GENEVA (7 March 2016) – The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has published its findings on the following countries which it examined during its 15 February – 4 March session in Geneva:  Japan, Iceland, Sweden, Mongolia, Czech Republic, Vanuatu and Tanzania*.

The findings cover how the respective State is doing with regard to women’s rights, detailing positive developments, main areas of concern, and recommendations for action.  The findings, officially known as concluding observations, can be found here:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1007&Lang=en

CEDAW is composed of 23 international independent experts, who monitor implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, ratified to date by 189 States.

The Committee will next meet from 4 to 22 July in Geneva to review Albania, France, Mali, Myanmar, Philippines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey and Uruguay: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1019&Lang=en

ENDS

* CEDAW's concluding observations on Haiti, also reviewed during this session, will be published on 8 March.

For more information and media requests, please contact:  Liz Throssell ethrossell@ohchr.org / 41 22 917 94 66 or 41 79 752 0488

Background

CEDAW members are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. The Committee’s concluding observations are an independent assessment of States’ compliance with their human rights obligations under the treaty. More information:
http://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/cedaw/pages/cedawindex.aspx

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