لجنة الأمم المتحدة المعنية بالقضاء على التمييز ضد المرأة تجتمع في جنيف في الفترة من 20 تشرين الأول/أكتوبر إلى 7 تشرين الثاني/نوفمبر 2014

BACKGROUND RELEASE

16 October 2014

Committee to Consider Situation in Venezuela, Poland, China, Ghana, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Guinea and Solomon Islands

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women will hold its fifty-ninth session at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from 20 October to 7 November during which it will review reports presented by Venezuela, Poland, China including Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macao Special Administrative Region, Ghana, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Guinea and Solomon Islands on how they implement the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

States parties to the Convention commit themselves to ending all political, economic, social, cultural, civil or other forms of discrimination against women. The Committee, a 23-person expert body, monitors compliance with the treaty. It assesses to what extent each State party is meeting its obligations, and makes recommendations for the implementation of the Convention.

At the opening meeting on Monday, 20 October, the Committee will be addressed by a representative of the Secretary-General and adopt its agenda. The Chairperson of the Committee, Nicole Ameline, will brief the Committee on activities and events occurring since the previous session that had a bearing on the work of the Committee.

In addition to considering the reports of eight States parties, the Committee will hold public informal meetings with non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions to discuss the situation in the countries whose reports will be considered. It will also consider individual complaints as well as inquiries under the Optional Protocol to the Convention, in closed meeting. The Committee will discuss matters relating to general recommendations and its methods of work.

Venezuela is presenting its combined seventh and eighth periodic reports CEDAW/C/VEN/7-8. The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the sixth periodic report, considered in January 2006, can be found in CEDAW/C/VEN/CO/6.

Poland is presenting its combined seventh and eighth periodic reports CEDAW/C/POL/7-8. The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the sixth periodic report, considered in January 2007, can be found in CEDAW/C/POL/CO/6.

China is presenting its combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of China CEDAW/C/CHN/7-8; the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region CEDAW/C/CHN-HKG/7-8; and the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of Macao Special Administrative Region CEDAW/C/CHN-MAC/7-8. The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the sixth periodic reports, considered in August 2006, can be found in CEDAW/C/CHN/CO/6.

Ghana is presenting its combined sixth and seventh periodic report CEDAW/C/GHA/6-7. The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the fifth periodic report, considered in August 2006, can be found in CEDAW/C/GHA/CO/5.

Belgium is presenting its seventh periodic report CEDAW/C/BEL/7. The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the sixth periodic report, considered in October 2008, can be found in CEDAW/C/BEL/CO/6.

Brunei Darussalam is presenting its combined initial and second periodic reports CEDAW/C/BRN/1-2.

Guinea is presenting its combined seventh and eighth periodic reports CEDAW/C/GIN/7-8. The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the sixth periodic report, considered in July 2007, can be found in CEDAW/C/GIN/CO/6.

Solomon Islands is presenting its combined initial to third periodic reports CEDAW/C/SLB/1-3.

The reports that the Committee will review during the session as well as other documentation can be found on the webpage of the Committee.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 18 December 1979, and entered into force on 3 September 1981. Often described as an international bill of rights for women, the Convention both defines discrimination against women and sets an agenda for national action to end such discrimination. Since its entry into force, the Convention has achieved near-universal acceptance, with 188 States parties.

The Convention defines discrimination against women as "... any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field".

By accepting the Convention, States parties commit themselves to undertake a series of measures to end discrimination against women in all forms, including: incorporating the principle of equality of men and women in their legal system; abolishing all discriminatory laws and adopting appropriate ones prohibiting discrimination against women; establishing public institutions to ensure the effective protection of women against discrimination; and ensuring elimination of all acts of discrimination against women by persons, organizations or enterprises.

Optional Protocol to the Convention

On 22 December 2000, the Optional Protocol to the Convention entered into force, by which States parties recognize the competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications submitted by individuals or groups of individuals claiming to be victims of a violation of their rights under the Convention.

To date, 105 of the Convention's 188 States parties have accepted the Optional Protocol. Before the Committee considers a complaint, it first must establish its admissibility under the terms of the Optional Protocol. The Optional Protocol also enables the Committee, upon the fulfilment of certain criteria, to undertake inquiries into possible grave or systematic violations of women's rights.

Membership

The Committee is made up of 23 experts of high moral standing and recognized competence in the field of women's rights. Members are nominated and elected by the States parties and serve in their personal capacity.

The Committee Members are: Ayse Feride Acar (Turkey); Nicole Ameline (France); Barbara Evelyn Bailey (Jamaica); Olindia Bareiro-Bobadilla (Paraguay); Meriem Belmihoub-Zerdani (Algeria); Niklas Bruun (Finland); Naela Mohamed Gabr (Egypt); Hilary Gbedemah (Ghana); Nahla Haidar (Lebanon); Ruth Halperin-Kaddari (Israel); Yoko Hayashi (Japan); Ismat Jahan (Bangladesh); Dalia Leinarte (Lithuania); Violeta Neubauer (Slovenia); Theodora Oby Nwankwo (Nigeria); Pramila Patten (Mauritius); Silvia Pimentel (Brazil); Maria Helena Lopes de Jesus Pires (Timor-Leste); Biancamaria Pomeranzi (Italy); Patricia Schulz (Switzerland); Dubravka Šimonović (Croatia) and Xiaoqiao Zou (China).

Ms. Ameline is the Chairperson. The Vice-Chairpersons are Ms. Jahan, Ms. Neubauer and Ms. Patten, and the Rapporteur is Ms. Bailey.

Committee expert Noor Al-Jehani (Qatar) resigned on 2 September 2014.

Proposed Programme of Work

Monday, 20 October

10 a.m. Opening of session, adoption of agenda, organization of work, report of the Chair on activities undertaken, ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee

3 p.m. Informal meeting with non-governmental organizations

4:30 p.m. Informal meeting with national human rights institutions

Tuesday, 21 October

10 a.m. Venezuela combined seventh and eighth periodic reports CEDAW/C/VEN/7-8

3 p.m. Venezuela (continued)

Wednesday, 22 October

10 a.m. Poland combined seventh and eighth periodic reports CEDAW/C/POL/7-8

3 p.m. Poland (continued)

Thursday, 23 October

10 a.m. China combined seventh and eighth periodic reports CEDAW/C/CHN/7-8, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region combined seventh and eighth periodic reports CEDAW/C/CHN-HKG/7-8, Macao Special Administrative Region combined seventh and eighth periodic reports CEDAW/C/CHN-MAC/7-8

3 p.m. China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region (continued)

Friday, 24 October

10 a.m. Ghana combined sixth and seventh periodic reports CEDAW/C/GHA/6-7

3 p.m. Ghana (continued)

Monday, 27 October

10 a.m. Closed meeting

4 p.m. Informal meeting with non-governmental organizations

5 p.m. Informal meeting with national human rights institutions

Tuesday, 28 October

10 a.m. Belgium seventh periodic report CEDAW/C/BEL/7

3 p.m. Belgium (continued)

Wednesday, 29 October

10 a.m. Brunei Darussalam combined initial and second periodic reports CEDAW/C/BRN/1-2

3 p.m. Brunei Darussalam (continued)

Thursday, 30 October

10 a.m. Guinea combined seventh and eighth periodic reports CEDAW/C/GIN/7-8

3 p.m. Guinea (continued)

Friday, 31 October

10 a.m. Solomon Islands combined initial to third periodic reports CEDAW/C/SLB/1-3

3 p.m. Solomon Islands (continued)

Friday, 7 November

10 a.m. Closed meeting

4:30 p.m. Public closing of the session


The States’ reports, the list of issues and further information can be found here:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=816&Lang=en

CEDAW’s dialogues with the States parties will take place from 10:00 to 13:00 and from 15:00 to 17:00 in Room XVI, Palais des Nations, Geneva. Live webcasts of the public sessions can be viewed on http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/.

A news conference is scheduled for Friday 7 November at 13:30 at Palais des Nations to discuss CEDAW’s concluding observations. These will be published on 7 November here: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=816&Lang=en

For more information, please contact Jakob Schneider (+41 (0) 22 917 9301/ jschneider@ohchr.org)

For media requests, please contact Liz Throssell (+41 (0) 22 917 9466/ ethrossell@ohchr.org)

To learn more about the Committee on the Elimination of the Discrimination against Women, visit: http://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/cedaw/pages/cedawindex.aspx

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