E/C.12/1/Add.42 page 2 In addition, the Committee acknowledges the efforts made by the Government of Georgia with a view to implementing the rights set forth in the Covenant. The Committee takes note in particular of the statement by the delegation that the Government of Georgia intends to ratify the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102) and the Equality of Treatment (Social Security) Convention, 1962 (No. 118) of the International Labour Organization, which deal with the issues of social protection of workers. 4. The Committee notes with satisfaction that the Government of Georgia is willing to cooperate with various international organizations, such as the United National Development Programme, ILO, World Health Organization, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as well as with regional organizations such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, in order to realize the rights set forth in the Covenant, and in particular to address the problem of poverty. 5. The Committee also welcomes the fact that the State party has created governmental bodies which are concerned with the issue of human rights, such as the National Ombudsman and the Committee on Human Rights of the Parliament of Georgia. C. Factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the Covenant 6. The Committee is aware that the Government of Georgia is currently faced with the difficulties commonly encountered by countries in transition. The changes required to reform the social welfare and benefit, labour and employment, health and educational systems are considerable in economic, as well as political terms. In this respect, the Committee also recognizes the problems encountered by the State party in addressing the internal conflicts existing in certain regions of the country which have seriously hampered the State party’s efforts to improve the situation of human rights for all its citizens. D. Principal subjects of concern 7. The Committee is concerned about the grave problem of poverty with which the Government of Georgia is confronted. Despite the efforts made by the State party, the average minimum wage is still insufficient to ensure an adequate standard of living for large parts of the Georgian population. 8. In addition, the Committee is concerned about the inadequacy of certain measures being taken to combat poverty. With regard to activities aimed at poverty reduction, there seems to be a lack of effective management in the policy-making and implementation phases, particularly with regard to the reform of the pension and taxation systems. A lack of clearly established guidelines and indicators hinders the transition process. 9. Generally, the Committee notes that the statistical data provided by the State party are insufficiently reliable to allow a clear analysis and evaluation of the various problems it is addressing, such as the level of poverty in the country, and the determination of the actual minimum subsistence level and the real poverty line.