A/HRC/20/4 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 14/13, the Human Rights Council requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to submit to the Council an annual report on the question of the realization in all countries of economic, social and cultural rights. The present report refers to activities relevant to the promotion and protection of these rights, with a particular focus on the activities of United Nations treaty bodies, special-procedures mandates holders, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The present report includes a number of illustrative examples of the activities undertaken by OHCHR headquarters and field presences in the area of economic, social and cultural rights. New international protection instruments 2. The General Assembly adopted, on 19 December 2011, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure. Upon its entry into force, the Committee on the Rights of the Child will have the competence to receive complaints from or on behalf of children alleging the violation of any rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, respectively. By providing an additional avenue for the resolution of complaints relating to human rights violations, the adoption of the Optional Protocol is an important step in buttressing the protection of the full range of children’s rights. The adoption of the Optional Protocol will strengthen the international legal protection of children’s economic, social and cultural rights, and help to consolidate the firm recognition of the justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights in international human rights law.1 II. Activities of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights A. Leadership in human rights 3. The fourth session of the Forum on Minority Issues, in preparation for which OHCHR organized a briefing for minority representatives, was held on 29 and 30 November 2011. The Forum examined concrete measures and recommendations aimed at guaranteeing the rights of minority women. Building on the work carried out during the first three sessions of the Forum and the recommendations emanating from that work, the fourth session focused on the rights of and opportunities for minority women to have access to education, to take part effectively in economic life, to have access to labour markets and to participate fully in social, cultural and political life. 4. Land issues continue to play a central role in many social, developmental and humanitarian questions, and disputes over land are often the cause of conflicts and impede the restoration of sustainable peace. Recently, emerging global issues, such as global food security, climate change, energy scarcity and rapid urbanization have triggered intensified competition over land. Careful elaboration and implementation of laws, policies and 1 General comment No. 13 (2011), para. 11 (d). 3