COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN OPENS FIFTY-FIRST SESSION

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this morning opened its fifty-first session, hearing a statement from Isha Dyfan, Chief of the Women’s Rights and Gender Section in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and adopting its agenda and programme of work for the session.

Ms. Dyfan said that High Commissioner Navi Pillay had led landmark discussion on human rights at the meeting of the United Nations Chief Executive Board in New York, in which she appealed for the United Nations to hear the calls of the Arab Spring, to adopt a new human rights-based development paradigm and to engage more meaningfully with both civil society and governments. The High Commissioner had presented her report on discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity to the Human Rights Council, and recommended that member states investigate all reported killings and acts of violence perpetrated against individuals because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. The Security Council issued its second Cross-Cutting Report on Women, Peace and Security in January 2012 which reviewed recent developments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, particularly mass rape in the Walikale region.

Silvia Pimentel, Committee Chairperson, said the Committee had a very full and interesting agenda ahead, including consideration of the reports of Brazil, Congo, Grenada, Norway, Algeria, Jordan and Zimbabwe. The Committee would also consider cases under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination on All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and work on issues including the economic consequences of marriage and its dissolution, harmful practices, the human rights of women in conflict and post-conflict situations, and those women’s access to justice.

During the meeting Committee Experts asked questions about strengthening the treaty body processes and discussed a shortage of translated documents, while Victoria Popescu, Chairperson of the pre-session Working Group and Yoko Hayashi, Rapporteur on Follow-Up procedures, also spoke about their work. The Committee also adopted its agenda and programme of work for the session.

The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. today for a private meeting with non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions associated with Brazil, Congo, Grenada and Norway. The Committee will next meet in public at 10 a.m. on Tuesday 14 February to begin consideration of the sixth periodic report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (CEDAW/C/COG/6).

Opening Statement

ISHA DYFAN, Chief of the Women’s Rights and Gender Section, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the treaty body strengthening process had reached a decisive stage culminating in the Dublin II wrap-up meeting of November 2011. The much anticipated tenth human rights monitoring body had been created, and the Committee on Enforced Disappearances held its first session in November 2011. High Commissioner Navi Pillay led a landmark discussion on human rights at the meeting of the United Nations Chief Executive Board in New York, in which she appealed for the United Nations to hear the calls of the Arab Spring, to adopt a new development paradigm based on human rights and to work more meaningfully with both civil society and governments. The High Commissioner submitted to the Human Rights Council her report on discriminatory laws and practices, acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation, and gender identity, and said that a response to the emerging patterns of violence was needed. The High Commissioner recommended that member states investigate all reported killings and acts of violence perpetrated against individuals because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing had submitted her report on women and the right to adequate housing, which would be discussed and the nineteenth session of the Human Rights Council. Turning to the Human Rights Council, Ms. Dyfan said that it continued to closely follow human rights situations in a number of States and had established several international commissions of inquiry to respond to urgent crises. The Fourth Session of the United Nations Forum on Minority Issues had been held in November 2011 and focused on concrete steps to guarantee the rights of minority women, including the right to education, effective political participation, and effective participation in economic, social and cultural life. The Security Council issued its second Cross-Cutting Report on Women, Peace and Security in January 2012, which reviewed recent developments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, particularly mass rape in the Walikale region.

Report of the Chairperson of the Committee

SILVIA PIMENTEL, Chairperson, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, updated the Committee on the activities undertaken between the fiftieth and fifty-first sessions and said that the number of States partied to the Convention remained at 187, while 104 States were parties to the Optional Protocol. Cape Verde and Cote d’Ivoire had deposited their instruments of accession in October 2011 and in January 2012 respectively. The Chairperson had attended the Dublin II meeting in November 2011 and said that the Outcome document would be discussed in this session of the Committee. Ms. Pimentel had participated in the eleventh International Human Rights Colloquium on implementing United Nations decisions and recommendations organised by non-governmental organization Connectas. The Chairperson had also taken part in other events on women’s human rights and the sexual exploitation of girls. Some Committee members attended the International Forum on Women and Sustainable Development in Beijing in November 2011, which was a lead-up to the forthcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20. The Government of Finland had hosted a meeting of the Working Group on the human rights of women in situations of conflict and post-conflict, which included, among other things, a panel discussion on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325.

Ms. Pimentel said that the Committee had a very full and interesting agenda ahead, including consideration of the reports of Brazil, Congo, Grenada, Norway, Algeria, Jordan and Zimbabwe. The Committee would also consider cases under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination on All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, review the draft general recommendations on the economic consequences of marriage and its dissolution, be briefed on the progress of other draft general recommendations including those on harmful practices, the human rights of women in conflict and post-conflict situations, and in access to justice. The Committee would consider reports and information received under its follow-up procedure and would meet with non-governmental organizations, representatives of national human rights institutions and other members of the United Nations family.

Reports from Committee Members

VICTORIA POPESCU, Chairperson of the pre-session Working Group for the fifty-first session, introduced the report of the pre-session Working Group which had met from 1 to 5 August 2011 in New York, and prepared list of issues and questions for Brazil, Congo, Grenada, Jordan, Norway and Zimbabwe. Ms. Popescu emphasized that the Working Group paid special attention to keeping the list of issues short and focused on the most important issues. The list of issues and questions adopted by the pre-session Working Group had been transmitted to the States parties concerned.

YOKO HAYASHI, Rapporteur on Follow-up procedures, said that at the end of the fiftieth session of the Committee, follow-up letters had been sent to Denmark, Germany, Japan, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar. The first reminder had been sent to Bhutan, Guinea/Bissau, Laos, Liberia, Switzerland and Timor-Leste. Since the last session, follow-up reports had been received from Armenia, Belgium, Ecuador, Spain and those reports would be assessed during the current session. The reports from Fiji, Madagascar, Mongolia, Rwanda and Uruguay had been received but not yet translated and would be assessed at the fifty/second session.


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CEDAW12/002E