Chapter 2 | Page 66 Human Rights (UDHR), as well as the provisions of Article 2(2) of the ICESCR apply to discrimination on the grounds of disability.95 Persons with disabilities are often discriminated against more severely in areas such as education, employment, housing, transport, cultural life, and access to public places and services. Hence, States parties are required to take positive steps to reduce structural disadvantages for persons with disabilities so they can enjoy ESC rights like everyone else.96 States are also required to take a number of steps such as compulsory old-age insurance, safer and appropriate working conditions, proper retirement preparation programmes and non-contributory old-age benefits for those who are not entitled to a pension.97 Elimination of all forms of discrimination, both formally and substantively, is necessary for the full enjoyment of ESC rights.98 To this end, States parties are required to adopt necessary measures to ‘prevent, diminish and eliminate the conditions and attitudes which cause or perpetuate substantive or de facto discrimination.’99 2.3.1.3 Minimum core content and minimum core obligations The Covenant does not explicitly provide for any minimum standard of achievement for specific rights. However, this does not afford States complete freedom in relation to the level of achievement of ESC rights and the necessity of maintaining a minimum standard of achievement. Through its interpretive work, the ESCR Committee identified the existence of ‘minimum core content’ or ‘minimum core obligations’ for the substantive ESC rights in relation to basic 95 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No 5: Persons with Disabilities, 11th sess, UN Doc E/1995/22 (9 December 1994), [5]. 96 Ibid., [9] [15] [22] [23] [24] [25]. 97 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No 6: The Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of Older Persons, 13th sess, UN Doc E/1996/22 (8 December 1995), [27] [23] [24] [25] [30]; CESCR General Comment No 5, E/1995/22, above n 95, [28]. 98 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No 20: Nondiscrimination in Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (art. 2, para. 2, of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), 42nd sess, UN Doc E/C.12/GC/20 (2 July 2009), [8]. 99 Ibid.