Benin: Report submitted to the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Committee
The Republic of Benin is a constitutional, multiparty democracy with an elected president, a unicameral legislature and separate executive, legislative and judicial branches. In the early 1990s Benin went through a process of political liberalisation and underwent a transition to civilian democratic rule leading to the adoption of a new Constitution in December 1990 and the creation of the Benin’s human rights commission. The democratic transition experienced by Benin allowed the country to access major international and regional human rights instruments. In this regard, the Republic of Benin ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) on 12 March 1992.
During its 28th Session (29 April-17 May 2002), the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights will review the initial report submitted by Benin on the measures taken to implement the ICESCR. The review and the constructive dialogue conducted by the Committee will therefore look at issues relevant to the implementation of the ICESCR for a ten year period going from March 1992 to April 2002.