A/HRC/14/30 or housing, given their limited command of the language of the host State and their lack of knowledge of the laws and systems in the host countries. The enjoyment of the rights to health and adequate housing by migrants would be effectively hampered in the absence of necessary support, such as the provision of language training or free information on relevant laws and regulations. 17. Connected to this concern is a lack of disaggregated indicators on the economic, social and cultural rights of all individuals, including migrants.7 While the use of such indicators is crucial in developing effective public policies which protect the rights to health and adequate housing of all individuals including migrants, data collected in many countries is not disaggregated by migrant status, rendering invisible irregular migrants in particular.8 IV. The right to health for migrants 18. The health dimension of migration and what the enjoyment of the right to health means in this context are key concerns for the international community. This right is a longestablished norm in international human rights law, with a defined scope and content.9 The central provision is article 12, paragraph 1, of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in which the States parties clearly recognize “the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health”. 19. The application of the right to health to migrants is guaranteed by the principle of non-discrimination provided, inter alia, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as in article 2, paragraph 2, of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Further, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights expressly confirmed the States’ obligation to ensure equal access to preventive, curative and palliative health services by all persons, including migrants regardless of legal status and documentation.10 Similarly, referring to article 5 (e) (iv) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recommended that States respect the right of non-citizens to health by, inter alia, refraining from denying or limiting their access to preventive, curative and palliative health services.11 20. Additionally, article 43 of the Convention on Migrant Workers specifically obliges States to ensure equal access to health care by regular migrant workers and their family members. The Convention also guarantees the right of migrant workers and their family members to receive any medical care that is urgently required for the preservation of their life or for the avoidance of irreparable harm to their health, regardless of their irregularity with regard to stay or employment (art. 28). 21. In analysing the normative content of this right, it is recalled that the right to health is not a right to good health, but rather a right to the enjoyment of a variety of facilities, goods, services and conditions necessary for the realization of the highest attainable 7 8 9 10 11 6 UNICEF, briefing note, p. 5. Ibid., p. 6. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 14 (2000). Ibid., para. 34; Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 20, para. 30. General recommendation No. 30 (2004), para. 36. GE.10-12615