Twenty-second session
Summary record of the 466th meeting
Held at Headquarters, New York, on Friday, 4 February 2000, at 4 p.m.
Chairperson:Ms. González
Contents
Adoption of the report of the Committee on its twenty-second session
Provisional agenda for the twenty-third session
Closure of the session
The meeting was called to order at 4:55 p.m .
Adoption of the report of the Committee on its twenty-second session (CEDAW/C/2000/I/L.1 and CEDAW/C/2000/I/CRP.3 and Add.1-9)
1.The draft report of the Committee on its twenty-second session, as contained in documents CEDAW/C/2000/I/L.1 and CEDAW/C/2000/I/CRP.3 and Add.1-9, as orally amended, was adopted.
Provisional agenda for the twenty-third session
2.The provisional agenda for the twenty-third session was adopted.
Closure of the session
3.Ms. King (Assistant Secretary-General, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women) said that the new format of interactive dialogue in considering States’ periodic reports had been well received by the reporting States and had added a vibrant and constructive dimension to the Committee’s work.
4.She was gratified that Committee members had been able to attend the Security Council meetings on the Democratic Republic of the Congo that had coincided with the Committee’s consideration of that country’s reports, and regretted that Security Council members had not attended the Committee’s meetings. In view of the Committee’s growing reputation and authority, such a development might come about in the not too distant future.
5.In addition to reviewing the reports — in many cases multiple reports — of eight States parties, the Committee had readied its revised draft rules of procedure for finalization at the next session, clearing the way for the formulation of rules and procedures for the implementation of the Optional Protocol. The Division for the Advancement of Women and the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women were already considering the technical aspects of implementing the Optional Protocol and would provide support to Ms. Cartwright, the Committee member responsible for developing proposals on working methods with regard to the Protocol.
6.With the added burden of considering communications under the Optional Protocol, it would no longer be possible for the Division to provide adequate support for the Committee’s sessions out of existing resources. Committee members should help to convince their Permanent Missions that additional resources needed to be allocated under the regular budget.
7.She was pleased that the Committee had adopted a statement (CEDAW/C/2000/I/CRP.3/Add.9) on the links between the Convention and the Beijing Platform for Action. She urged members of the Committee, collectively and individually, to involve themselves closely in preparations for the special session of the General Assembly, entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”, to be convened in June 2000. They should convey their views to their regional Groups and Permanent Missions, and perhaps also to the meeting of the preparatory committee to be held in New York in March, in order to ensure that a rights-based approach to gender equality was reflected in the document to be adopted at the special session.
8.As key members of the international community, Committee members had a duty, on returning home, to brief their Heads of State, foreign ministers, ministers of women’s affairs, national machinery and non-governmental organizations on preparations for the special session. They might wish to highlight the aspects most relevant to their own regions in press conferences or encounters with journalists. They should encourage participation at the highest level, by both men and women, at the special session in order to give gender the priority it deserved.
9.In response to questions, she assured the Committee that, as part of the publicity for the special session, the Office of the Special Adviser, the Division for the Advancement of Women and the Department of Public Information were planning to produce sound clips on the Beijing Platform for Action and the Convention for broadcasting via radio stations. Any ideas for such spots would be welcome.
10.The Chairperson said that the changes in the Committee’s procedure for considering States parties’ reports had made the Committee more aware of the situation in reporting countries, their Governments’ efforts to implement the Convention and the role played by non-governmental organizations to that end.
11.In addition to the adoption of revised rules of procedure, the twenty-third session would present the Committee with the further challenge of adopting procedures for the implementation of the Optional Protocol, for which Ms. Cartwright was preparing a working paper. Little more than a month after its adoption, the Protocol had already been signed by 24 countries. She agreed fully that the new responsibilities associated with the Protocol would place a considerable burden on the Division for the Advancement of Women and that additional resources must be allocated specifically for that purpose from the regular budget.
12.Taking note of preparations for the special session of the General Assembly to be held in June 2000, the Committee had taken a decision, which would appear in the final report of its twenty-second session, stressing that the Convention provided the legal framework for the Beijing Platform for Action and for any fresh initiatives that might be taken to achieve gender equality.
13.She declared the twenty-second session of the Committee closed.