Pre-sessional working group

Eighty-sixth session

27 February–3 March 2023

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

Report of the pre-sessional working group

1.It is the practice of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to convene a pre-sessional working group for five days to prepare lists of issues and questions relating to the periodic reports that will be considered by the Committee at an upcoming session.

2.The Committee decided that the pre-sessional working group for its eighty-sixth session would meet from 27 February to 3 March 2023, immediately after the eighty-fourth session, in order to ensure that sufficient time would be available to States parties to submit their written replies to the lists of issues and questions and to ensure their timely translation.

3.The following experts were designated as members of the pre-sessional working group and attended the session:

Leticia Bonifaz Alfonzo

Corinne Dettmeijer-Vermeulen

Hilary Gbedemah

Bandana Rana

Elgun Safarov

4.The pre-sessional working group elected Ms. Bonifaz Alfonzo as its Chair.

5.The pre-sessional working group prepared lists of issues and questions in relation to the reports of Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, the Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka, in addition to lists of issues and questions prior to the submission of the reports of Argentina, Australia and Trinidad and Tobago under the simplified reporting procedure. The pre-sessional working group was guided by Committee decisions 49/IX, 59/IV and 64/II, according to which the Committee decided to limit lists of issues and questions and lists of issues and questions prior to reporting to 20 and 25 paragraphs, respectively. However, in practice and exceptionally, some lists of issues and questions contain a maximum of 23 paragraphs.

6.To assist in the preparation of the lists of issues and questions, the pre-sessional working group had at its disposal electronic versions of the core documents of the States parties listed above. It also had at its disposal the reports of the States parties listed above, with the exception of Argentina, Australia and Trinidad and Tobago, which will submit their periodic reports in response to the lists of issues and questions prior to reporting. It further had before it the general recommendations adopted by the Committee; draft lists of issues and questions and lists of issues and questions prior to reporting prepared by the secretariat; and other pertinent information, including concluding observations of the Committee and other treaty bodies, as relevant. In preparing the lists, the pre-sessional working group paid particular attention to the States parties’ follow-up to the concluding observations of the Committee on their previous reports.

7.The pre-sessional working group benefited from written and oral information submitted by entities of the United Nations system and non-governmental organizations, as well as by national human rights institutions, with regard to the States parties listed above.

8.The lists of issues and questions and lists of issues and questions prior to reporting adopted by the pre-sessional working group were transmitted to the States parties concerned and are contained in the following documents:

(a)List of issues and questions in relation to the sixth periodic report of Kuwait (CEDAW/C/KWT/Q/6);

(b)List of issues and questions in relation to the sixth periodic report of Malaysia (CEDAW/C/MYS/Q/6);

(c)List of issues and questions in relation to the fourth periodic report of Oman (CEDAW/C/OMN/Q/4);

(d)List of issues and questions in relation to the ninth periodic report of the Republic of Korea (CEDAW/C/KOR/Q/9);

(e)List of issues and questions in relation to the ninth periodic report of Sri Lanka (CEDAW/C/LKA/Q/9);

(f)List of issues and questions prior to the submission of the eighth periodic report of Argentina (CEDAW/C/ARG/QPR/8);

(g)List of issues and questions prior to the submission of the ninth periodic report of Australia (CEDAW/C/AUS/QPR/9);

(h)List of issues and questions prior to the submission of the eighth periodic report of Trinidad and Tobago (CEDAW/C/TTO/QPR/8).

9.In accordance with Committee decisions 22/IV, 25/II and 31/III, the lists of issues and questions were focused on themes addressed by the Convention, as well as on the linkages between relevant themes and the Sustainable Development Goals. Those themes included the constitutional and legislative framework and the definition of discrimination against women; withdrawal of reservations to the Convention; the legal status of the Convention; the visibility of the Convention and the Optional Protocol thereto; women’s rights and gender equality in relation to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, recovery efforts and global crises; women’s access to justice; women and peace and security, including transitional justice mechanisms; extraterritorial State obligations; national machineries for the advancement of women; national human rights institutions; temporary special measures for the advancement of women; stereotypes and harmful practices; gender-based violence against women and girls; trafficking in women and girls and exploitation of prostitution; the equal participation of women in political and public life; nationality; foreign women married to nationals; education; employment; sexual harassment in the workplace; health; economic empowerment and social benefits; climate change and disaster risk reduction; rural women; equality in marriage and family relations; and intersecting forms of discrimination faced by disadvantaged groups of women, such as older women, widows, women heads of household, women with disabilities, Indigenous women, women of African descent, women belonging to other ethnic or religious minority groups, women in detention, including women facing the death penalty, women human rights defenders, internally displaced women, migrant women, including women migrant domestic workers, asylum-seeking, refugee and stateless women, women of foreign origin and lesbian, bisexual and transgender women and intersex persons.