The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights today concluded its review of the third periodic report of Panama, with Committee Experts welcoming planned increases to the education budget, and asking about the State’s efforts to support women in informal and domestic work and to prevent the extinction of indigenous languages.
A Committee Expert welcomed the significant rise in the education budget in Panama and the State’s ambitious goals for education investment. When was the deadline for the planned increase in education spending?
Karla Vanessa Lemus de Vásquez, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, said around 89 per cent of domestic workers were women, and 74 per cent of women worked in the informal sector. How was the State promoting the regulation of informal sector jobs? There were no defined working hours for domestic workers, who in some cases worked up to 15 hours a day. Would the State party address this?
Another Committee Expert said that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization had reported that some of Panama’s seven indigenous languages were at risk of extinction. What measures would the State party take to protect these languages?
Introducing the report, Ms. Gorday De Villalobos said there had been an increase in the number of women in formal work by seven per cent between 2020 and 2022, equivalent to 49,684 women in labour activity. The delegation added that Panama had strengthened laws and policies to encourage the hiring of women in the public sector and secure equal pay for women. There was a need for stronger legislation to prevent discrimination of domestic workers based on nationality or gender.
On indigenous language and culture, Ms. Gorday De Villalobos said that the Government was collaborating with indigenous communities to implement bilingual education and rehabilitate schools in these communities. Four hundred teachers had been trained in native linguistic competency. School curriculums had been contextualised and in part translated into indigenous languages. Students could use their mother tongue and wear traditional clothing in schools.
In concluding remarks, Ms. Lemus De Vásquez said that, through the dialogue, the Committee had gained a better understanding of the situation in Panama and identified areas in which further improvement was needed. The concluding observations would shed light on areas in which the State party could make improvements to implement the provisions of the Covenant.
Ms. Gorday De Villalobos, in her concluding remarks, said Panama had adopted progressive measures to guarantee full compliance with the Covenant. Issues remained in Panama, and the Government was committed to addressing these. Panama would strive to achieve equality and rights for all citizens.
The delegation of Panama was comprised of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ministry of the Interior; Supreme Court of Justice; National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents and the Family; Ministry of Education; National Secretariat for the Development of Afro-Panamanians; National Secretariat for Disability; Ministry of Social Development; Ministry of Labour and Labour Development; Ministry of Culture; Ministry of Government; Electoral Tribunal; National Institute for Women; Ministry of Health; Office of the Attorney General; Office of the Superior Prosecutor for International Affairs; Special Family Prosecutor’s Office; Ministry of the Presidency; National Institute of Statistics and Census; and the Permanent Mission of Panama to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
All the documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage. Webcasts of the meetings of the session can be found here, and meetings summaries can be found here.
The Committee will next meet in public at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 16 February, to conclude its consideration of the third periodic report of China (E/C.12/CHN/3), the fourth periodic report of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China (E/C.12/CHN-HKG/4), and the third periodic report of Macau Special Administrative Region of China (E/C.12/CHN-HKG/3).
Report
The Committee has before it the third periodic report of Panama (E/C.12/PAN/3).
Presentation of Report
The 2030 Sustainable Development Goals were part of Panama’s National Strategic Plan. The 2020 second voluntary report on the plan described progress achieved, means of implementation and steps to follow, as well as measures adopted to address the COVID-19 situation. Through the Agora 2.0 Platform, 187 citizen agreements had been formed that reflected the aspirations of Panamanians to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
There had been an increase in the number of women in formal work by seven per cent between 2020 and 2022, equivalent to 49,684 women in labour activity. In addition, there were 473 workers’ unions with 279,732 members in the private sector, of which 44,667 were women. In 2019, Panama had been declared free of child labour in the sugar sector.
Conditional cash transfer programmes had been implemented, including as part of the Food and Nutritional Security Plan. These had benefited 192,000 Panamanians and had contributed to slowing the poverty rate to 13 per cent.
The United Nations had presented its Organization Public Service Award for Institutional Resilience and Innovative Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic to the Government Innovation Authority of Panama, recognising its effective mass vaccination system. Panama had increased the national capacity of beds of intensive care units by 147 per cent, an increase of 1,031 new beds. Health care was free for people with disabilities, the indigenous population, children and pregnant mothers. Specialised programmes had been developed aimed at adolescents, HIV-positive persons and the elderly population. Some 1,974,271 people had been registered and 2,981,091 requests attended to on the “Plataforma Panama Digital”.
From 2015 to 2021, there had been an increase in the enrolment rate for primary education from 88 per cent to 99 per cent; in secondary education from 66 per cent to 81 per cent; and in tertiary education from 42 per cent to 57 per cent. The Government had created an educational social assistance programme that benefitted more than 750,000 students enrolled in the public education sector. In 2021, this benefit had been increased by 25 per cent, reaching 911,568 students with an investment of approximately 276 million United States dollars.
The Centre for Historical, Anthropological and Cultural Research was created in 2021. The Centre’s mission was to study the history, culture and cultural heritage of Panama and promote cultural rights, cultural dialogue, sustainable development and the protection of cultural heritage. In 2022, the Public Policy of the Creative Economy for Sustainable Development was drafted, with the support of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the European Union. Around 350 archaeological pieces taken from the national territory had also been recovered.
The Government had established 307 “Beehive” Reading Centres under the “Government-Community” scheme in districts with high levels of poverty, and provided training to 700 voluntary community mediators. Law 285 of 2022 created the System of Guarantees and Integral Protection of the Rights of Children and Adolescents. The coverage of the 104 early childhood care centres, which cared for more than 2,000 children, had been increased. Around 90 per cent of persons under 18 had a youth card, including 96 per cent in the group over 12 years of age. Law 297 of 27 April 2022 established the national “Beehive” strategy, which included measures for addressing child poverty. More than 453,000 children were estimated to be living below the poverty line.
There were still barriers and challenges to implementing the Covenant. However, Panama had made determined efforts in recent years to adapt its public policies to promote human rights.
Questions by a Committee Expert
KARLA VANESSA LEMUS DE VÁSQUEZ, Committee Expert and Country Rapporteur, asked about the degree to which the Covenant was applicable within the domestic legal structure of Panama. Did the courts make specific reference to the rights enshrined in the Covenant? Did the State party plan to ratify the Optional Protocol?
How was Panama strengthening the data collection system and harmonising data between the State’s various statistical authorities? What measures were in place to ensure companies respected economic, social and cultural rights? Panama had adopted a national plan for public rights and social responsibility, but the actions contained therein were participatory, and there were no actions to sanction companies that violated human rights. What measures were in place to hold companies to account domestically and internationally?
The Ombudsman had been downgraded to “B” status in 2021. What measures were being put in place to ensure that the Ombudsman conformed to the Paris Principles?
What actions were being undertaken to consult with indigenous territories on mining and development projects? The Committee welcomed the Government’s policy measures to tackle climate change. How did these measures affect economic, social and cultural rights? The energy, agricultural and forestry sectors were the highest emitters of greenhouse gases. What measures were in place to comply with emissions commitments in these sectors, and to improve the resilience of rural communities to the effects of climate change?
