The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women concluded on 4 February its forty-eighth session, adopting concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Bangladesh, Belarus, Israel, Kenya, Lichtenstein, South Africa and Sri Lanka, the seven countries it examined at this session. During this session the Committee also welcomed five new members who were formally inducted during this session, as well as elected a new bureau.
The concluding observations for the seven countries whose reports were examined welcome steps taken by the Governments with regard to the promotion and protection of the rights of women in the respective countries, express a number of concerns by the Committee and also contain recommendations on how the countries can address these issues.
With regards to the report of Bangladesh, the Committee noted with satisfaction that the State party had adopted a number of policies, programmes and plans of action to promote gender equality and eliminate discrimination against women. While commending the State party for the range of efforts to address violence against women, the Committee remained concerned that the prevalence of violence against women and girls, including domestic violence, rape, acid throwing, dowry-related violence, fatwa-instigated violence, and sexual harassment in the workplace persisted in the country.
With respect to Belarus, the Committee noted with appreciation the measures adopted by the State party to prevent and combat trafficking in human beings, in particular women and girls. The Committee reiterated its grave concern about the persistence of violence against women, in particular domestic and sexual violence; its underreporting; the high number of women killed as a result of domestic violence; the lack of prosecution of violence within the family; the fact that rape was subject to private rather than ex officio prosecution; the absence of separate criminal law provisions on domestic violence and marital rape; and the lack of shelters for victims of domestic violence.
After reviewing the reports of Israel, the Committee noted with appreciation the significant law reform undertaken since 2005 aimed at the promotion of gender equality and elimination of discrimination against women and at achieving compliance with the obligations under the Convention. The Committee noted with deep concern that Palestinian women and girls continued to suffer from violent attacks from both State and non-State actors and it urged the State party to take immediate action to prevent human rights abuses and violations against women and girls in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and to protect them against such acts.
The Committee welcomed the fact that the new Constitution required the repeal of many discriminatory provisions which existed in the former Constitution as well as the application of the Constitution's guarantee of non-discrimination with respect to all laws, including those in the areas of marriage, divorce, adoption, burial and succession. It noted with deep concern that Kenya continued to face a serious HIV/AIDS epidemic and that women and girls were disproportionately affected by HIV and called upon Kenya to take continued and sustained measures to address the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls.
The Committee commended Lichtenstein for the implementation of a project aimed at reducing exploitative relationships in the night club sector and providing potential victims of human trafficking with access to counselling and victim assistance programmes, and projects to raise awareness about trafficking in women among the general public. It remained concerned about the persistence of patriarchal stereotypes in Liechtenstein and it urged Liechtenstein to further strengthen its efforts to put in place a comprehensive policy targeted at women and men, girls and boys, to overcome stereotypical attitudes about the roles and responsibilities of women and men in the family and in society.
After considering the report of South Africa the Committee noted with satisfaction that the State party had adopted a number of policies, programmes and plans of action to promote gender equality and eliminate discrimination against women. It expressed grave concern about reported sexual offences and murder committed against women on account of their sexual orientation and about the practice of so called "corrective rape" of lesbians. The Committee called on South Africa to provide effective protection from violence and discrimination against women based on their sexual orientation through the enactment of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation.
After reviewing the report of Sri Lanka, the Committee commended the State party's commitment to elaborate a National Action Plan for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights including a Thematic Action Plan on Women. It remained deeply concerned about reports of gross violations of the human rights of women during and after the conflict in the country, particularly the Tamil minority group, internally displaced women and female ex-combatants. The Committee urged Sri Lanka to promptly investigate, prosecute and punish all acts of violence, including acts of sexual violence, perpetrated by private actors as well as by the armed forces, the Police and militant groups.
The seven countries whose reports were examined at the present session are among the 186 States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. In ratifying the Convention, these States commit to submitting regular reports to the Committee on how they are implementing the Convention's provisions. Following an examination of those reports, in the presence of delegations from the States parties, the Committee adopted, in private session, concluding observations and recommendations for each report, contained in the following documents: for Bangladesh, CEDAW/C/BGD/CO/7; for Belarus CEDAW/C/BLR/CO/7; for Israel CEDAW/C/ISR/CO/5; for Kenya CEDAW/C/KEN/CO/7; for Lichtenstein CEDAW/C/LIE/CO/4; for South Africa CEDAW/C/ZAF/CO/4 and for Sri Lanka CEDAW/C/LKA/CO/7. These documents can be found on the Committee's Web page in their entirety at the following link: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/cedaws48.htm.
In her closing statement, Silvia Pimentel, Chairperson of the Committee, summed up the work accomplished by the Committee during the session. The Committee had considered the reports of seven States parties and held informal meetings with entities of the UN System, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations. Committee members also attended several lunchtime briefings organized by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and they were very pleased by the high level of attendance of NGOs, both international and national, which once again made a significant contribution to the work of the Committee. The Committee was thankful to those United Nations entities which had provided it with detailed information and she encouraged these entities and NGOs to deepen their advocacy for the promotion and protection of women's human rights and the implementation of the Convention.
Ms. Pimentel said the Committee held fruitful dialogues with a number of people, including the Special Rapporteur for the human rights of internally displaced persons, the Director of the Special Procedures branch of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and representatives from UN Women, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children.
The Committee also further elaborated the draft general recommendation on the dissolution of marriage and its economic consequences and members of a working group on women in situations of armed conflict were confirmed and preliminary work began on the draft general recommendation relating to that issue. The Committee also continued work on the joint general recommendation on harmful practices with the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and met with that Committee and its working group during the session. The Committee agreed with the draft outline proposed by the joint working group and authorized the CEDAW working group to commence drafting the general recommendation on harmful practices with the CRC working group.
Ms. Pimentel said the Committee also adopted the report of the Rapporteur on follow-up. In this regard, the Committee considered follow-up information provided by States with respect to the implementation of the Convention. She also extended her congratulations and appreciation to the States parties that engaged in excellent, constructive dialogues with the Committee. Many of the States sent high level delegations and this allowed them to examine in great detail the current status of the implementation of the Convention in the respective countries. They identified gaps and challenges and the Committee Experts together with representatives sought to identify strategies for further action and to find solutions to the challenges of persistent discrimination. These dialogues confirmed the importance of regular and timely reporting and consideration so as to ensure a consistent monitoring of progress. In all cases, the Committee recommended that the Convention form the basis for States parties' efforts aimed at achieving gender equality.
The next session of the Committee will be held in New York from 11 to 29 July 2011, during which it will consider the reports of Costa Rica, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Italy, Nepal, Republic of Korea, Singapore and Zambia.
The Committee members are: Ayse Feride Acar (Turkey); Nicole Ameline (France); Magalys Arocha Dominguez (Cuba); Violet Tsisiga Awori (Kenya); Barbara Evelyn Bailey (Jamaica); Olinda Bareiro-Bobadilla (Paraguay); Meriem Belmihoub-Zerdani (Algeria); Niklas Bruun (Finland); Naela Mohamed Gabr (Egypt); Ruth Halperin-Kaddari (Israel); Yoko Hayashi (Japan); Ismat Jahan (Bangladesh); Indira Jaising (India); Maria Helena Lopes de Jesus Pires (Timor Leste); Soledad Murillo de la Vega (Spain); Violeta Neubauer (Slovenia); Pramila Patten (Mauritius); Silvia Pimentel (Brazil); Victoria Popescu (Romania); Zohra Rasekh (Afghanistan); Patricia Schulz (Switzerland); Dubravka Šimonoviæ (Croatia); and Zou Xiaoqiao (China). Ms. Silvia Pimentel is the Chairperson; Ms. Ameline, Ms. Popescu and Ms. Rasekh are Vice Chairpersons; and Ms. Awori is Rapporteur.
To read the report, please click here