COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN CONSIDERS REPORT OF GUATEMALA

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women today considered the seventh periodic report of Guatemala on how that country implements the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.

Introducing the report, Sonia Escobedo of the Presidential Secretariat for Women of Guatemala, said that the situation in Guatemala was very complex. The current Government was promoting solidarity and was proposing a new political, social and cultural model, promoting the sustainable development of all - women and men - and excluding marginalization. The Presidential Secretariat focused on making sure that they were reaching for the highest level of women’s rights. In Guatemala there was currently a national policy on women and an equal opportunity plan that had both been designed with the participation of women’s organizations. Turning to violence against women, she said that violence was the very worst scourge in their country and feminicide was its most extreme form. Women were not even safe in their own home. This had to be strongly sanctioned. Two important steps had been the new law against feminicide and other violence against women and the adoption of a statement on non-tolerance of violence against women, which had been signed by the three representatives of the judicial, executive and legislative systems.

Among questions and issues raised by Committee Experts were how the Presidential Secretariat for Women was collaborating with the other national women bodies and how did it ensure that there was no overlapping of roles? A very important issue addressed by the Experts was that of the prevalent violence against women in Guatemala and its extreme form: feminicide. What was the Government doing to move away from the patriarchal ideology? Other issues included indigenous women and trafficking. Also, what was Guatemala doing to address the issue of low participation of women in elections, both as running candidates and in the low number of women who voted?

In preliminary concluding observations, Naela Gabr, Chairperson of the Committee, said that Guatemala had undertaken positive initiatives and progress was being made, despite the many problems the country was encountering. The Committee hoped that more would be done to address the issues Guatemala was facing as a developing country. The status of indigenous women was also of importance. Greater efforts needed to be made to help them. All efforts had to be made in order to promote women generally, especially in the rural areas. With regard to health and HIV/AIDS, awareness raising was very important. Further, it was important to improve the awareness of women and to inform them of their reproductive rights and to offer them the means to exercise their rights. Violence against women was extremely dangerous and required full attention.

The delegation of Guatemala also included representatives of the Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the United Nations Office at Geneva, the Presidential Secretariat for Women, the Supreme Court of Justice, the Institute for Public Prosecution, the Presidential Commission for Human Rights, the Coordinating Board for the Prevention of Interfamily Violence and against Women, the Permanent Secretariat for the Defense of Indigenous Women and the Beijing Guatemala Committee.

The next meeting of the Committee will be at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 4 February, when it is scheduled to take up the combined fourth, fifth and sixth periodic report of Rwanda (CEDAW/C/RWA/6).

Report of Guatemala

The seventh periodic report of Guatemala (CEDAW/C/GUA/7) says that Guatemala is a multilingual, multicultural and multi-ethnic country with 22 indigenous groups. Forty three per cent of its population is indigenous and it has a high level of biodiversity in a relatively small territory. The majority of the population (nearly 54 per cent) lives in rural areas. Through the scholarship programme for rural girls, especially indigenous girls, the Ministry of Education is aiming to increase school enrolment among rural girls, with emphasis on populations and communities with the lowest rates of educational coverage and the highest primary school dropout rates. The target population is girls aged 7 to 12 years enrolled in the first four grades of primary education. Rural families that enrol their daughters in local State schools receive a financial assistance. The scholarships for rural girls are paid in 18 of the country’s 22 departments and mainly in the five departments with the largest indigenous populations.

The report also indicates that for electoral participation, it is important to be able both to vote and to run for election. Inequalities between men and women in the exercise of political rights are reflected in both these aspects, but the gender gap is much more pronounced in the latter - running for election to public office. In practice, electoral participation takes place through the political parties, most of which, in the context of a democratic, representative system, are still a long way from being consolidated and firmly institutionalized. This is a result, inter alia, of the fact that for most of its history as a republic, Guatemala’s society has functioned politically under authoritarian, patriarchal regimes, preventing the development in the country of a political class with a democratic tradition. Generally speaking, the country’s political parties are run by a closed male leadership that limits the development of new leaderships, including female ones.

Further, the report indicates that the State of Guatemala has addressed the issue of women’s safety in response to society’s growing demand for action to change the situation of violence. The present Government is doing so in keeping with it general policy of giving priority to comprehensive security as a cornerstone of public wellbeing and focusing on key aspects in the institutions responsible for public safety, such as: functional reorganization of the institutions in question, and dismissal of staff who are not fulfilling their responsibilities and coordination of the work of the responsible entities. In 2004, the National Coordinating Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Violence against Women began to disseminate the National Plan for the Prevention and Eradication of Domestic Violence and Violence against Women and the national analysis of institutional efforts with respect to the problems of domestic violence and violence against women, thereby launching institutional efforts to publicize the issue both in government entities and in civil society. Also in 2004, Yakin Erturk, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, and Susana Villarán, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, visited Guatemala to investigate the situation of violence against women and determine the possible causes and consequences of such violence, particularly feminicide, in the country. The State of Guatemala therefore includes their recommendations among actions aimed at the prevention, eradication and punishment of violence against women.

Presentation of Report

CARLOS RAMIRO MARTINEZ ALVARADO, Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the United Nations Office at Geneva, introduced the delegation and said that they were happy to present today their seventh periodic report and they were looking forward to a constructive dialogue with the Committee.

SONIA ESCOBEDO, of the Presidential Secretariat for Women of Guatemala, presenting the report, said that the situation in Guatemala was very complex. Its society had historically been based on agriculture and this model had produced an economic, social and political situation which excluded the indigenous population. Some 51 per cent of the inhabitants of Guatemala were women. The current Government was promoting solidarity and was proposing a new political, social and cultural model, promoting the sustainable development of all - women and men - and excluding marginalization.

Human beings had to be at the forefront and the Government had to satisfy the needs of everyone, at every level. Ensuring food and housing were among the measures they were pursuing. Although they had made many efforts, much remained to be done, said Ms. Escobedo. The Presidential Secretariat for Women focused on making sure that they were reaching for the highest level of women rights. In Guatemala there was currently a national policy on women and an equal opportunity plan that had both been designed with the participation of women’s organizations. This plan and policy had been established for the promotion of the multi-ethnic society in the country and to continue to strengthen the mechanisms that reached out to women; strengthening the bodies at the national level, such as the Presidential Secretariat for Women and the Indigenous Ombudsman for Women, among others. All these bodies had the support of the executive system. An inter-institutional coordination had also been put in place to ensure that their common efforts worked as one.

Ms. Escobedo said that the Presidential Secretariat for Women had five main lines of work, one of which was to strengthen consensus within women’s organizations and civil society. They believed that it was important to work with women organizations and to respond and act on their many valuable proposals. Reaching out to the civil society was very important. 2009 would be a real challenge in this regard as they were planning to have a national roundtable on the issue of women. A second point of action was to place women’s rights where they should be in the Governmental sphere. They had conducted broad consultations with women’s organizations on this regard. They also aimed towards a consensus-based legislative agenda, bearing in mind future challenges. Another important aspect of the work of the Secretariat was to raise the profile of the economic contribution of women.

There was also the need to design public and private policies in order to go away with work inequalities, said Ms. Escobedo. They had been able to get sex desegregated data and they further wanted to do economic studies on the situation of women. Doing away with stereotypes and changing attitudes was also an important challenge ahead of them.

As regards to poverty, they had put in place a Social Cohesion Council aimed at combating poverty and exclusion. The initiatives of the Council were designed as a redistribution of wealth and all its actions were based on the people, particularly the most vulnerable: the rural people of different ethnic groups, women, children and the elderly. The Council also wanted to focus on health, education, sport, skill creation and technical assistance programmes, amongst others. Its programmes included food security intervention strategies and tackling malnutrition. Currently the Council was promoting poverty reduction and social protection in rural areas. The beneficiaries were women and high risk families. The Social Cohesion Council was helping working girls and boys as well as street girls and boys. It provided them a place to go to eat and get basic nutrition, free of charge, said Ms. Escobedo.

Concerning working women, Ms. Escobedo said that they were promoting several activities and they had organized a number of talks on how to improve working life, and safeguard the working rights of women, both in industries and in the rural farm work. Turning to violence against women, she said that violence was the very worst scourge in their country and feminicide was its most extreme form. Women were not even safe in their own home. This had to be strongly sanctioned. The Special Rapporteur on violence against women had visited Guatemala recently and her recommendations served the strengthening of the State’s institutions representing women’s rights. At its start, the current Administration had taken stock by looking at the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur and this gave them the opportunity to start tackling the issues. In 2007 women’s associations and the Presidential Secretariat for Women had worked together on a bill proposal on a framework law against violence against women. It had recently materialized in the law against feminicide and other violence against women. This whole process had been broadly supported by several stakeholders, said Ms. Escobedo.

Ms. Escobedo noted that this particular process had been an excellent learning curve for women. It had been very difficult to implement women laws in the past, but the experience of 2007 had charted a path they had to follow for the future. During 2007, at the beginning of the new administration they had carried out an in-depth analysis of the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations and it had allowed them to map the road ahead. Until 2006, they had had no legislative act against violence against women. The new law aimed at guaranteeing to women a life free of violence. In November 2008 they had also adopted a statement on non-tolerance of violence against women, noted Ms. Escobedo, which had been signed by the three representatives of the judicial, executive and legislative systems. They also hoped that the speaker of the Congress would sign it this year. It was important to ensure that this important document remained a living document. In this way, they fulfilled the request of women’s organizations which had requested the strengthening of protection for women.

Eliminating other problems was also important such as sexual harassment which was not yet punishable and not included in their criminal code. Turning to the trafficking of persons, Ms. Escobedo said that there had been significant progress in the past years. There was now a public policy for the protection of women and they were working in collaboration with other countries in the region to tackle this problem.

Questions by Experts

In a first round of questions, Experts asked a number of questions and made comments, including the fact that the State Party’s Constitution allowed for the possibility of the direct applicability of the Convention into national law, but this had not be done yet, why? It was also important to establish a timeframe for the removal of the remaining discriminatory laws in Guatemala, what was the State’s Party’s timetable for that?

An Expert asked a series of questions about the way the various women’s organizations and national bodies in the country collaborated between them and which one was coordinating the relationship between them? Did the Presidential Women’s Secretariat have the ability to coordinate this work and what was its status with regards to the other bodies? Also, how did they ensure that there was no overlapping of roles?

Another Expert wondered how the national coordination office for the prevention of violence against women, which was monitoring violence against women and feminicide, worked and how its work was being promoted at the municipal level, as each municipality had different policies.

Response by Delegation

The delegation said that as regards to the harmonization of national legislation with the Convention, they saw this as one of the biggest challenges they had in Guatemala, particularly as their society was still very much a patriarchal society. It had been pretty complicated to achieve a block consensus vis-à-vis the work in Parliament. They planned to strengthen a block of institution and women’s organizations, together with members of Parliament which would articulate an agenda to tackle these issues. They hoped to get laws passed throughout this year. The Convention in fact prevailed over legislative law and was often raised in courts; this also was the case for other human rights instruments. The problem was not whether international law prevailed over national law, but they needed to ensure that the provisions of international conventions were used in courts, rather than ensuring that they were being translated into law, which took much time.

On the national mechanisms, the delegation said that the Presidential Secretariat for Women was recognized as the highest institution for women in the country and they did not have an overlapping of roles with other organizations. The setting-up of each mechanism had really been an achievement for women’s rights and all had their history of achievements. What was important was that they could work together; this was sometimes difficult, depending of the various political agendas of the organizations but they were still trying to harmonize their programmes.

Referring to the monitoring of the implementation of specific programmes in the country, the delegation said that each administration had its own work plan but the national policy on the promotion of women had been designed in 2001 and had been carried over several presidential mandates. Also it was true that there were municipal offices for women and the Women Secretariat, together with other women’s organizations, were working towards the strengthening of these municipal offices, which would serve as micro-components of the national policy on women.

Questions by Experts

Turning to Articles five and six of the Convention, an Expert said that Guatemala was a patriarchal based society. The ideology of patriarchy saw men as superior and women as inferior. This situation was linked to the inability of women to fully enjoy their human rights. Another problem was the discrimination against women with different social status and whether they were living in rural areas or not. But the measures undertaken by the Government did not seem to reach and help the most vulnerable women in rural areas, such as indigenous women and women of African descent. How could the Government ensure that the text books it distributed could be read by those women in rural areas?

On feminicide, one Expert said that it was an enormous problem. It was true that there were a lot of plans to tackle it, but it did not seem that they had any effect as the number of feminicide cases had not dropped. Of worry was also the prevalent impunity. A film by Amnesty International had showed how it was impossible for the police to do their work. Access for women to justice was also an issue; women feared to make complaints and to take their cases to the courts. Did the State party have any strategy to overcome these fears and help women bring their cases to the courts? On indigenous women, some of the non-governmental organizations had indicated that indigenous women were the majority in the country. These people needed their rights to be upheld and the Government had to be proactive in their direction.

There was also a lack of an effective legislation on adoption, noted another Expert as well as a lack of data on trafficking and its consequences. What actions had the Government undertaken towards the prevention of trafficking, assistance and prosecution in this regard? What had the country undertaken to prevent the prostitution of young indigenous girls in tourist areas? Also, was sexual harassment included in the current legislation?

Response by Delegation

The delegation, in its answers, recognized that there was a patriarchal social setup in the country. The problem went beyond simple awareness campaigns because communication was very expensive in a poor society like theirs. Written communication did not reach rural areas, and indigenous people spoke a variety of languages. This strongly limited the ability to carry out awareness campaigns. The role of teachers and the way they taught had to be addressed, as well as the school curricula. Many teachers had a patriarchal way of teaching. The Government’s goal was to establish a new relationship between men and women, but it was a very complex work which could not be done in a few years. They had only recently been able to guarantee free education for boys and girls.

It was a big challenge to bring into practice the law on feminicide, noted the delegation. A working group had been established with the task of looking at how to implement the law. The Government had also signed an agreement on collaboration with the European Union which would help to implement a strategy for the implementation of the law. The European Union planned to make funds available to offer technical assistance. The original draft bill had included a provision on sexual harassment, however the political opposition, which consisted mainly of male parliamentarians, was of the idea that sexual harassment was already included in another law and that there was thus no need to include it in the law on violence against women.

Concerning domestic violence, the delegation said that judicial authorities sought to increase the number of courts, so that security measures could be provided immediately to women and avoid or prevent the death of women. Mobile courts had been created, to reach women in rural areas. The previous mobile courts sought to mediate, but this practice was dropped as mediating made no sense when there was violence. They had also tried to strengthen the courts inside the country as they had not received any funds to create special courts dealing with feminicide as was requested by the newly adopted law. Judges were being trained so that they could deal with these new crimes in the regular courts.

Turning to the problem of trafficking, the delegation said that this was a real problem in Central America, not only linked to sex work but also domestic work. It affected Guatemala particularly in the border areas. Guatemala had also ratified the convention on trafficking but there were limitations with is applicability and the Government was trying to coordinate the actions of the various institutions that were working on this field.

Questions by Experts

In follow-up questions, Experts commented on the changing of attitudes and values and the patriarchal society. Informal education, like parenting, media, and the use of non-violent discipline of children in the family also had a role to play, not only school education, noted an Expert. In a country with high-literacy radio could be used or even music and popular singer could play a role to educate the people. The use of mobile theaters was also a solution. Were there any special programmes planned in this regard in Guatemala?

On the issue of violence against women, what legal actions had been undertaken, especially concerning sexual harassment at the work place? Was there a system in place to allow women to report such problems confidentially, asked an Expert. Also, what were the mechanisms for the adoption of children? An Expert noted that the Committee on the Rights of the Child had expressed concern over the current law. It was important to have sufficient measures in place to ensure that children were being adopted and not sold.

Response by Delegation

Turning to the issue of sexual diversity, the delegation said that there was a failure to recognize it due to the patriarchal situation. Just like as for other diversities, there was huge discrimination against the gay, lesbian and transgender community which also involved a lot of violence. It was a very difficult situation and it was hard to address it through legislation.

On education, the delegation said that there was a strategy in place planned at changing the social mindset of violence against women. They were thinking to try to reach out with different means and methods, as indicated by the Committee, to indigenous groups, in their languages to change their mindset.

On the issue of violence against indigenous women, the delegation indicated that Guatemala was committed to defend indigenous women. On the training of special courts judges on feminicide and violence against women, the delegation indicated that since the law had been implement they had trained more than 200 judges. They had to learn how to distinguish the death of a woman due to murder and one due to feminicide. The issue of gender had now also been included in the judges’ curricula. The prevention of lynching had also been addressed through educational programmes for mayors.

Questions by Experts

Turning to Articles seven and eight, Experts noted that the report’s data revealed a low participation of women in political life in Guatemala. The actual number fell far below the actual percentage of women present in the country. One major reason for that situation which was identified in the report was the absence of identity documents and the report noted that an office had been created for the issuance of identity documents, but it did not seem to have resolved the situation. What efforts had been made to register women as voters and to issue an identity document to everyone?

Concerning the number of women being candidates for elections, what could be done to address the lack of political will to consider the issue of women candidates in elections? What was being done to increase the participation of women?

Answer by Delegation

In their answers to the Committee, the delegation said that participation of women in voting and elections was one of their major concerns. There was a huge participation and organizational effort by women in Guatemala at the community level, but at the Government level and at the decision-making level and in elections there was a large lack of women’s presence.

In terms of identity papers, there had been a change and the electoral commission had taken several measures to promote the participation of women. The biggest concern was over the limited participation of women in decision-making positions. For many, having a woman on such a post represented “a man less”. They needed to coordinate with women civil servants to look into the problem and identify why they did not want to move up into decision making posts.

Turning to women’s representation in the foreign office, the delegation said that the service still worked on the basis of a 40 year old law, which did no reflect modern standards. However, out of the 34 heads of missions in embassies, there were eight female ambassadors. In the United States, where there was a huge amount of Guatemalan nationals, they had 11 general consulates, and women led five of them. Also, there were more than 50 per cent of women among staff workers in the Foreign Service.


Questions by Experts

In further questions, Experts addressed the low-level attendance of schools, particularly the fact that indigenous women represented the majority of those who did not conclude their education. Two initiatives addressing the high illiteracy had been put in place by the State party, as indicated in the report. What were the results of these programmes? To which extent had the illiteracy rate declined as a result of these programmes? What was the number of bilingual schools available in rural areas?

On employment, an Expert said that it was a shame that 70 per cent of women were working in the informal sector. The Government had to do its utmost to improve employment; it was an investment in the future. Information also showed that in the maquila, employers failed to observe the working-hours limitations, as set out in the International Labour Organization Conventions. Also, were there any specific measures in place to improve the working inspectorates? Alternative sources of information also showed that there were many abuses in the area of domestic work. Indigenous women worked more but were paid less than other women. The country’s report also indicated that child labour affected children between five and nine. Did the State have tangible measures to combat child labour? What about co-ownership, was Guatemala contemplating this within the rural areas?

Concerning emigrant female workers, one Expert noted that they provided their remittances to their home country, which accounted a lot for the national budget. What were the country’s policies with regards to emigrant women and what happened upon their return? Women coming from other countries were also in very precarious situations and they were often victims of sexual exploitation, noted the Expert.

Turning to the issue of health, an Expert noted that the country report indicated that maternal mortality remained very high in the country, especially among indigenous women in the rural areas. What were the reasons for that? What was the quality of the healthcare services? Was there any training programme for midwifes? What percentage of indigenous women was receiving reproductive health services? Also, the report mentioned that there were special measures undertaken by the State to prevent cervical cancer. What was being done for other problems affecting women, such as breast cancer and diabetes?

As married women were also a group risking HIV/AIDS transmissions, what measures were being taken by the State party to address this risk? Many women were unable to negotiate the use of a condom. If the man in the relationship was unwilling to use condoms, the prevention strategy had no effect as the woman was not in a position to negotiate with the man. What was the State doing to address this issue?

Answers by Delegation

On education, the delegation said that for the first time, free public education was being offered in the country. Free public health policies had also been proposed in 2008 as urgent measures. One of the problems the Government faced was the appointment of teachers; until now they had yearly contracts but they had been recently given permanent contracts. In the country there were five bilingual colleges available, but the Government had had some problems in finding bilingual teachers.

On employment, the delegation mentioned that women were increasingly joining the informal sector, it had grown considerably and the Government was currently conducting a study on that subject. Unemployment was also a challenge for the Presidential Secretariat for Women and they needed to do more with regard to women in this area. The Secretariat was currently also looking at the impact of micro credits to help indebted women.

Concerning the labour inspections, the new Minister of Labour had set the reform of the labour inspectorate system as one of its primary objectives. Concerning the issue of workers in the maquila, the Ministry wanted the full application of all labour standards. Fines had to be paid if these rights were not respected in the maquilas. The Ministry also wanted to ensure that female labour workers had the right to get a social security. This March eight new labour courts would be formed in order to address a huge backlog of cases which needed to be dealt with.


Concerning the Universal Periodic Review, the delegation noted that they had looked at each recommendation included in the final report. The report had been distributed to all relevant stakeholders in the State, as well as civil society. Concerning education, the State was currently ensuring that all children were able to attend primary school. Concerning reproductive health, there was a plan to reduce maternal mortality and a drop had recently been noticed.

On HIV/AIDS, the delegation said that the Health Ministry had a programme running which focused on prevention. It was true that they had to address the issue of women with regards to HIV/AIDS n more depth and it was also true that the threat was now coming in the marriage bed. This was linked at the promiscuity of one of the spouses and the difficulty for women to negotiate the use of a condom. The Government was currently working at a plan to link HIV/AIDS with violence against women.

Questions by Experts

In follow-up questions, Experts asked for further information on the issue of HIV/AIDS and the increasing rate of infection of women. The report mentioned an education programme. Was there any intention to integrate this programme in the school curricula, particularly for adolescents? Another Expert noted the impact of the mining industry on indigenous people, what was the Government doing in this regard?

An Expert noted that abortion was illegal in Guatemala, but this did not mean that there were no abortions. Some maternal deaths could be the result of unsafe abortions. Were there any figures in this regard? Could a woman still receive health services after having illegally aborted? Was there any specific training for doctors in human rights for women?

Answers by Delegation

On the community issues linked to the mining industry, the delegation said that there was a secretary for agrarian affairs which was tasked with solving the conflict between indigenous communities and the industries. This secretariat encouraged indigenous people to register their landownership. Thus they could prove their ownership with legal documents. The Government also provided them with free legal assistance.

On the issue of abortion, the delegation was sure that there was an underestimation of the number of illegal abortions, but there was no legal prosecution of women who had carried out such illegal abortions. If women did not have the money to pay doctors, they often had to revert to dangerous means. On sexual education and abortion, the delegation underscored that these were very sensitive issues in the country, as there was a very hard-line religious community in the country. Still the Government thought they could overcome this problem in order to have proper sexual education available in schools. A state policy was also needed in order to address the issue of HIV/AIDS and the Government was contemplating to reform the current HIV/AIDS law.

Questions by Experts

Turning to Articles 16 and 17, an Expert noted that there were a number of discriminatory laws against women in the current laws of Guatemala. Many women did not have reproductive rights and did not have landownership rights. It was important that the State party looked at how women were affected by the current laws and in which way they affected men and women differently. Judicial authorities also needed to be trained so that they accepted new legal changes. Many cases showed that judges were not taking the legislative changes into account.

Answer by Delegation

Answering, the delegation said that, on the issue of women’s rights, quite recently Congress, at the request of the President, had adopted a law on responsible paternity. This had been an important change. If paternity could be proved through DNA tests, judges could now immediately act on paternal responsibility. Also in the past the infidelity of men was not punishable in contrast to infidelity of women which was punishable. This situation had now also changed.


Because of the strength of the church, the delegation said that it complicated things much more in the country. But much had been done. As an example, women no longer needed a legalized signature from their husband to be sterilized or to use other contraceptive methods. It was still very difficult for indigenous people to get family planning and they had to go into such centres while hiding, as it was seen as an unfaithful gesture towards their husbands.

Further on the issue of indigenous peoples, the delegation noted that Guatemala had signed a technical cooperation with Germany to address the issue of discrimination against indigenous women. The projects sought two main objectives: the first was to make the society more aware vis-à-vis cultural diversity. The second objective was to launch a campaign for coexistence and carrying out awareness rising activities.

In concluding observations, one member of the delegation thanked the members of the Committee. Often one feared speaking about the reality in their country. When they overcame that fear and ensured that international standards were being respected nationally, it helped them to make things better. Every step taken forward helped them.

Preliminary Concluding Observations

NAELA GABR, Chairperson of the Committee, in preliminary concluding observations, thanked the delegation for its constructive dialogue. Guatemala had joined the Convention with no reservations and she was sure that all articles would be taken into account at the three judicial, legislative and political levels. Positive initiatives had been taken and progress was being made, despite the many problems the country was encountering, she noted. The Committee hoped that more would be done to address the issues Guatemala was facing as a developing country. She also noted that there were many laws that were currently being examined by the Government and the Committee hoped that they would be very soon adopted to guarantee non-discrimination, regardless of the cause of the discrimination as there was a need to fight against all causes of discrimination.

The status of indigenous women was also of importance. Greater efforts needed to be made to help them. All efforts had to be made in order to promote women generally, especially in the rural areas. With regard to health and HIV/AIDS, awareness raising was very important. This could be done legislatively and at other levels. The media also played an important role. It was important to improve the awareness of women and to inform them of their reproductive rights and to offer them the means to exercise their rights. Violence against women was extremely dangerous and required full attention, concluded Ms. Gabr.

For use of the information media; not an official record

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