COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION RECOMMENDS MOVING ITS WINTER SESSIONS FROM GENEVA TO NEW YORK

MORNING
HR/CERD/98/56
19 August 1998

Committee Requests to Extend One Session By Five Working Days

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning recommended holding its winter sessions in New York instead of Geneva and extending one session by five working days.

The Committee’s recommendation to hold its winter sessions at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and its summer sessions at the United Nations Office at Geneva now needs approval from the Third Committee of the General Assembly.

Members of the Committee argued that some States parties, especially developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, maintained diplomatic missions in New York and not in Geneva, and that some of those countries encountered financial and other difficulties to attend the meetings of the Committee when their reports were to be examined in Geneva.

In a separate text, the Committee recommended that it was necessary to extend one session by five working days in order to stay abreast of its increasing workload and to respond adequately to the current discussions on the reporting process.

Also this morning, the Committee discussed its concluding observations on Gabon and a draft decision on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is expected to adopt them this afternoon.

The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to continue work on its concluding observations.