Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Opens Eighty-Fifth Session in Geneva
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this morning opened its eighty-fifth session, hearing a statement from a representative of the Secretary-General, and adopting its agenda for the session, during which it will review the reports of China, Germany, Iceland, Sao Tome and Principe, Slovakia, Spain, Timor-Leste and Venezuela.
Ibrahim Salama, Chief of the Human Rights Treaties Branch, Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Representative of the Secretary-General, said with its half-day of general discussion in February, the Committee had embarked on the elaboration of a new general recommendation which would provide significant guidance to States parties for ensuring women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life by 2030.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ campaign to celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights would align with this important topic, with the monthly thematic spotlight for June to be women’s participation in decision-making. The campaign would raise awareness of the importance of women’s and girls’ equal representation and showcase their crucial contributions, as well as the barriers they continued to face.
Ana Peláez Narváez, Chairperson of the Committee, said that since the last session, the number of States parties that had ratified or acceded to the Convention had remained at 189. The total number of States parties that had ratified the Optional Protocol remained at 115. Since the last session, Belarus, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Saudi Arabia had submitted their periodic reports to the Committee. Last year, the Committee had decided to make the simplified reporting procedure the default procedure for the submission of State party reports to the Committee. In response, 13 States parties had indicated that they wished to opt out and maintain the traditional reporting procedure.
The Chair and Committee Experts then discussed the activities that they had undertaken since the last session. Nicole Ameline, Committee Expert and Chairperson of the pre-sessional working group, and Natasha Stott Despoja, Committee Alternate Rapporteur on follow-up to concluding observations, also briefed the Committee on their work.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’s eighty-fifth session is being held from 8 to 26 May. All documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage. Meeting summary releases can be found here. The webcast of the Committee’s public meetings can be accessed via the UN Web TV webpage.
The Committee will next meet at 3 p.m. this afternoon to hold an informal meeting with non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions to discuss the situation of women in Timor-Leste, Sao Tome and Principe, Germany and China, whose reports will be reviewed during the first week.
Opening Statements
IBRAHIM SALAMA, Chief of the Human Rights Treaties Branch, Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Office of the High Commissioner and Representative of the Secretary-General, said it was an honour to open the eighty-fifth session of the Committee. With its half-day of general discussion in February, the Committee had embarked on the elaboration of a new general recommendation which would provide significant guidance to States parties for ensuring women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership, at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life by 2030. It was encouraging to see the high level of interest the future general recommendation was already generating, with the half day discussion attended by 50 States parties and many civil society representatives. The Committee would aim to adopt a first draft at the end of the year, which would be published for comments and discussed at regional meetings planned for 2024.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ campaign to celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights would align with this important topic, with the monthly thematic spotlight for June to be women’s participation in decision-making. The campaign would raise awareness of the importance of women’s and girls’ equal representation and showcase their crucial contributions, as well as the barriers they continued to face.
The Office and the Inter-Parliamentary Union would also hold a roundtable discussion on parliaments and women’s rights on 22 June. On 18 and 19 September, Member States would convene at the 2023 Sustainable Development Goals Summit, which marked the half-way point of the 2023 Agenda. Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment was integral to each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and a key game changer for achieving transformative change. Only by ensuring the full range of human rights of women and girls across the Sustainable Development Goals would it be possible to eliminate discrimination and exclusion and reduce existing inequalities.
The 2023 Sustainable Development Goal Summit would also kick-start the one-year
countdown to the 2024 Summit of the Future and the initial post-2030 discussions. Now was the opportune time for the Committee to contribute to these discussions, to reconfirm the commitment made in the 2023 Agenda to fully integrate gender equality in the achievement of all Sustainable Development Goals. It was pleasing to note that as in previous years, the Committee again submitted an official contribution to the 2023 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, this time titled “Women as leading forces for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in the post-COVID-19 world”.
The Office of the High Commissioner continued to support the strengthening of the treaty bodies and was in the process of finalising elements for an implementation plan of the predictable review calendar. This should significantly contribute to the ability of States and numerous stakeholders to plan and work more effectively. The feasibility of the implementation plan would depend on whether the required human and financial resources could be secured. This would be discussed at the next meeting of Chairpersons of the treaty bodies. Mr. Salama wished the Committee a successful and productive session.
Discussion
A Committee Expert said the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights would take place in December. Would there be a ceremony and how could the Committee participate?
Another Committee Expert asked for the support of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva and regionally, in supporting the Committee’s working groups.
One Committee Expert said it was the thirtieth anniversary of the Vienna Declaration. This was the right time to reflect on the persistence of double standards. Was there anything specific the Committee could concentrate on for this anniversary? There needed to be an answer on the resourcing side as this was becoming difficult for the members to deal with.
A Committee Expert congratulated Mr. Salama on the vital approach at a time when there was a need to build back better. There were the challenges of migration and the need to modernise working methods. The Committee needed to respond to international issues. It was hoped that cooperation on this matter could be strengthened.
IBRAHIM SALAMA, Chief of the Human Rights Treaties Branch, Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Representative of the Secretary-General, said finalising the general comment on women’s political participation was vital. The challenge was to retroactively create the system from existing entities without amending any existing treaties. The best thing the Committee could help the Chair to do was to empower the Chair to take action at the meeting of Chairpersons.
The implementation plan would be shared with all Committee members at the same time, allowing them to inform their Chair about their remarks and feedback. Many States had expressed that there needed to be budget implications. Harmonisation started at home; it was important that the Committee was united in their approach. The field presence support was even more important, and this would be continued. The Vienna Declaration was at the heart of the treaty body system. Change must begin with the Committee members.
Statements by the Chairperson and Other Committee Experts
The Committee then adopted the agenda and programme of work of the session.
ANA PELÁEZ NARVÁEZ, Committee Chairperson, said since the last session, the number of States parties that had ratified or acceded to the Convention had remained at 189. On 2 May 2023, Honduras had accepted the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention concerning the Committee’s meeting time, bringing the total number of States parties having accepted the amendment to 81; 126 States parties to the Convention were currently required to accept the amendment to bring it into force. The total number of States parties that had ratified the Optional Protocol remained at 115.
Ms. Peláez Narváez said that since the last session, Belarus, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Saudi Arabia had submitted their periodic reports to the Committee. Last year, the Committee had decided to make the simplified reporting procedure the default procedure for the submission of State party reports to the Committee. In response, 13 States parties had indicated that they wished to opt out and maintain the traditional reporting procedure.
Ms. Peláez Narváez and Committee Experts then discussed their intersessional activities undertaken since the last session.
NICOLE AMELINE, Committee Expert and Chairperson of the Pre-Sessional Working Group, said the pre-sessional working group for the eighty-fifth session met in Geneva from 31 October to 4 November 2023. The working group prepared lists of issues and questions in relation to the reports of Benin, Guatemala and Singapore, in addition to lists of issues and questions prior to the submission of the reports of Fiji, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, State of Palestine and Thailand under the simplified reporting procedure. The pre-sessional working group had benefited from written and oral information submitted by entities of the United Nations system and non-governmental organizations, as well as by national human rights institutions. The Working Group transmitted the lists of issues and questions and lists of issues prior to reporting that it had adopted to the States parties concerned.
NATASHA STOTT DESPOJA, Committee Alternate Rapporteur on Follow-Up to Concluding Observations, briefed the Committee on the status of the follow-up reports received in response to the Committee’s concluding observations. At the end of the eighty-fourth session, a follow-up letter outlining the outcome of the assessment of the follow-up report was sent to Zimbabwe. No assessments of follow-up reports were scheduled for consideration at the eighty-fourth session, hence no reminder letters were sent out at the end of that session.
Ms. Stott Despoja said that for the eighty-fifth session, the Committee had received follow-up reports from Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a seven-month delay; Denmark, submitted on time; and the Republic of Moldova, with a one-year delay. A follow-up report from Pakistan had also been received, with more than a one-year delay. As this report was received just before the session, it would be scheduled for consideration at the eighty-sixth session in October 2023. Ms. Stott Despoja invited the country rapporteurs for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Elgun Safarov; Denmark, Ms. Nicole Ameline; and the Republic of Moldova, Ms. Genoveva Tisheva, to assist in the assessment of the follow-up reports.
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