COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN TO HOLD EIGHTEENTH SESSION AT HEADQUARTERS, 19 January - 6 February

Background Release
WOM/1003
16 January 1998

Discrimination against women in conflict situations and their aftermath are among the issues to be
examined as the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women convenes its
eighteenth session at Headquarters from 19 January to 6 February.

The 23-member expert Committee, the monitoring body of the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women, will discuss measures taken by nine States parties to that
treaty to ensure the full development and advancement of women in the political, social, economic
and cultural fields.

To be considered at the forthcoming session are the initial reports of Azerbaijan, Croatia, Czech
Republic and Zimbabwe. The Committee will also examine the combined second and third reports
of Bulgaria and Indonesia, the combined second and third periodic reports, as well as the fourth
periodic report, of the Dominican Republic, and the combined third and fourth periodic reports of
Mexico.

The report of Azerbaijan states that the Armenian aggression and its destructive consequences are
the principal factors and difficulties affecting the fulfilment of its obligations under the Convention.
Croatia's report draws attention to women's decreased ability to exercise their rights in the
aftermath of war, adding that the situation of rural women became more difficult as a result of the
destruction of agricultural estates because of the aggression against the country.

The report of the Czech Republic details its gradual integration into the democratic international
economic and social structures, and links the problems faced by women to the principal changes
under way concerning the emancipation in the political, economic and social systems and the
re-establishment of a citizen's identity, formerly suppressed by the communist system. Zimbabwe's
initial report addresses discrimination against rural women, who form a large percentage of the
population connected with or involved in agriculture, as well as the issue of traditional and cultural
practices that directly and indirectly hamper women's advancement.

Since it was established, the Committee has considered 89 initial, 60 second, 29 third and five
fourth periodic reports. It has also taken up five reports on an exceptional basis -- Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Croatia, Rwanda, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the former Zaire, now the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women convenes two sessions per
year. States parties are required to submit an initial report within one year of accession to the
Convention and periodic reports at least every four years. The reports are to give account of the
legislative, judicial, administrative or other measures adopted by the States to give effect to the
provisions of the Convention and of progress achieved towards that end.

In addition to reviewing reports and evaluating progress made by countries, the Committee
formulates recommendations to the States parties as a whole on eliminating discrimination against
women. The Committee reports annually to the General Assembly, through the Economic and
Social Council, and makes suggestions and recommendations based on its examination of the
information provided by States parties.

During the eighteenth session, the Committee will also have before it a working paper on draft
general recommendations on article 12 of the Convention, which concerns women and health. The
recommendations will be considered in accordance with the Committee's decision to select and
review specific articles of the Convention and consider other issues as part of a long-term
programme.

The experts are also expected to consider a draft working paper on reservations to the
Convention. At its last session, the Committee had decided that part of its contribution to the fiftieth
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights should include a written statement on
reservations. A number of States parties -- both developed and developing countries -- have made
reservations to specific articles of the Convention, while a number of States have made objections
to the reservations made by others.

Reservations to the Convention have been made on such issues as equal rights for women
regarding freedom to choose their residence and domicile (article 15.4), submitting disputes
between States concerning the interpretation of the Convention to arbitration (article 29.1), and the
granting to women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children (article 9.2).

The Committee will also consider a report on ways and means of expediting its work, which
addresses a number of issues raised during its sixteenth and seventeenth sessions. They include
relations with specialized agencies and other United Nations entities, the relationship between the
Committee and the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on violence against
women and other rapporteurs/representatives on human rights matters, and the promotion of the
Convention and the Committee through technical and advisory services. Annexed to the report is a
list of States parties whose reports are more than five years overdue, States parties whose reports
have been submitted but have not yet been considered, and a note for the Committee on the
technical cooperation programmes of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights.

During the session, representatives of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Office of
the High Commissioner for Human Rights and of the United Nations Development Fund for
Women (UNIFEM) are scheduled to make presentations to the Committee on the implementation
of the Convention in areas falling within the scope of their activities. Also, reports of the following
agencies would be before the Committee: World Health Organization (WHO); International
Labour Organization (ILO); United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO); and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Women's Anti-Discrimination Convention

Adopted in 1979, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
is the most comprehensive, legally binding treaty on women's human rights. Often referred to as an
international bill of rights for women, the Convention sets up an agenda for national action to end
discrimination. The first 16 articles of the Convention call on States parties to take appropriate
measures to ensure women's civil, political, economic and cultural rights and their legal equality.

By the terms of the Convention, States parties are called on to take measures such as: guaranteeing
basic human rights and fundamental freedoms of women; ensuring the suppression of the traffic in,
and the exploitation of the prostitution of women; eliminating discrimination against women in
political and public life; ensuring equal rights to acquire, change or retain their nationality; and
eliminating discrimination in the fields of education, employment, health and other areas of economic
and social life. Other articles address issues such as problems faced by rural women, equality
before the law and elimination of discrimination against women within marriage and the family. The
rights of women to take part in the political and public life of their countries and to perform all
functions at all levels of government are also guaranteed by the Convention.

Article 1 of the Convention defines discrimination against women as follows: "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".

States Parties to Convention

As of 15 January, the following 161 States have either ratified or acceded to the Convention, which
entered into force on 3 September 1981: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and
Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados,
Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil,
Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African
Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia,
Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominica,
Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia,
Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala,
Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland,
Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic
Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania and Luxembourg.

Also Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia,
Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua,
Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland,
Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint
Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Senegal, Seychelles,
Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden,
Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Trinidad
and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Republic
of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia
and Zimbabwe.

Committee Membership

The 23-expert members of the Committee, serving in their personal capacity, are the following:
Charlotte Abaka, of Ghana; Ayse Feride Acar, of Turkey; Emma Aouij, of Tunisia; Tendai Ruth
Bare, of Zimbabwe; Desiree Patricia Bernard, of Guyana; Carlota Bustelo Garcia del Real, of
Spain; Silvia Rose Cartwright, New Zealand; Ivanka Corti, of Italy; Aurora Javate de Dios, of the
Philippines; Miriam Yolanda Estrada Castillo, of Ecuador;

Yolanda Ferrer Gomez, of Cuba; Aida Gonzalez, of Mexico; Sunaryati Hartono, of Indonesia;
Salma Khan, of Bangladesh; Yung-Chung Kim, of the Republic of Korea; Ahoua Ouedraogo, of
Burkina Faso; Anne Lise Ryel, of Norway; Ginko Sato, of Japan; Hanna Beate Schopp-Schilling,
of Germany; Carmel Shalev, of Israel; Lin Shangzhen, China; Kongit Sinegiorgis, of Ethiopia; and
Mervat Tallawy, Egypt.

Committee Officers

The Chairman of the Committee is Ms. Khan, of Bangladesh. The ViceChairmen are: Ms. Abaka,
of Ghana; Ms. Bustelo, of Spain; and Ms. Estrada, of Ecuador. Ms. de Dios, of the Philippines, is
the Rapporteur. The Committee's officers were elected in January 1997 for a two-year term.