the future agenda on development to be rooted in principles of human rights and to have a strong framework for accountability.