A/HRC/14/33 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 10/1, 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, focusing particularly on the activities of United Nations treaty bodies; the Human Rights Council special procedures with mandates relevant to economic, social and cultural rights; and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Concerning OHCHR, the present report includes some illustrative examples of the activities undertaken at headquarters and field presences in the field of economic, social and cultural rights. II. Activities of treaty bodies A. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 2. As of 26 February 2010 there are 160 States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, an increase of one State party, the Bahamas, in 2009. 3. On 20 December 2008, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This treaty was opened for signature and ratification in New York on 24 September 2009 and as of 1 March 2010 there are 32 signatories to the treaty. 4. During 2009, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights held two sessions and examined the status of implementation of the Covenant in the following 10 States parties: Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Chad, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Poland, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 5. The Committee adopted two new general comments during 2009: No. 20 (art. 2, para. 2 of the Covenant) on non-discrimination in the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights and No. 21 (art. 15, para. 1 (a), of the Covenant) on the right of everyone to take part in cultural life. 6. In October 2009, OHCHR organized for the Committee a seminar on the justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights, aiming to offer relevant inputs on comparative experiences in the adjudication of such rights, given that the Optional Protocol mandates the Committee to examine individual communications amongst other functions. The seminar provided space to discuss relevant substantive and procedural issues posed by litigation in the field of economic, social and cultural rights. 7. At its forty-third session, in November 2009, the Committee held an information session on the right to sexual and reproductive health organized by the United Nations Population Fund and with the participation of the World Health Organization. B. Committee on the Rights of the Child 8. In 2009, the Committee continued to address issues of economic, social and cultural rights as part of its periodic reviews of State party reports. 9. Furthermore, the Committee adopted two general comments in 2009 exploring aspects of economic, social and cultural rights. During its fiftieth session in January 2009, GE.10-12597 3