COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATIONOF RACIAL DISCRIMINATIONSeventy- fourth sessionGeneva, 16 February-6March 2009

PROVISIONAL AGENDA AND ANNOTATIONS

Note by the Secretary‑General

1.The seventy-fourth session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination will be held at the United Nations Office in Geneva from 16 February to 6 March 2009. The first meeting of the session will be convened at 10 a.m., on Monday 16 February 2009.

2.This document contains the provisional agenda for the session, prepared by the Secretary‑General in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee in accordance with rule 6 of the rules of procedure, together with annotations relating thereto.

3.The attention of States parties is drawn, in particular, to the annotations to item 4 and to the annex, which contains a tentative timetable for the consideration of reports and further information submitted by States parties and for the consideration of States parties whose reports are seriously overdue, pursuant to the review procedure.

4.In accordance with rule 64 of the rules of procedure, the representatives of the States parties are invited to be present at the meetings of the Committee when their reports are examined.

PROVISIONAL AGENDA

Adoption of the agenda.

2.Filling of casual vacancy.

3.Organizational and other matters.

4.Prevention of racial discrimination, including early warning measures and urgent action procedures.

5.Consideration of reports, comments and information submitted by States parties under article 9 of the Convention.

6.Submission of reports by States parties under article 9, paragraph 1, of the Convention.

7.Consideration of communications under article 14 of the Convention.

8.Follow-up procedure.

9.Follow-up to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.

10.Universal Periodic Review Procedure of the Human Rights Council.

ANNOTATIONS TO THE PROVISIONAL AGENDA

1. Adoption of the agenda

Under rule 8 of the rules of procedure, the first item on the provisional agenda of any session shall be the adoption of the agenda, except for the election of the officers when required under rule 15. In accordance with rule 9, the Committee may revise the agenda during a session and may, as appropriate, add, defer, or delete items.

2. Filling of casual vacancy

In accordance with rule 13 of the rules of procedure, following the resignation of a member, the name of the expert appointed by the concerned States parties from among their nationals to serve for the remainder of their predecessors’ term will be submitted to the Committee for approval.

3.Organizational and other matters

Under this item, the Committee will consider its programme of work for the seventy-fourth session. It will also discuss a draft text for general recommendation No. 32 on special measures within the meaning of article 1, paragraph 4, and article 2, paragraph 2, of the Convention

4. Prevention of racial discrimination, including early warning measures and urgent action procedures

The Committee decided at its forty-fifth session to establish this item as one of its regular and principal agenda items. Within the framework of its efforts to prevent racial discrimination, the Committee may decide to take early warning measures aimed at preventing existing problems from escalating into conflicts or it may decide to initiate urgent action procedures aimed at responding to problems requiring immediate attention to prevent or limit the scale or number of serious violations of the Convention.

5.Consideration of reports, comments and information submitted by States parties under article 9 of the Convention

At its seventy-fourth session, the Committee will consider initial and periodic reports received from the following States parties: Bulgaria, Congo, Croatia, Finland, Montenegro, Pakistan, Suriname, Tunisia and Turkey It will also undertake a review of the implementation of the Convention in the following States parties for which periodic reports are seriously overdue: the Gambia and Panama.

In pursuance of established practice and in conformity with rule 64 of the rules of procedure, the Secretary-General has informed the States parties concerned of the tentative dates on which their reports are scheduled for consideration by the Committee. The scheduling of the consideration of reports submitted and the review of the implementation of the Convention in States parties whose reports are excessively overdue is set forth in the annexed timetable.

6. Submission of reports by States parties under article 9, paragraph 1, of the Convention

At its seventy-fourth session, the Committee will have before it a note by the Secretary‑General concerning the status of submission of reports by States parties in accordance with article 9 of the Convention (CERD/C/74/2). Part A of that document lists the reports received from States parties and pending consideration by the Committee. Part B of the document contains information relating to overdue reports.

7. Consideration of communications under article 14 of the Convention

In accordance with the provisions of chapter XVIII of its rules of procedure, the Committee will consider under this item communications which are submitted to it under article 14 of the Convention.

In accordance with rule 88 of the rules of procedure, the meetings of the Committee during which communications under article 14 of the Convention are examined shall be closed.

8. Follow-up procedure

In accordance with the provisions of article 65 of its rules of procedure, the Committee will consider under this item follow-up information submitted by States parties in relation to the observations and recommendations of the Committee.

9. Follow-up to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance

The Secretariat will brief the Committee on follow-up activities to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.

10. Universal Periodic Review Procedure of the Human Rights Council

In accordance with a decision taken at its seventy-third session, the Committee will consider under this item matters related to the Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council.

Annex

Tentative timetable for consideration of reports, comments and further information submitted by statEs parties and for consideration of StatEs parties whose reports are seriously overdue pursuant to the review procedure

The following timetable has been drawn up by the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Chairman, taking into account the relevant decisions taken by the Committee at its seventy-fourth session.

Monday, 16 February 2009		(1903rd and 1904th meetings)
a.m.		Dialogue with United Nations bodies, specializedagencies and other competent bodies
p.m.	Tunisia	Combined eighteenth and nineteenth periodic reports (CERD/C/TUN/19)
Tuesday, 17 February 2009		(1905th and 1906th meetings)
a.m.	Tunisia	(continued)
p.m.	Bulgaria	Combined fifteenth to nineteenth periodic reports (CERD/C/BGR/19)
Wednesday, 18 February 2009		(1907th and 1908th meetings)
a.m.	Bulgaria	(continued)
p.m.	Congo	Combined initial to ninth periodic reports (CERD/C/COG/9)
Thursday, 19 February 2009		(1909th and 1910th meetings)
a.m.	Congo	(continued)
p.m.	Pakistan	Combined fifteenth to twentieth periodic reports (CERD/C/PAK/20)
Friday, 20 February 2009		(1911th and 1912th meetings)
a.m.	Pakistan	(continued)
p.m.
Monday, 23 February 2009		(1913th and 1914th meetings)
a.m.
p.m.	Turkey	Combined initial to third periodic reports (CERD/C/TUR/3)
Tuesday, 24 February 2009		(1915th and 1916th meetings)
a.m.	Turkey	(continued)
p.m.	Suriname	Combined eleventh and twelfth periodic reports (CERD/C/SUR/12)
Wednesday, 25 February 2009		(1917th and 1918th meetings)
a.m.	Suriname	(continued)
p.m.	Finland	Combined seventeenth to nineteenth periodic reports (CERD/C/FIN/19)
Thursday, 26 February 2009		(1919th and1920th meetings)
a.m.	Finland	(continued)
p.m.	Croatia	Combined sixth to eighth periodic reports (CERD/C/HRV/8)
Friday, 27 February 2008		(1921st and 1922nd meetings)
a.m.	Croatia	(continued)
p.m.		The Gambia / Panama a (review countries) Early warning and urgent action procedures
Monday, 2 March 2009		(1923rd and 1924th meetings)
a.m.		Follow-up procedure Consideration of individual communications
p.m.	Montenegro	Initial report (CERD/C/MNE/1)
Tuesday, 3 March 2009		1925th meeting
a.m.	Montenegro	(continued)

Note

a Review procedure (for States parties whose reports are seriously overdue).

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