UN Committee to review Bangladesh’s record on women’s rights

GENEVA (3 November 2016)  – Bangladesh’s record on women’s rights will be examined by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on 8 November. Bangladesh  has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and so is reviewed regularly by the Committee on how it is implementing the Convention. 

Among the possible issues for discussion between CEDAW and a delegation from the Bangladeshi Government are: 

• Discriminatory laws against women in the areas of marriage, divorce, inheritance, guardianship and citizenship;
• Persistence of deep-rooted stereotypes regarding the roles and responsibilities of women and girls;
• Prevalence of harmful practices such as child marriages;
• Prevalence of violence against women and girls as well as sexual abuse and harassment in all settings;
• Under-representation of women in government positions;
• Significant under-representation of women in formal labour market, wide wage gap and widespread exploitation of women and girls especially as domestic workers;
• High levels of maternal mortality due to early pregnancies and unsafe abortions;
• Multiple discrimination, abuse, violence and exploitation experienced by indigenous, Dalit and Rohingya refugee women and girls. 

The review will take place in Room XVI at Palais des Nations in Geneva from 10:00 – 13:00 (15:00 – 18:00 in Dhaka) and 15:00 - 17:00 (20:00 – 22:00) and will be webcast at  http://webtv.un.org/.

The Committee will also hear from NGO representatives. More information about the review, including Bangladesh’s written report, here:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1027&Lang=en

The Committee’s findings, officially known as concluding observations, on Bangladesh and the other countries being reviewed – Canada, Burundi, Bhutan, Belarus, Argentina, Switzerland, Honduras, Armenia, Estonia and the Netherlands, – will be published on 21 November here:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1027&Lang=en

ENDS

For more information please contact Jakob Schneider at  jschneider@ohchr.org 
Media requests: Liz Throssell +41 (0) 22 917 9466 ethrossell@ohchr.org

Media accreditation for the Palais des Nations:   http://unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpPages)/70991F6887C73B2280256EE700379C58?OpenDocument

Background

CEDAW is composed of 23 independent human rights experts drawn from around the world. They serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. The Committee’s concluding observations are an independent assessment of States’ compliance with their human rights obligations under the treaty. More information:
http://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/cedaw/pages/cedawindex.aspx

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