A/HRC/7/58 page 3 I. INTRODUCTION 1. In its resolution 4/1, the Human Rights Council requested the Secretary-General to submit to the Council an annual report on the implementation of that resolution. The Council referred to activities in a range of fields relevant to the promotion and protection of human rights, focusing particularly on the activities of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Rights of the Child; the special procedures of the Human Rights Council, with mandates focusing on one or more economic, social and cultural rights and also with other thematic mandates; and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Concerning OHCHR, the present report contains some examples of the activities undertaken in implementing the strategic vision set out in the High Commissioner’s Strategic Management Plan for the period 2006-2007 and further detailed in the corresponding Plan of Action. II. ACTIVITIES OF TREATY BODIES A. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 2. As at 1 December 2007, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights had been ratified or acceded to by 157 States,1 an increase of two States parties during the reporting period. 3. During its two sessions held in 2007, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights examined the status of implementation of the Covenant in 10 States parties, on the basis of reports submitted by those States parties and a constructive dialogue held with a delegation from each. The States parties examined were Belgium, Costa Rica, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Nepal, the Netherlands (Antilles), Paraguay, San Marino and Ukraine. 4. At its thirty-ninth session, held from 5 to 23 November 2007, the Committee adopted general comment No. 19 on article 9 of the Covenant, outlining the normative content of the right to social security and the obligations of States parties emanating from it. 5. On 10 May 2007, the Committee adopted its sixteenth statement (E/C.12/2007/1), in which it outlined the factors it would take into account when examining a communication submitted under an optional protocol to the Covenant establishing an individual communications procedure, alleging failure of a State party to take steps to the maximum of available resources. 6. Also on 10 May, the Committee held a meeting with States parties to the Covenant. The meeting, attended by 59 States parties, focused on the proposed optional protocol to the 1 See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2007, Supplement No. 2 (E/2007/22) for a list of States parties, information on the status of the submission of reports and the concluding observations of the Committee. An updated list of States parties, information on reservations, withdrawals, declarations and objections is available from the website of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs at http://untreaty.un.org.