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UNITED NATIONS E Economic and Social Distr. GENERAL Council E/C.12/MDG/2 22 August 2008 ENGLISH Original: FRENCH COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS Pre-sessional working group 24 – 28 November 2008 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS Second periodic reports submitted by States parties under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant MADAGASCAR * [10 August 2007] * In accordance with the information transmitted to States parties regarding the processing of their reports, the present document was not edited before being sent to the United Nations translation services. GE.08-43766 (EXT) E/C.12/MDG/2 page 2 Summary Madagascar ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on 22 September 1971. As Madagascar's last report dates back to 1986, several reports of the country are overdue. Under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant, Madagascar, as a State Party, has an obligation to submit reports on the measures adopted and the progress made in achieving the observance of the rights recognized in that instrument. In that connection, the current Government took the initiative, through the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to create, by inter-ministerial decision No. 18600 of 30 October 2003, a Committee responsible for drawing up initial and periodic reports on the international instruments related to human rights. That Committee consists of: (a) Government bodies: The Ministries of Justice; Foreign Affairs; Population, Social Protection and Leisure; National Education and Scientific Research; and the Economy, Finance and the Budget, represented by the Nationalistic Unit of Statistics; and the State Secretariat at the Ministry of the Interior and Administrative Reform, which is responsible for public security; (b) Non-government bodies, namely, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) promoting human rights in the six provinces of Madagascar; (c) Members of civil society. This document is Madagascar's second report related to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The European Union has provided financial support for the preparation of this report. Madagascar submitted its last report in 1990 in accordance with the provisions of article 18 of the Covenant, which invite State parties to present periodic reports. Madagascar intends to continue its actions aimed at restoring dialogue with the Committee by submitting this report. This report describes all of the implementation steps taken since the examination of the previous report and elaborates on constitutional, legislative and administrative measures related to achieving equal rights between men and women in the following areas: – The political field – The social and cultural field – Matrimonial and spousal matters, with the emphasis on protection measures against domestic and spousal violence. In short, the efforts accomplished have been extensive and attest to the Malagasy Government's resolve to comply with the requirements of the Covenant, and to its readiness to implement the recommendations and observations aimed at improving the fulfilment of the requirements of the Covenant. E/C.12/MDG/2 page 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Paragraphs Page ACRONYMS ........................................................................................................................ 8 PART I : COUNTRY PROFILE Chapter 1. COUNTRY AND POPULATION ......................................................... 1 - 25 16 (a) The country ................................................................................... 1 - 2 16 (b) Population...................................................................................... 3 - 25 16 2. ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION, GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE AND RECENT POLITICAL HISTORY ....................... 26 - 71 23 (a) Administrative organization .......................................................... 26 - 27 23 (b) Basic political structure ................................................................. 28 - 29 23 (c) Political history ............................................................................. 30 - 71 23 3. ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS ..... 72 - 116 27 (a) Economic indicators ...................................................................... 72 - 75 27 (b) Social indicators ............................................................................ 76 - 110 29 (c) Cultural indicators ......................................................................... 111 - 116 36 4. GENERAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS ............................................................................ 117 - 130 36 (a) The Constitution ............................................................................ 117 - 121 36 (b) Judicial, administrative and other authorities having jurisdiction with regard to human rights. ......................................................... 122 - 124 37 (c) Other bodies having jurisdiction in the area of human rights ....... 125 - 130 37 SECOND PART: THE ARTICLES OF THE COVENANT Article 1. Right to self-determination ...................................................... 131 - 151 38 Articles 2 to 5. Economic, social and cultural self-determination, and respective limitations ............................................................... 152 - 189 41 Article 6. Right to work ........................................................................... 190 - 240 45 E/C.12/MDG/2 page 4 Paragraphs Page Article 7. Right to the enjoyment of just and favourable conditions of work ..................................................................................... 241 - 276 55 Article 8. Right to form trade unions and join the trade union of one's choice .............................................................................. 277 - 307 61 Article 9. Right to social security, including social insurance ................. 308 - 320 66 Article 10. Protection and assistance accorded to the family ..................... 321 - 388 68 Article 11. Right to an adequate standard of living.................................... 389 - 441 78 Article 12. Right to health .......................................................................... 442 - 508 85 Article 13. Right to education .................................................................... 509 - 602 99 Article 14. Compulsory education free of charge ...................................... 603 - 604 125 Article 15. Right to take part in cultural life and to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress..................................................................... 605 - 674 125 ANNEX: Act on access to land property ...................................................................... 134 LIST OF TABLES AND GRAPHS Table 1. Breakdown of foreign communities Table 2. Population structure by province, gender and area of residence, 2005 Medium variant projection Table 3. Population structure by major age groups and by gender, 2003 Table 4. Fertility rate by age and TFR according to EDSMD-I (1992), EDSMD-II (1997) and EDSMD-III (2003-2004) Table 5. Main demographic indicators Table 6. Life expectancy at birth by province and gender Table 7. Size of households by gender of head of household Table 8. Matrimonial status of heads of household by gender Table 9. Per cent breakdown of households by gender of household head and by province Table 10. Gender-related Development Index (GDI) Table 11. Surface area and administrative structure of the autonomous provinces Table 12. GDP in nominal and real terms, and the inflation rate E/C.12/MDG/2 page 5 Table 13. Average value of the Madagascar exchange rate from 1985 to 2006 Table 14. Poverty indicators by social stratum, 2004 Table 15. Breakdown of employment by industry and area of residence Table 16. Ratio of women's to men's wage incomes, by social-professional category (CSP) and institutional sector Table 17. Births protected against neonatal tetanus in CSBs, by province, 2002 Table 18. Use of CSB maternity wards by province, 2002 Table 19. Outcome of births at CSBs by province, 2002 Table 20. Persons living with AIDS in Madagascar - cumulative number of cases Table 21. Development of unemployment rate by gender Table 22. Development of the unemployment rate by type of area Table 23. Development of employment and structure of hires, 2000-2003 Table 24. Labour market overview, January-December 2004/2005 Table 25. Establishment openings and shut-downs, Table 26. Workforce composition by sector, gender and type of area Table 27. Workforce composition by professional category, gender and type of area Table 28. Breakdown of employment by sector and type of area Table 29. Inter-enterprise medical units Table 30. Average nominal wage incomes by occupational category Table 31. Development of average wage income by professional category, 2001-2004 Table 32. Ratio between wages earned by women and men by industry, professional category and sector Table 33. Presentation of some group of affiliated unions Table 34. Social security coverage provided to civil servants by the ministries Table 35. Social protection coverage of private-sector workers Table 36. Development of social protection expenditure, 1997-2003 Table 37. Budget share of expenditure on social sector (excluding interest), 2000-2003 Table 38. Development of family benefits Table 39. Provinces providing care for persons wit motor disabilities Table 40. Breakdown of AGR beneficiary households in five southern districts Table