The government's implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was assessed by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights during its 48th session in Geneva (30 April to 18 May 2012). The Committee's Concluding Observations on New Zealand (E/C.12/NZL/CO/3) are available here, and an overview of the Concluding Observations is available here.

This page has information on the 48th session: where you can watch the session, who said what in Geneva, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Concluding Observations on New Zealand, and media coverage - please scroll down this page if these internal page links do not work in your browser.

Background information: on the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR); the NZ government and the ICESCR; the government's third Periodic Report under the ICESCR; preliminary NGO reports to the CESCR 46th Pre-Sessional Working Group; the Committee's List of Issues and the government's response; NGO reports to the 48th session; and useful resources and links is available here.

The Concluding Observations (E/C.12/NZL/CO/3) are available here, May 2012.

The government sent a delegation of three, led by Debbie Power, Deputy Chief Executive, Ministry of Social Development, with Ben Keith, Crown Counsel, Crown Law Office, and Craig Smith, Strategic Advisor to the Deputy Chief Executive, Dept of Labour. The delegation also included three representatives from the NZ Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva - Brian Wilson, Deputy Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organisation, Lucy Richardson, Second Secretary, and Sandi Albert, Executive Assistant.

The delegation's opening statement is available here.

The summary record of the interactive dialogue between Committee members and the government delegation during the morning session on 4 May 2012 (E/C.12/2012/SR.9) is available here, during the afternoon session on 4 May 2012 (E/C.12/2012/SR.10) is available here, and during the morning session on 7 May 2012 (E/C.12/2012/SR.11) is available here.

The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) outline of what was said during the entire interactive dialogue is available here.

• UN critical of NZ welfare reforms, Radio NZ, 22 May 2012
• UN advises government it's not too late to cancel welfare reforms, Green Party, 22 May 2012
• UN report: government's performance on economic, social and cultural rights, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 22 May 2012 - also available on Scoop
• Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights concludes forty-eighth session: issues open letter on economic, social and cultural rights in the context of the economic and financial crisis, UNOG, 18 May 2012 - the Committee's open letter is available here
• Morning Report, Radio New Zealand, 7 May 2012
• UN human rights experts examine NZ government's performance on economic, social and cultural rights, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 3 May 2012
• Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights holds forty-eighth session from 30 April to 18 May in Geneva: Experts to Review Reports of Slovakia, Peru, New Zealand, Spain and Ethiopia, UNOG, 26 April 2012

The dialogue between Committee members and government representatives will be webcast - the session start times are 10am and 3pm on Friday, 4 May (NZ time: 8pm on Friday, 4 May, and 1am on Saturday, 5 May), and 10am on Monday, 7 May (NZ time: 8pm on Monday, 7 May).

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