COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN TO HOLD NINETEENTH SESSION AT HEADQUARTERS

Background Release
WOM/1053
19 June 1998


To Consider Reports of New Zealand, Nigeria, Panama, Peru,
Republic of Korea, Slovakia, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania


The nineteenth session of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women -- the only United Nations human rights
treatymonitoring body to deal exclusively with women -- will be held at
United Nations Headquarters from 22 June to 10 July. Consisting of 23
experts serving in their individual capacities, the Committee monitors the
implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, which was adopted by the General Assembly in
1979 and came into force in 1981.

Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally
bound to put its provisions into practice. They are also committed to
submit national reports on measures taken to comply with their treaty
obligations. An initial report is required within one year of accession,
and periodic reports at least every four years. The Committee reviews the
reports, evaluates countries' progress and formulates general
recommendations to all States parties on eliminating discrimination against
women. These cover issues ranging from the impact of structural adjustment
policies to maternity leave, from violence against women to the
dissemination of the Convention.

During the coming session, the Committee will review reports submitted
by eight States, including the first-ever reports from South Africa and
Slovakia. It will examine the combined second and third periodic reports of
Nigeria, Panama and the United Republic of Tanzania, the combined third and
fourth reports of New Zealand and Peru, and the third and fourth periodic
reports of the Republic of Korea. It will also receive country-specific
information from non-governmental organizations.

South Africa's report says the country has a high rate of all forms of
violent crime, partly due to the state of conflict and deprivation from
which the country emerged. While State violence has decreased since the
country's 1994 political transformation, rates of reported rape, sexual
abuse of children and domestic violence are increasing. The Government is
determined to redress gender imbalances along with the deep-seated racial
legacies of apartheid. However, social, traditional and customary
practices still contradict provisions of the Convention in many respects.
Existing power relations -- from the domestic to the highest public level -
- often prevent women from leading productive and fulfilling lives.

Slovakia's report is also submitted after a period of dramatic
political and geographical change. Since 1989, the country has been
striving to create a balanced democratic society and market economy.
Today, traditions vie with new socio-economic realities. While the
Convention's principles are provided for in full within the Constitution
promulgated in 1993 -- at the time of Slovakia's independence -- the
prevalence of traditional perspectives, combined with the country's overall
poor economic situation, often prevent women from exercising their rights.
Traditional family roles are culturally reinforced by social control
exerted by communities.

To date, the Committee has considered 93 initial, 63 second, 33 third
and seven fourth periodic reports, as well as five reports on an exceptional
basis: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Rwanda, Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), and the Democratic Republic of the
Congo.

In addition to the country reports, the expert body will also have
before it a note by the Secretary-General on reports of specialized agencies on
the implementation of the Convention in areas falling within the scope of
their activities; and reports of the World Health Organization (WHO),
International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO). The Committee will also take up a revised draft general recommendation on
women and health, as well as the Secretary- General's report on the submission of
reports by States parties.

Further, the Committee will consider the issue of reservations which
States parties can place on their acceptance of the terms of the
Convention, as it considers a revised working paper on the subject. While there are 161
States parties to the Convention, making it among the international human
rights treaties with the largest number of ratifications, it is also one of
the treaties with the most reservations.

At its seventeenth 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.
Reservations 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 meets twice annually. The Secretary-General's Special
Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, Angela King, is
scheduled to open the session on 22 June.

Women's Anti-Discrimination Convention

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, it
establishes 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 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:

"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: Charlotte Abaka, of Ghana; Ayse Feride Acar, of Turkey;
Emma Aouij, of Tunisia; Antonia Guvava, 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; Chikako
Taya, 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 Committee is chaired by Salma Khan of Bangladesh. Its three vice-
chairpersons are: Charlotte Abaka, of Ghana; Carlota Bustela Garcia del
Real, of Spain; and Miriam Estrada, of Ecuador. Aurora Javate de Dios, of
the Philippines, is the Rapporteur. The Committee's officers are elected
for a two-year period. The current Bureau was elected in January 1997.