Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Closes Eighty-Third Session after Adopting Concluding Observations on Reports of Armenia, Belgium, Finland, Gambia, Honduras, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Switzerland and Ukraine

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today closed its eighty-third session after adopting concluding observations on the reports of Armenia, Belgium, Finland, Gambia, Honduras, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Switzerland and Ukraine, which were considered during the session.

In concluding remarks, Committee Chairperson Gladys Acosta Vargas said that this was last time that she would publicly address the Committee, as her term would end on 31 December this year, together with the terms of Committee Experts Tamader Al-Rammah, Louiza Chalal, Naéla Gabr, Lia Nadaraia, Aruna Devi Narain and Franceline Toe Bouda. She thanked her colleagues for their collegiality, solidarity and support.

Ms. Acosta Vargas said that she was proud of the Committee’s achievements over her two-year tenure. Since the resumption of in-person sessions in October 2021, the Committee had been able to consider the periodic or initial reports of 34 States parties, thereby addressing its backlog of reports. The Committee had enhanced the accessibility of its work for persons with disabilities and continued harmonising working methods with other treaty bodies. It had also endorsed the predictable reporting calendar and introduced a simplified reporting procedure that had been adopted by all but 12 States parties thus far. Further, the Committee had developed case law under the Optional Protocol and adopted its new general recommendation 39 on the rights of indigenous women and girls. The Committee had also held an informal meeting with States parties.

During the eighty-third session, the Committee had considered the reports of eight States parties and adopted concluding observations on each. It hoped to engage on the implementation of its recommendations with States parties such as Ukraine to assist them to uphold women’s rights, including in wartime.

The Working Group on gender-based violence against women had finalised two sections of a guidance note for the implementation of general recommendation 35 on gender-based violence against women, and added sections to general recommendation 19 on harmful practices and on sexual violence in conflict. The Task Force on Afghanistan had been instrumental in ensuring that the Committee continue to make progress on its request for an exceptional report on the current situation of women and girls in Afghanistan,

including through informal communications with relevant actors in Kabul.

The Working Group on communications had prepared three final decisions on individual communications that were adopted during the session, with support from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Petitions Section. The Working Group on inquiries had assessed one new inquiry, prepared for a confidential inquiry visit to be conducted next month, and carried forward several other confidential inquiry proceedings.

In closing, Ms. Acosta Vargas thanked all Committee Experts for their hard work during the session and over the past two years, and the members of the Secretariat who had supported the Committee. She wished the Committee well in fulfilling its noble mission of protecting and promoting women’s rights and gender equality.

At the beginning of the meeting, Committee Rapporteur Aruna Devi Narain presented the draft report of the session, which contained the draft report of the Working Group of the Whole and the provisional agenda for the Committee’s eighty-fourth session. The Committee adopted the report.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’s eighty-third session was held from 10 to 28 October.  All the 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 on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women will hold its eighty-fourth session from 6 to 24 February 2023, during which it is scheduled to review the reports of Bahrain, Costa Rica, Djibouti, Georgia, Hungary, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Norway, Sao Tomé-et-Principe, Slovenia and Tunisia.

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