The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) protects rights such as housing, health and education, those essential conditions needed to live a life of dignity and freedom. Every 5 years or so the UK is examined by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) to see how well people in the UK are able to enjoy these rights and where the UK government needs to improve its work to realise the rights. The process for the seventh periodic review of the UK is beginning.

As with the last review (2014- 2016), we will be engaging with this important process as it is a key way to ensure that our economic, social and cultural rights in the UK are better protected, respected and fulfilled.

The first step in the process is for the State Party (the UK) to draft a report. The Ministry of Justice will write this report, and they are currently seeking evidence from civil society to inform it. The deadline for submitting evidence is 8 October. If you would like more information, including how to submit evidence, please contact our head of Policy Campaigns and Research [email protected] The evidence Just Fair submitted can be seen here.

We have put together a poster below which shows the different steps, with approximate dates, of the review process. In addition, check out our briefing for more information about economic, social and cultural rights, ICESCR and the review process.