COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN OPENS FORTY-SECOND SESSION IN GENEVA
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this morning opened its forty-second session, hearing a statement by a representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. It then heard the report of the Chairperson on activities undertaken between the forty-first and forty-second sessions of the Committee, the report of the pre-session Working Group on consideration of reports submitted by States parties, and an introductory statement on the implementation of article 21 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (on general recommendations), and on ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee. The Committee also adopted its agenda and programme of work for the session.
Ibrahim Salama, Chief of the Human Rights Treaty Branch of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), presented the regrets of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and said she planned to meet with the Committee on 7 November when they could hold an exchange of views. One of the main important developments for the Committee had been the refinement of its follow-up procedures, which were key to implementation, and he particularly commended the delegation that had held a follow-up visit to Luxembourg. He also drew attention to the Durban Review Conference, which would take place from 20 to 24 April 2009 in Geneva. He understood that all treaty bodies had received a questionnaire from OHCHR to inject their point of view on the outcome of that review, and it was not too late to inject a woman's perspective into that forum.
Committee Chairperson, Dubravka Šimonović, speaking on the activities undertaken between the forty-first and forty-second sessions of the Committee, said that she was delighted to report that Switzerland and Tunisia had accepted the Optional Protocol, thereby bringing the number of States parties to that instrument to 92. The Committee had a very full session before it. Chamber A would consider the reports of Belgium, Canada, Uruguay, Slovenia, El Salvador and Myanmar and Chamber B would consider the periodic reports of Cameroon, Ecuador, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Madagascar and Portugal. The initial report of Bahrain would be considered in the plenary. The Committee would also meet with non governmental organizations, representatives of national human rights institutions and parts of the United Nations family.
When the Committee reconvenes this afternoon, at 3 p.m., it will first hold an informal public meeting with non governmental organizations and then, at 4.15 p.m. will hold a similar meeting with representatives of national human rights institutions.
Statements
IBRAHIM SALAMA, Chief of the Human Rights Treaty Branch of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), presented the High Commissioner's regrets that she could not be here personally owing to a commitment in New York, but she planned to meet with the Committee on 7 November and they could hold an exchange of views then.
Mr. Salama congratulated the Committee on its successful session in New York last June, and its emphasis on the concluding observations and how to make them more user-friendly, concrete and implementable. That was of particular importance in view of the Universal Periodic Review mechanism, which he would speak about later.
One of the main important developments for the Committee had been the refinement of its follow-up procedures, which were key to implementation. He commended the delegation that had conducted a follow-up visit to Luxembourg, at the invitation of that State party, which had allowed Committee representatives to draw attention to the elements of the concluding observations to relevant governmental sectors. It was very positive that the delegation had met with Parliament, the judiciary and other representatives of government, which was crucial to bringing about implementation on the ground. He hoped that other States would follow that example. Mr. Salama felt that this should become an emphasis of the work of OHCHR.
For its part, OHCHR ensured that the Convention, the Optional Protocol and the Committee all had a high profile in any assistance activities of the Branch and OHCHR as a whole. In that context, Mr. Salama drew attention to a very successful follow-up seminar and judicial colloquium on treaty body output held in Panama for countries of the Latin American region. Moreover, OHCHR collaborated with the Inter-Parliamentary Union in preparing and delivering the sixth information seminar on parliaments and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which had taken place on 16 October. Over 200 individuals had participated, representing parliaments from around the world.
Mr. Salama recalled that, during its ninth session in September, the Human Rights Council had held its annual discussion on the integration of a gender perspective in its work. It had also adopted a resolution on effective functioning of the human rights treaty bodies. In 2011, they would have a review of the Council’s work, including the Universal Periodic Review, which had particular relations with the Committee. Here, the main interest for the Committee was that the review was based on the compilation of treaty body recommendations and that Member States took unilateral commitments in the context of the discussion that would be of particular relevance when the Committee was reviewing those States. Everyone knew the fine-tuning of the relationship between the Universal Periodic Review and the treaty bodies was still ongoing, and he imagined the Committee would be discussing the issue
Finally, the Durban Review Conference would take place from 20 to 24 April 2009 in Geneva. Here Mr. Salama recalled the very important contribution the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action had made to the understanding of women and girls affected not only by discrimination on the basis of sex, but other forms of discrimination, including racial discrimination. He understood that all treaty bodies had received a questionnaire from the OHCHR to inject their point of view on the outcome of that review. There would be an additional PrepCom at the end of this year or the beginning of next, and it was not too late to inject a woman's perspective into that forum.
On the issue of the defamation of religions, there was a big debate going on that subject. A seminar had been held on International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights articles 19 and 20 to try and define and clarify the grey zone for States to formulate laws and policies that respected freedom of expression while protecting religious rights. One of the objectives was to allow sufficient room for objective and critical thinking about religious issues. Here, Mr. Salama noted that many cases of discrimination of women were owing to narrow constructions of religious practices, and therefore the clarification of this line would widen the scope of the discussion on CEDAW issues in a direct way.
In the ensuing discussion, a Committee Expert said that she would like to see OHCHR put as much emphasis on combating sexist attitudes and discrimination that it did to racial or religious discrimination and that it use the term sexist in that context.
Responding, Mr. Salama agreed that sexist attitudes and behaviours were indeed within the scope of the OHCHR remit. There were a number of areas of entry for such a discussion within the context of the defamation of religions.
DUBRAVKA ŠIMONOVIĆ, Chairperson of the Committee, speaking on the activities undertaken between the forty-first and forty-second sessions of the Committee, said that she was delighted to report that Switzerland and Tunisia had accepted the Optional Protocol, thereby bringing the number of States parties to that instrument to 92.
Turning to events of interest in the intersessional period, Ms. Šimonović noted that, on 28 and 29 August, she had participated in an international conference in Vienna to commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights. The Conference had taken stock of the many achievements in the human rights field over those 15 years. Throughout her participation, she had underscored the important impetus Vienna had provided for women's human rights and the work of the Committee, in particular encouraging the development of the Optional Protocol, but also drawing attention to the work that needed to be done to achieve de facto equality for women.
Ms. Šimonović had also participated in the Third Committee of the sixty-third session of the General Assembly, highlighting the major outcomes of the past two sessions of the Committee and drawing attention to the enhancement of the Committee's working methods, as well as thanking the Assembly for providing the long-term solution of approving three annual sessions from 2010, among others.
Ms. Šimonović noted that 2008 marked three anniversaries: the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the fifteenth anniversary of the adoption of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and the fifteenth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence against Women. The Universal Declaration had declared that the human rights of women and the girl child were “an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights”, and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action had provided very specific impetus for the ratification of the Convention, the elaboration of its Optional Protocol and the work of the Committee. The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women had drawn its inspiration from the Committee’s General Recommendation No. 19, which had identified violence as discrimination against women and a human rights violation, rather than a family or private matter.
Those anniversaries reminded them that much more needed to be done to make the promise of universal, indivisible human rights a reality for all women and men, Ms. Šimonović underscored.
At this session, the Committee had a very full session, Ms. Simonovic reported. It would consider 12 periodic reports and one initial report. Chamber A would consider the reports of Belgium, Canada, Uruguay, Slovenia, El Salvador and Myanmar and Chamber B would consider the periodic reports of Cameroon, Ecuador, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Madagascar and Portugal. The initial report of Bahrain would be considered in the plenary. The Committee would also consider cases under the Optional Protocol to the Convention and discuss various issues, such as the draft general recommendation on article 2 (obligation to develop a policy of eliminating discrimination against women) and on women migrants. They would also meet with non governmental organizations, representatives of national human rights institutions and parts of the United Nations family.
PRAMILA PATTEN, Chairperson of the Pre-Session Working Group, said the Working Group had met from 4 to 8 February 2008. The following Committee Experts had been selected as the members of the Committee: Meriem Belmihoub-Zerdani; Ferdous Ara Begum; Hanna Beate Schöpp-Schilling, Dubravka Šimonović, Amanah Tan and herself. The Working Group had prepared a list of issues for the consideration of the reports of Belgium, Cameroon, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Portugal, Slovenia and Uruguay. It heard an oral presentation from one non governmental organization in respect of one State party under consideration. The list of questions drawn up by the Pre-Session Working Group were shared with the countries concerned.
JANE CONNORS, of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), speaking on the Committee’s ability to make suggestions and general recommendations based on the examination of reports and information received from States parties, said that Working Groups had continued to work on the recommendation on migrant women and on article 2 (obligation to develop a policy of eliminating discrimination against women) and would brief the Committee on progress achieved. An updated draft of the general recommendation had been provided to members.
Ms. Connors noted that, at this session, the Committee had before it a note by the Secretary-General on the reports of the specialized agencies – which were allowed to be represented and could be invited to report to the Committee in this area – containing reports of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the International Labour Organization. Also, as usual, the Committee had before it a report on ways and means of enhancing the work of the Committee.
For use of the information media; not an official record
CEDAW08015E