INSTITUTION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA VI ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS Economic, social and cultural rights are guaranteed by the constitutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH, as well as the constitutions of the ten cantons and the Statute of the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina. These rights are more precisely governed by legislation at the level of the entities and cantons and the Brčko District, since it falls into their exclusive competence according to the constitutional set up in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Summarizing the complaints processed by the Department for Monitoring the Exercise of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, it follows that they are a manifestation of a high level of poverty of a large population which is a direct consequence of high unemployment, low pensions, the lowest or average wages far below the official consumer basket. In the area of employment, work and protection of women's social rights, in the period covered by this Report, no adequate progress has been made in achieving real equality between men and women in the labor market. Cases involving firing of pregnant women were registered, and there is a lot of women working in the "gray economy" which are not integrated into the formal labor market. There are indicators that women are not paid equally for the same work, and in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina there is no established system of protection of the rights of women using maternity leave, which also applies to benefits during maternity leave. 174 In 2019, the Department for Monitoring the Exercise of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, a total of 801 cases were registered, which is 24 less than in 2018. From previous years, 506 cases were carried forward, so that there were a total of 1,307 cases processed. Of this total, 445 cases were completed. The largest number of registered cases within the Department relates to violations of employment rights (281), followed by violations of pension insurance rights (217), utilities (92), social protection (82), health (74), education (33) , ecology and environmental protection (21), public revenues (4). Violation Labor relations Pensions Utilities Social protection Health care Education Ecology and environmental protection Public revenues TOTAL Number of cases 281 217 92 82 74 33 21 4 801 174 Special report on the Protection of Mother and Motherhood in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Institution of the Ombudsman .... 48