Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Opens its Eighty-Second Session
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this morning opened its eighty-second session, hearing a statement from Mahamane Cissé-Gouro, Director of the 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 Portugal, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Namibia, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Mongolia and Bolivia.
Mr. Cissé-Gouro, Representative of the Secretary-General, welcomed that the Committee had formulated a position paper on the treaty strengthening body process in November last year. He noted that the Human Rights Council would hold two panel discussions this session which focused on the human rights of women. There would be a number of discussions focusing on gender equality and women. There would also be a round table discussion on the root causes of human rights violations and abuses against Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar. This discussion would provide States with an opportunity to propose effective actions to address recommendations made by United Nations bodies, including the Committee’s 2019 concluding observations on Myanmar.
Mr. Cissé-Gouro commended the Committee for its work on mainstreaming women's rights into the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. He noted that the Committee was closely monitoring the impact of two situations of armed conflict on women's rights and their participation in peace processes, reconstruction efforts and transitional justice mechanisms – Ukraine and Afghanistan. In April, the coordinator of the working group on Afghanistan, and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, carried out a joint technical visit to Afghanistan, to meet with the de facto authorities of working level and key stakeholders, including Afghan women. The visit showed the great motivation of Afghan women and girls to influence the course of the country.
Gladys Acosta Vargas, Chairperson of the Committee, said that since the last session, the number of States parties that had ratified the Convention had remained at 189. In April 2022, Morocco acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention, bringing the total number of States parties to 115.
The Committee adopted the agenda and programme of work of the session.
The Chair and Committee Experts then discussed their intersessional activities undertaken since the last session.
The Committee will next meet in public at 3:45 p.m. this afternoon for an informal meeting with non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions concerning the reports of Portugal, Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Namibia, which will be reviewed this week by the Committee.
Statements
Mahamane Cissé-Gouro, Director, Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Representative of the Secretary-General, said he was glad the Committee was able to meet in Geneva, after the COVID-19 pandemic had caused State party reviews to be suspended. Mr. Cissé-Gouro welcomed that the Committee had formulated a position paper on the treaty strengthening body process in November last year. The agreement of all treaty bodies to establish a predictable schedule of reviews, with an eight-year cycle for full State reviews and follow-up reviews, demonstrated the commitment of the treaty bodies to work together to further strengthen the treaty body system and facilitate efforts to attract the necessary support from Member States. With a formal agreement now reached, the Office could proceed to cost it and submit it to the General Assembly. The landmark agreement would help rationalise the system for all concerned and provide a basis for a more sustainable allocation of resources, a goal expressed by the Secretary-General. Mr. Cissé-Gouro stated that the Committee, along with all the treaty bodies, had his full support in making this a reality.
Mr. Cissé-Gouro said that the fiftieth session of the Human Rights Council had opened today, and as part of the session, two panels on the human rights of women would be held. The first panel would focus on the fact that climate change, natural disasters and climate-induced displacement and migration deepened poverty and exacerbated the risks of sexual and other gender-based violence against women and girls. The second panel would look at the gaps revealed by the pandemic, where women and girls disproportionally absorbed the increase in unpaid care work during the pandemic, often sacrificing their own education, employment prospects and wellbeing.
Over the session, the Council would consider several reports which were particularly relevant to the Committee, including a report of the High Commissioner, summarising last year’s discussion on the human rights of women, among others. There would be a number of discussions on gender equality and women. A round table discussion would also be held on the root causes of human rights violations and abuses against Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar. The discussion would provide States with an opportunity to propose effective actions to address recommendations made by United Nations bodies, including the Committee’s 2019 concluding observations on Myanmar.
Mr. Cissé-Gouro commended the Committee for its work on mainstreaming women's rights into the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. He noted that the Committee was closely monitoring the impact of two situations of armed conflict on women's rights and their participation in peace processes, reconstruction efforts and transitional justice mechanisms. Since the last session in February, the Committee had established a working group on Ukraine to monitor the situation of women and girls in armed conflict. The Working Group on Afghanistan had invited the de facto authorities to report on the situation of women and girls in the country since 15 August 2021. A press release had been issued by the Chair of the Committee condemning the decision of the Afghan de facto authorities to deny girls secondary education. In April, the Coordinator of the Working Group on Afghanistan, and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, carried out a joint technical visit to Afghanistan, to meet with the de facto authorities of working level and key stakeholders, including Afghan women. The visit showed the great motivation of Afghan women and girls to influence the course of the country.
Mr. Cissé-Gouro concluded by noting that the Committee had a heavy programme ahead for the next three weeks and extended his best wishes for a productive session.
A Committee Expert said it was important that the United Nations supported women’s representation, particularly in the innovation space. The Expert said that a special mission to Ukraine, as was done in Afghanistan, would be beneficial.
One Committee Expert agreed that women’s role in innovation must be taken into consideration. Speaking about the health and food crises, the Expert conveyed that woman must be able to provide a solution to these crises.
A Committee Expert noted that synergies were achieved through personal effort, and there were no mechanisms which allowed the Committee to interact better with the Special Procedure mandate holders. The Committee Expert proposed that some Committee members could speak with the office of the Secretary-General to determine where and how the synergy could occur. An institutional mechanism was required.
Another Committee Expert said it had been gratifying to visit Afghanistan on a technical visit and reiterated the need for building institutional synergy between the treaty bodies and Special Procedure mandate holders.
A Committee Expert was pleased that the issue of climate change and food shortage had been raised. The Expert said the technologies available to women fell short and flagged that women should be able to participate in solving crises.
Mr. Cissé-Gouro thanked the Committee Experts for their questions and agreed with all that was said. He said that Experts’ suggestions were very timely, and he would take up their offers to see where they could work together. The more that could be done together, the better.
GLADYS ACOSTA VARGAS, Chairperson of the Committee, said she was pleased that most COVID-19 related measures had been lifted and all observers could be welcomed to the conference room again. Since the last session, the number of States parties that had ratified the Convention had 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. One hundred and twenty-six States parties to the Convention were currently required to accept the amendment to bring it into force. In April 2022, Morocco acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention, bringing the total number of States parties to the Optional Protocol to 115.
Ms. Acosta Vargas said that Benin, Chile, Fiji, Italy, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Spain and Sri Lanka had submitted their periodic reports to the Committee since the beginning of the last session. Since the last session, the Bahamas, Cyprus and Fiji had informed the Committee of their decision to submit their next periodic report under the simplified reporting procedure.
Ms. Acosta Vargas said the Committee had decided to consider the reports from the following States parties, whose consideration had been postponed from previous sessions, at this eighty-second session: Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Mongolia, Morocco, Namibia, Portugal, Türkiye and United Arab Emirates.
LOUIZA CHALAL, Committee Rapporteur on Follow-up, 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-first session, follow-up letters outlining the outcome of assessments of follow-up reports were sent to Andorra, Côte d’Ivoire, Guyana, Iraq, Kazakhstan and Lithuania. First reminders regarding overdue follow-up reports were sent to Bulgaria, Eritrea, Kiribati, Pakistan, Republic of Moldova and Zimbabwe. The Committee received follow-up reports from Bulgaria and Latvia on time, Seychelles with a four-month delay, and Cambodia with a seven-month delay. Ms. Chalal invited the country rapporteurs to assist in the assessment of follow-up reports. She said that first reminders regarding the submission of follow-up reports should be sent to Bulgaria, Cambodia, Latvia, and Seychelles.
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