Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Opens Eighty-First Session
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this morning opened its eighty-first session, hearing a statement from Orest Nowosad, Chief, Groups in Focus Section, Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and adopting its agenda for the session during which it will review the reports of Gabon, Panama, Senegal, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Peru, Lebanon and the Dominican Republic.
Mr. Nowosad noted that the Committee would hold dialogues with eight States parties, thereby addressing the growing backlog of reports due to the pandemic. Recalling that the Committee had requested an exceptional report in August 2021 about women and girls in Afghanistan, he said that request had been timely as women continued to be excluded from social, economic and political spheres across Afghanistan and were largely prohibited from working. The United Nations Children’s Fund reported that out of the 4.2 million Afghan children who had left school, 60 per cent were girls. All people in Afghanistan faced a humanitarian disaster of unprecedented proportions due to poverty, hunger and deteriorating public services and health care.
Mr. Nowosad saluted the significant progress made by the Committee in the elaboration of a General Recommendation on the rights of indigenous women and girls, and the comprehensive first draft developed, following the online Day of General Discussion on the subject in June.
Gladys Acosta Vargas, Chairperson of the Committee, said she was very happy that the Committee was able to meet in Geneva again. The Committee had decided to review the reports of the following States parties, whose consideration had been postponed from previous sessions: Gabon, Panama, Senegal, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Peru, Lebanon, and the Dominican Republic. The Committee also adopted the agenda and programme of work of the session.
The Chair and Committee Experts spoke about their intersessional activities.
The Committee will next meet in public at 4 p.m. this afternoon for an informal meeting with non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions.
Statements
OREST NOWOSAD, Chief, Groups in Focus Section, Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, welcomed the Committee to Geneva, and began by sharing personal remarks about the work completed on a special project about the work of treaty bodies at a national level with Christof Heyns, who had passed away. A series of consultations were being developed. Turning to the work of the Committee, he said it would hold dialogues with eight States parties, thereby addressing the growing backlog of reports due to the pandemic. Noting the exceptional report requested by the Chair of the Committee in August 2021 about women and girls in Afghanistan, he said that the request had been timely as women continued to be excluded from social, economic and political spheres across Afghanistan and were largely prohibited from working. The United Nations Children’s Fund reported that out of the 4.2 million Afghan children who had left school, 60 per cent were girls, partially due to the absence of women teachers, as girls may now only be taught by women in several parts of the country. All people in Afghanistan were facing a humanitarian disaster of unprecedented proportions due to poverty, hunger and deteriorating public services and health care.
Mr. Nowosad noted the thirty-third annual meeting of the Chairs of the treaty bodies, highlighting the extensive comprehensive proposals which had been put on the table by its Chair, the Chair of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to be considered by all Committee members until the end of the year. He detailed the issues which had been outlined, including the development of a predictable review calendar, the ongoing harmonisation of working measures, and the digital transition. The High Commissioner had urged the Chairs that it was time for the treaty body system to come up with a consolidated and unified proposal in these areas.
Mr. Nowosad saluted the significant progress made by the Committee in the elaboration of a General Recommendation on the rights of indigenous women and girls, and the comprehensive first draft developed, following the online Day of General Discussion on the subject in June. He said that comments, and constructive feedback on the draft had been received from numerous stakeholders, which would be shared with the Working Group during the session. Mr. Nowosad concluded by acknowledging the heavy three-week programme ahead of the Committee and extended best wishes for a successful and productive session.
GLADYS ACOSTA VARGAS, Chairperson of the Committee, said she was happy the Committee was meeting in person in Geneva. She informed the Committee of the sad passing of former Committee Chair and member Aida González Martinez on 29 January in Mexico City at the age of 84. She also noted that five Committee Experts would be absent from this session. She said that the number of States parties which had ratified or acceded to the Convention remained at 189, similarly, the number of States parties that had accepted the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention concerning the Committee’s meeting time remained at 80. A total of 126 States parties were required to accept the amendment to article 20, paragraph one of the Convention in order to bring it into effect. The number of States parties to the Optional Protocol to the Convention remained at 114. Brazil, the Central African Republic, Guatemala, Iceland, Kuwait, Montenegro and Singapore had submitted their periodic reports to the Committee since the last session and Australia had informed the Committee of its decision to submit its next periodic report under the simplified reporting procedure.
ELGUN SAFAROV, Committee Member and Vice-Chairperson, presented on behalf of Ms. Al-Rammah the report of the pre-sessional Working Group for the eighty-first session, which met remotely from 5 to 9 July 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Working Group had prepared lists of issues and questions with regard to the reports of Armenia, Djibouti, Finland, Georgia, Honduras and Turkey, in addition to lists of issues prior to reporting for Estonia, the Netherlands and Niger. The lists of issues and questions and lists of issues prior to reporting adopted by the pre-sessional working group were transmitted to the States parties concerned. As per the Committee’s usual practice, the lists of issues and questions focused on themes covered by the Convention.
GLADYS ACOSTA VARGAS, Chairperson of the Committee, said that due to the backlog of State party reports pending consideration by the Committee, which had accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic when no in-person sessions were held, the Committee would consider this session the reports from the following States parties, whose consideration had been postponed from previous sessions: Gabon, Panama, Senegal, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Peru, Lebanon and the Dominican Republic.
NATASHA STOTT DESPOJA, Committee Member, presenting the report of the Rapporteur on follow-up on behalf of Ms. Chalal, 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 eightieth session, follow-up letters outlining the outcome of assessments of follow-up reports were sent to Austria, Ethiopia, Fiji, Liechtenstein, Qatar, Serbia and the United Kingdom. First reminders regarding overdue follow-up reports were sent to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Iraq and Seychelles. The Committee received follow-up reports from Andorra on time, Côte d’Ivoire with a three-month delay, Guyana with a four-month delay, Iraq with a one-month delay, Kazakhstan on time and Lithuania on time. Ms. Stott Despoja invited the country rapporteurs to assist in the assessment of these follow-up reports. She said that first reminders regarding the submission of follow-up reports should be sent to Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Eritrea, Kiribati, Latvia, Pakistan, the Republic of Moldova and Zimbabwe.
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