Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Closes Eighty-Fifth Session

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this afternoon closed its eighty-fifth session after adopting concluding observations on the reports of China, including the two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong (China) and Macao (China), Germany, Iceland, Sao Tome and Principe, Slovakia, Spain, Timor-Leste and Venezuela, which were considered during the session.

The concluding observations adopted by the Committee on the countries under review will soon be available on the session’s webpage.

In concluding remarks, Committee Chairperson Ana Peláez Narváez said during the eighty-fifth session, the Committee had considered the reports of eight States parties and adopted concluding observations on them. Informal meetings had been held with non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions, and the Committee was pleased with the level of participation from civil society.

Among the highlights of the session was the pilot back-to-back review of Sao Tome and Principe, together with the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which allowed for close cooperation between both Committees throughout the session. This resulted in several identical joint recommendations, adopted by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child, respectively.

Progress had been made on working methods, especially on developing modalities for the review of States parties in the absence of a delegation, the ongoing pilot regarding the structure of dialogues, and the identification of follow-up paragraphs in the concluding observations, among others.

The Working Group on individual communications had prepared three final decisions on individual communications which were adopted during the session. The Working Group on inquiries had carried forward several follow-up assessments, as well as requests for country visits in confidential inquiry proceedings.

During the session, the Committee held exchanges and social events, including a remote private informal meeting with the Executive Director of United Nations Women; an informal meeting with the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls; and a reception by the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Spain.

In closing, Ms. Peláez Narváez thanked all Committee Experts for their hard work during the session, and the members of the Secretariat who had supported the Committee.

At the beginning of the meeting, Committee Rapporteur Marion Bethel 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-sixth session. The Committee then adopted the report.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women will hold its eighty-sixth session from 9 to 27 October 2023, during which it is scheduled to review the reports of Albania, Bhutan, Brazil, France, Guatemala, Jamaica, Malawi, Nicaragua, Niger, Philippines and Uruguay.

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