Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Closes Eighty-Seventh Session in Geneva

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today closed its eighty-seventh session after adopting concluding observations on the reports of the Central African Republic, Djibouti, Greece, Italy, Niger, Oman, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

The concluding observations adopted by the Committee on the countries under review will soon be available on the session’s webpage.

In concluding remarks, Committee Chairperson Ana Peláez Narváez said that during the session, the Committee had considered the reports of eight States parties and adopted concluding observations on each. It also finalised the provisional concluding observations on the combined seventh to tenth periodic report of Nicaragua issued during the previous session, after no observations were received from the State party.  Further, the Committee adopted a list of issues prior to the submission of an exceptional report requested from the Democratic Republic of the Congo on conflict-related sexual violence in its eastern provinces.

Among the highlights of the session, Ms. Peláez Narváez said, was the adoption of the Committee’s report of inquiry 2019/1, which added significantly to the Committee’s jurisprudence on women’s access to sexual and reproductive health services and would be published after the expiry of the six-month period for the State party concerned to submit observations on the report.

The Committee also adopted important statements addressing the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan and on women, peace and security.  Progress had also been made on rationalising and harmonising working methods with other treaty bodies.

The Committee had endorsed a concept note for a future general recommendation prepared by its task force on gender stereotyping.  The Committee’s task force on gender and sex self-identification organised an informal virtual meeting with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls. The task force on Afghanistan had prepared the important statement on institutionalised violations of women’s human rights in Afghanistan, which could amount to gender persecution.  Further, the task force on Ukraine convened a virtual meeting with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine on the situation of women and girls in the context of the war in Ukraine.

Ms. Peláez Narváez expressed satisfaction that the Committee was able to deliver on its core mandates under the Convention and the Optional Protocol during the session.  Through the work of the Rapporteur and alternate Rapporteur on follow-up and the working group on communications, the Committee was able to also adopt three follow-up assessments and three final decisions on individual communications.

During the session, the Committee held exchanges and social events, including a reception and high-level technical meeting on a proposed second Optional Protocol to the Convention in relation to gender-based violence against women; informal virtual meetings with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls and the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar; an informal meeting with the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on that Committee’s draft general comment on the impact of drug policies on economic, social and cultural rights; and informal meetings with victims of armed conflict from both Israel and Palestine.

In closing, Ms. Peláez Narváez thanked all Committee Experts for their hard work during the session and acknowledged the active participation of country task force members in dialogues with States parties.  She also thanked the members of the Secretariat who had supported the Committee.

At the beginning of the meeting, Committee Rapporteur Marion Bethel presented the draft report of the session, which contained the draft report of the working group of the whole and the provisional agenda for the Committee’s eighty-eighth session.  The Committee adopted the report ad referendum.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women will hold its eighty-eighth session from 13 to 31 May 2024, during which it will review the reports of Brazil, El Salvador, Estonia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Montenegro, Republic of Korea, Rwanda and Singapore.