Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women opens forty-eighth session

Committee on Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women

17 January 2011

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this morning opened its forty-eighth session, hearing a statement from Isha Dyfan, Chief of the Women’s Rights and Gender Section of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and adopting its agenda and programme of work for the session. The Committee elected a new Chairperson and four of five new Committee members took their solemn declaration. Committee members also heard reports on various issues, including on the activities of Committee members between sessions.

In her opening statement, Ms. Dyfan said the Security Council held an open meeting in December to discuss sexual violence in situations of armed conflict and it expressed deep concern that such violence continued to occur, becoming in some situations “systematic and widespread, reaching appalling levels of brutality.” The Council also unanimously adopted resolution 1960 which allowed the Secretary General to supply it with detailed information on parties credibly suspected of responsibility for patterns of sexual violence during armed conflict. The Council expressed its intention to use such a list of perpetrators as a basis for action, including the consideration of sanctions and other targeted measures.

Ms. Dyfan went on to say that the General Assembly met on 21 December 2010 and adopted various resolutions and decisions adopted by the Third Committee, including on the advancement of women. The General Assembly recognized that violence against women and girls persisted in every country in the world as a pervasive violation of the enjoyment of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality, development, peace and internationally agreed development goals. It also recognized and welcomed the efforts and important contributions at the local, national and regional levels to eliminate all forms of violence against women, including by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences.

Naela Gabr, the outgoing Chairperson of the Committee, reporting on activities undertaken between the Committee’s forty-seventh and forty-eighth sessions, was delighted to report that Poland had deposited its instrument of acceptance with the Secretary-General to the amendment to the Convention, bringing the number of States that had accepted the amendment to 59. In October, Cambodia deposited its instrument of ratification to the Optional Protocol, bringing the number of parties to that instrument to 100. Ms. Gabr then went on to update the Committee on some of her activities as Chair since the last session as well as other activities that might be of interest to Committee members. Ms. Gabr attended the International Istanbul Women’s Meeting in November 2010, which focused on violence, economic and social problems, and discrimination and inequality faced by women. She also attended several other meetings regarding human trafficking and women’s empowerment and the rights of women. Committee members participated in activities relating to women’s issues, including presenting papers at panel discussions, participating in Senate hearings regarding the ratification of CEDAW in the United States, participating in conferences in Ottawa, attending the Inter-Committee Meeting and attending the Minority Forum.

The new Committee members: Ms. Ayse Feride Acar, Ms. Olinda Bareiero-Bobadilla, Ms. Patricia Schulz and Ms. Ismat Jahan all took the solemn oath and were inducted as members of the Committee. Ms. Maria Helena Lopes de Jesus Pires, also a new member, was not present. The Committee also elected Silvia Pimentel as the new Committee Chairperson, while the rest of the newly elected bureau would be announced at a later meeting.

When the Committee reconvenes this afternoon at 3 p.m. it will hold a meeting with non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions to discuss the situation in countries to be reviewed by the Committee during the first week of the session.

Statements

ISHA DYFAN, Chief of the Women’s Rights and Gender Section of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the Security Council held an open meeting in December to discuss sexual violence in situations of armed conflict and it expressed deep concern that such violence continued to occur, becoming in some situations “systematic and widespread, reaching appalling levels of brutality.” The Council also unanimously adopted resolution 1960 which allowed the Secretary General to supply it with detailed information on parties credibly suspected of responsibility for patterns of sexual violence during armed conflict. The Council expressed its intention to use such a list of perpetrators as a basis for action, including the consideration of sanctions and other targeted measures. In her statement to the Council, the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Wallstrom, stated that the resolution, “… will help ensure that mass rape is never again met with mass impunity.” The report of the Secretary General forming the basis of the deliberations of the Security Council was to a large extent informed by the results of monitoring by human rights components of peace-keeping missions and trends and patterns of sexual violence.

Ms. Dyfan went on to say that the General Assembly met on 21 December 2010 and adopted various resolutions and decisions adopted by the Third Committee, including on the advancement of women. The General Assembly recognized that violence against women and girls persisted in every country in the world as a pervasive violation of the enjoyment of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality, development, peace and internationally agreed development goals. It also recognized and welcomed the efforts and important contributions at the local, national and regional levels to eliminate all forms of violence against women, including by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences.

With respect to the Human Rights Council, Ms. Dyfan said that it adopted a resolution in October 2010 establishing a new mechanism, in the form of a Working Group on the discrimination against women, in law and in practice, and which called for close coordination with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Commission on the Status of Women, and UN Women. In this regard, nominations had been received for members of the Working Group, which would have one independent expert from each United Nations region.

The High Commissioner also issued a statement on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which was commemorated on 25 November. The statement underscored the shocking prevalence of violence against women, including sexual violence, and more specifically that physical, psychological and other forms of abuse of women on a huge scale continued to be hidden, ignored or silenced. Figures released by the United Nations suggested that in some countries close to 60 per cent of women may be subjected to physical violence at least once in their lifetime.

Ms. Dyfan said that with respect to UN Women, Ms. Michelle Bachelet, the head of the new entity which had now officially begun its work, was preparing a vision paper which would be presented to the UN Women Executive Board in June. The strategic plan would take into consideration input from UN entities relating to future collaboration with UN Women. Ms. Dyfan said she was aware that the Committee and UN Women had already begun setting the ground work for future collaboration. An informal meeting took place at the last session regarding the elaboration of a general recommendation on women in armed conflict and post conflict situations, and another informal meeting was scheduled for 22 January 2011.

Ms. Dyfan concluded her remarks by saying that this session would be a busy one with seven reports, many of which were combined reports, several draft general recommendations, and eight lists of issues set for adoption during the pre-sessional working group, continued work on follow-up, and the communications and inquiries under the Optional Protocol. This session was also notable for its connection with the Committee on the Rights of the Child. In addition to the joint meeting on 29 January, they would also examine and hopefully adopt an outline for a draft joint general recommendation or comment on harmful practices. Ms. Dyfan said she very much looked forward to this endeavour coming to fruition, given the many ways in which violations of women’s rights continued to be justified by tradition and practice. Ms. Dyfan wished the Committee a successful and productive session.

NAELA GABR, Committee Chairperson, began her statement by highlighting some of the activities engaged in by herself and other Committee members since the last session. Ms. Gabr attended the International Istanbul Women’s Meeting in November 2010, which focused on violence, economic and social problems, and discrimination and inequality faced by women. The meeting was attended by numerous high level government officials, parliamentarians, members of the UN family, including UNDP, UNIFEM, UNFPA and UNESCO, other international organizations, non-governmental organizations, academia and the media.

Ms. Gabr said she also participated in her personal capacity at several conferences and meetings in the area of enhancing the human rights of women and the empowerment of women, namely the third conference of the Arab Women’s Organization in Tunisia in October 2010, the African Policy Dialogue Forum on Women, Peace and Security in Cairo in November 2010, and the International Forum Against Human Trafficking, held in Luxor in December 2010. Committee members had also been personally active in participating in panel discussions and seminars relating to women’s issues, including presenting papers at panel discussions, participating in Senate hearings regarding the ratification of CEDAW in the United States, participating in conferences in Ottawa, attending the Inter-Committee Meeting and attending the Minority Forum.

Ms. Gabr said the Committee had a full and interesting session, with the consideration of seven periodic reports as well as consideration of cases under the Optional Protocol to the Convention. The Committee would also discuss the draft general recommendation on the economic consequences of marriage and its dissolution, the joint CEDAW and Committee on the Rights of the Child general recommendation on harmful practices and the draft general recommendation on violence against women in armed conflict and post conflict situations among other matters. The Committee would also consider reports and information received under its follow-up procedure to concluding observations. They would also meet with non-governmental organizations, representatives of national human rights institutions and parts of the UN family. Ms. Gabr said she wanted to pay particular tribute to these stakeholders who provided such valuable input to their work.

Ms. Gabr said the election of a new Committee Chairperson would be her last official act as Chairperson and she thanked the Committee members for their support during her tenure.

SILVIA PIMENTEL, newly elected Committee Chairperson, said that it was a great honour for her to be elected Chairperson and she hoped that she would fulfil her two year mandate with competency and responsibility and that the Committee would move forward boldly and with strength. Ms. Pimentel said that tolerance was enough; the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women tried to go beyond tolerance to equality, peace and love.

Report of the Chairperson of the Pre-Session Working Group

VIOLETA NEUBAUER, Chairperson of the Pre-Session Working Group for the Forty-eighth Session, reporting on the activities of the Working Group, said that it had prepared lists of issues and questions with respect to the reports of Algeria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Israel, Kenya, Lichtenstein, South Africa and Sri Lanka.

To assist in the preparation of the lists of issues and questions, the pre-session Working Group had before it the reports of the eight States parties listed above, as well as the State party’s core document, if available; the general recommendations adopted by the Committee; background information and draft lists of issues and questions prepared by the Secretariat, based on an analytical comparison of current States parties’ reports, and the Committee’s discussion on earlier reports; and other relevant information, including concluding observations of the Committee and other treaty bodies. In preparing the list of issues and questions for periodic reports, the Pre-session Working Group paid particular attention to the States parties’ follow-up to the Committee’s concluding observations on previous reports.

The Pre-session Working Group benefited from written and oral information submitted by United Nations entities and specialized agencies. It also received written information from non-governmental organizations. Lists of issues and questions drawn up by the Working Group were transmitted to the States Parties concerned.

Report of the Rapporteur on Follow-up

DUBRAVKA ŠIMONOVIÆ, Rapporteur on Follow-up, said that since the last session, follow-up reports were received from Lithuania, Slovenia, Bahrain and Azerbaijan. Reminders would need to be sent to Belgium, Ecuador, El Salvador, Madagascar, Mongolia, Portugal and Uruguay. Second reminders would need to be sent to Iceland, Nigeria, Tanzania, Tuvalu and Yemen.

__________

For use of the information media; not an official record