Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Eighty-seventh session

Summary record of the 2058th meeting*

Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on Friday, 16 February 2024, at 5 p.m.

Chair:Ms. Peláez Narváez

Contents

Adoption of the report of the Committee on its eighty-seventh session

Provisional agenda for the eighty-eighth session of the Committee

Statement by the Chair

Closure of the session

The meeting was called to order at 5.35 p.m.

Adoption of the report of the Committee on its eighty-seventh session

Provisional agenda for the eighty-eighth session of the Committee

Ms. Bethel (Rapporteur) said that she had the honour of introducing the Committee’s draft report on its eighty-seventh session, which was contained in document CEDAW/C/2024/I/L.1. She wished to draw attention to chapters II and III.

The Chair said she took it that the Committee wished to adopt those chapters.

It was so decided.

Ms. Bethel (Rapporteur) said that she also wished to draw attention to chapters I and IV to VII of the Committee’s draft report and to chapter VIII, which contained the provisional agenda for the eighty-eighth session. Chapters VI and VII contained the draft report of the Working Group of the Whole, which described the action taken by the Committee for the implementation of article 21 of the Convention and ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee.

The Chair said she took it that the Committee wished to adopt the report of the eighty‑seventh session in its entirety, including the provisional agenda for the eighty-eighth session.

It was so decided.

The draft report of the Committee on its eighty- seventh session, as a whole, was adopted.

Statement by the Chair

The Chair said that, during the session, the Committee had considered eight State party reports and adopted concluding observations on those reports. It had decided to make final its provisional concluding observations on the combined seventh to tenth periodic reports of Nicaragua, which had been adopted at the previous session, and had adopted a list of issues prior to the submission of the exceptional report that it had requested from the Democratic Republic of the Congo on conflict-related sexual violence in the State party’s eastern provinces.

The Committee had held informal meetings with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and national human rights institutions (NHRIs). It was regrettable that the servicing of hybrid and remote meetings on online platforms had been discontinued by the United Nations Office at Geneva as such meetings had facilitated access to the Committee’s work for NGOs and other stakeholders. However, she was pleased by the high level of engagement of NGOs from all the States parties reviewed during the session and by the briefings given to the Committee by two NHRIs. International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific had coordinated the country-specific briefings by NGOs, which, once again, had made significant contributions to the work of the Committee. Fundación CERMI Mujeres had played an important role in providing subtitling services for the Committee’s informal meetings with NGOs and NHRIs.

Thanks were due to the United Nations entities and other intergovernmental bodies that had provided the Committee with detailed information, including the inter-agency group on reporting to the Committee. Useful contributions had also been made by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. A number of United Nations country teams had submitted their reports through the inter-agency group and two country teams had briefed the Committee via pre-recorded video statements.

Among the highlights of the session was the adoption of the report on inquiry 2019/1, which added significantly to the Committee’s jurisprudence on women’s access to sexual and reproductive health services. Congratulations were due to Ms. Tisheva, the Committee member responsible for the Inquiry, for her excellent work. It was gratifying to note that the Committee had adopted a number of important statements, including statements on the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan and the situation of women and girls in the Gaza Strip.

She welcomed the progress made in rationalizing and harmonizing the Committee’s working methods and wished to thank the Chair of the Working Group on Working Methods, Ms. Ameline, and the Vice-Chair of the Group, Ms. Akizuki, for their excellent work in ensuring the confidentiality of the documents handled by the Committee. The Committee’s working group on gender-based violence against women, which was chaired by Ms. Tisheva, had taken steps to advance the agenda of the Platform of Independent Expert Mechanisms on the Elimination of Discrimination and Violence against Women, which, from 1 March 2024, for a period of one year, would be co-chaired by the Committee and the Follow-up Mechanism to the Belém do Pará Convention.

The Committee’s working group on the equal and inclusive participation of women in decision-making systems, which was chaired by Ms. Ameline, had made important progress in reviewing the first draft of the general recommendation on the subject, which would shortly be published on the website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, with a call for comments. The working group had also refined the road map setting out the path to the adoption of the general recommendation in October 2024, which included regional consultations with experts and an initial reading of the draft at the Committee’s eighty-eighth session in May 2024.

She wished to thank the task force on a future general recommendation on gender stereotyping, led by Ms. Bethel and Ms. Rana, whose concept note for the general recommendation had been endorsed by the Committee earlier that day. Thanks were also due to Ms. Ameline, the focal point for the Sustainable Development Goals, for having prepared the Committee’s excellent contribution to the 2024 high-level political forum on sustainable development.

The task force on gender/sex self-identification had organized an informal online meeting with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, at which the Special Rapporteur had spoken about the risk of sex-based rights and language being erased and her forthcoming report to the Human Rights Council on child custody and violence against women and girls.

The Committee’s task force on Afghanistan, under the leadership of Ms. Rana, had prepared an important statement on institutionalized violations of women’s human rights in Afghanistan that might amount to gender-based persecution. The Committee had adopted the statement earlier in the week. The Committee’s task force on Ukraine had organized an online meeting with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, which had briefed the task force on the situation of women and girls in that country.

She wished to thank Ms. Stott Despoja and Ms. Akia for their work on follow-up, which had enabled the Committee to adopt three follow-up assessments. Gratitude was also due to the Working Group on Communications, whose efforts had enabled the Committee to adopt three final decisions on individual communications. The Working Group on Inquiries had carried out several follow-up assessments of inquiry proceedings and had submitted a number of requests for country visits within the framework of such proceedings.

During the session, the Committee had participated in a number of fruitful exchanges and social events, including a high-level technical meeting on a proposed second optional protocol to the Convention, relating to gender-based violence against women. The Committee had held informal online meetings with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. It had participated in an informal meeting with the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, hosted by the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. The Committee had also held informal meetings with the Chair of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and victims from both sides of the armed conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Closure of the session

Following the customary exchange of courtesies, the Chair declared the eighty‑seventh session closed.

The meeting rose at 6 p.m.