Palestine & the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: Implications of Ratification another. They can also resort to the Charter of the UN, especially article (1), which affirms the right of the people to self-determination. It also provides for developing friendly relationships based on respect for the principle of equal rights for peoples and the right to self-determination. The States Parties to the UN have, according to international law, legal responsibilities and obligations as well. Palestine, pursuant to its status as Observer State in the UN, should consider application to join the specialized agencies of the UN and take into account the broad implications of membership in each of these agencies with respect to economy, culture, education, health and otherwise.4 The Economic and Social Council, for example, can hold agreements with any of these agencies and submit agreements to the United Nations General Assembly for approval. It can also coordinate activities with the specialized agencies through deliberations and present its recommendations to them and to the UN and its members. Some specialized agencies, such as the ILO, WHO, and UNESCO5, concentrate on human rights activities. For example, the conventions relevant to WHO, UNESCO and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) concentrate on the rights to health, education and culture as well as the right to be free from hunger. All these rights are provided for in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The United Nations in fact has (17) specialized agencies, and Palestine joined one of them (UNESCO) in 2011.6 Palestine may also sign on to the international human rights conventions and agreements based on international precedents and the pure practice principle, which applies to Permanent Observers. The UN General Assembly’s resolution 58\314, dated June 16, 2014, entitled “Participation of the Holy See in the Work of the UN” states that the Holy See has been an Observer Member in the UN since 1964 and a Member in several international human rights conventions, among them the Rights of the Child Convention and two closely linked documents, the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict and the Convention Against Torture.7 4 5 6 7 Yasser Ghazi Allawneh, “Legal Obligations of Palestine As Observer State at the UN.” Legal Reports Series No. (79).(Ramallah: ICHR, 2013). International Labour Organiation, the World Health Organization, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization There were (107) States voting in favor of the resolution, (14) against and (52) abstained. Allawneh, see fn.(5). 7