COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS CONCLUDES CONSIDERATION OF ICELAND'S REPORT

MORNING
HR/ESC/99/6
28 April 1999



Three Committee Vice-Chairpersons and a Rapporteur Elected


The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this morning concluded its consideration of the second periodic report of Iceland, with a Government delegation telling the Committee members that measures had been taken to remedy the problem of alcoholism in the country.

Conclusions and recommendations on the Icelandic report will be issued towards the end of the Committee's spring session on 14 May.

In the course of the Committee's consideration of the Icelandic report, an expert asked the delegation why there were more women in universities than men. The expert said that the fact that there were 60 per cent female and 40 per cent male students in universities might be a derogation of human rights.

In response, the delegation of Iceland said that as early as secondary school, male students choose to take vocational training instead of going to universities. The development of fishery might also have influenced male students and discouraged them to further their studies in universities.

As one of 139 State parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Iceland must provide periodic reports to the Committee on its efforts to put the treaty into effect.


Members of the Icelandic delegation were Benedikt Jonsson, Permanent Representative of Iceland to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Sigridur Lilly Baldursdottir, Deputy Secretary-General at the Ministry of Social Affairs; Solrun Jensdottir, Director of International Relations at the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture; Ragnhildur Arnlijotsdottir, Head of Section at the Ministry of Health and Social Security; and Haukur Olafsson, Minister Counsellor and Deputy Permanent Representative at Geneva.

Also this morning, Committee Chairperson Virginia Bonoan-Dandan announced that after consultations, the Committee had elected Mahmoud Samir Ahmed, Dumitru Ceausu, and Eibe Riedel as Vice-Chairpersons, and Paul Hunt as Committee Rapporteur.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will discuss a proposed study of the United Nations human rights treaty bodies system.

Discussion

In response to questions raised by Committee members during yesterday's meeting, the delegation said that Iceland had the highest rate of treatment of alcoholics in the world. In 1995 alone, 3.5 per cent of the adult population had been treated at least once for alcoholism. In addition, the consumption of pure alcohol per inhabitant of 15 years and over stood at 5.09 litres. Although there was an increased tendency to shift the drinking habit from hard to soft alcoholic beverages such as beer or wine, the problem of alcoholism remained the same.

Concerning drug abuse, the delegation told the Committee that the problem had been aggravated because of the increase in the number of teenagers who experienced soft and hard drugs. Among the 15 and 16 age group in 1995, 60.5 per cent had tried marijuana while the number of those who used hard drug had also increased by a small percentage.

With regard to medical costs, the delegation said that since the distribution of pharmaceutical products had been privatized, medical costs had drastically fallen because of the open market policy.

An expert asked why non-European Union foreign spouses married to Icelanders were given temporary working permits while European Union spouses got permanent work permits. The delegation said that the law only provided for non-European foreign spouses to obtain a temporary work permit during the first three years of stay in Iceland.

Responding to additional questions on domestic violence, the members of Icelandic delegation said that for the past 10 years, a group of women had been fighting for the rehabilitation of women victims of domestic violence. A non-governmental organization called the Women's Alliance had been running women's shelters for victims of violence who were seeking protection and lodging facilities. In recent years, the number of women seeking shelter had increased and at the same time the average stay in shelters had been extended either for comfort or unknown reasons. Among those who remained in shelters for longer periods were mainly mothers with one or more children. The Government had also created centres for victims of sexual abuse and emergency receptions in hospitals for victims of rape or attempted rape. In addition, physio-psychological therapy and legal counselling was also provided at the expense of the State.

A question was asked about the limits on electricity consumption for foreigners other than for personal use, to which the delegation said that there was no restriction and most foreign companies established in the country were using electricity produced by Iceland. In fact, the majority of electricity produced locally was consumed by those foreign companies based in Iceland.

Concerning eduction, an expert said that there was a sign of discrimination in the field of eduction concerning foreigners whose mother tongue was not Icelandic. Only two hours of Icelandic language was provided for foreign children while 6 hours of Icelandic language was given to Icelandic students. In addition, foreigners were deprived of learning in their mother tongue, said the expert.

Another expert said that the shift in educational policy to trust the task of compulsory education to municipalities might widen regional inequalities. Shifting the responsibility from State to municipalities would endanger the educational system, said the expert, adding that “rich” municipalities might invest more on education while the "poor" municipalities might hesitate to do so. A question was also asked about the measures undertaken by the State to ensure that teachers were competent.

The delegation of Iceland said that the Government was encouraging bilingual education and cultural integration of foreigners living in the country. During the last two years, the Government had encouraged refugees to come and settle in the country in order to extend the foreign community already existing in Iceland. In addition, new regulations were being studied to allow pupils to use their own language while integrating themselves into the Icelandic society through regular studies.

An expert wondered why 60 per cent of students at universities were females while only 40 per cent were males. The expert said that the situation might be a derogation of human rights. In responding to the question, the delegation said that as early as secondary school, male students choose to take vocational training instead of going to universities. The development of fishery might also have influenced male students and discouraged them to further their studies in universities. Since most universities were run by the State, there was no gender discrimination. Instead, students were encouraged to pursue their studies free-of-charge.