Twenty-seventh session

Summary record of the 567th meeting

Held at Headquarters, New York, on Friday, 21 June 2002, at 3 p.m.

Chairperson:Ms. Abaka

Contents

Adoption of the provisional agenda for the exceptional session and for the twenty-eighth session

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

Statement by the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women

Closure of the session

The meeting was called to order at 5.25 p.m.

Adoption of the provisional agenda for the exceptional session and for the twenty-eighth session

1.The Chairperson said she took it that the Committee wished to adopt the provisional agenda for the exceptional session.

2.The provisional agenda for the exceptional session was adopted.

3.The Chairperson said she took it that the Committee wished to adopt the provisional agenda for the twenty-eighth session.

4.The provisional agenda for the twenty-eighth session was adopted.

Adoption of the report of the Committee on its twenty-seventh session (CEDAW/C/2002/II/L.1; CEDAW/C/2002/CRP.3 and Add.1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6)

5.Ms. Shin pointed out that one name had been omitted from the report and should be included.

6.Ms. Hazelle (Rapporteur) said that, at its informal seminar in Lund, the Committee had already endorsed many of the decisions contained in the report, as well as the decisions on the report of the Optional Protocol Working Group and on the reports on the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance and on the Second World Assembly on Ageing. Those decisions also included decisions on the Committee’s revised reporting guidelines and amendments to its format for concluding comments.

7.The Chairperson suggested that the Committee should adopt the decisions on agenda items 5 and 6.

8.The decisions on agenda items 5 and 6 were adopted.

9.The report on the twenty-seventh session was adopted in its entirety.

Statement by the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women

10.Ms. King (Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women) said that the vibrant and constructive dialogue between Governments and members was helping to enhance implementation of the Convention at the domestic level. The Committee had made significant improvements to its working methods. In that connection, she was pleased that the new reporting guidelines incorporated the suggestion of the Consultative Committee on Administrative Questions (Financial and Budgetary Questions) that States parties should be encouraged to submit more succinct reports. At the same time, the modification of the format of concluding comments would make them a more effective tool in the quest to achieve comprehensive domestic implementation.

11.The informal meeting of States parties had been a distinct highlight of the session; the provocative dialogue between representatives of States parties and members of the Committee had testified to the importance of the Convention and the greater visibility of the Committee. Several States which were not parties to the Convention had shown interest in the informal meeting and she therefore welcomed the Committee’s intention to convene a similar informal meeting with those States in January 2003. The Committee’s informal seminar in Lund had been a useful preparation for those Committee members who would be attending the first joint meeting on working methods and she looked forward to receiving feedback from the Committee on that meeting.

12.Turning to the question of cooperation between the Division for the Advancement of Women and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in regard to communications, she said she was confident that, once the time needed for the exhaustion of domestic remedies had elapsed, the Committee would receive many communications. It was therefore critical that the Optional Protocol Working Group should lay solid foundations for their examination. Her office would provide support by improving the database for communications and devising outreach activities related to the Convention.

13.She welcomed the decision to convene an exceptional session, which would clear the backlog of reports and allow the Committee to address the challenges facing States parties with regard to reporting. Her office was always looking for new ways to assist the Committee and it would be grateful for any thoughts members might have on that subject.

Closure of the session

14.The Chairperson said that the session had been very successful, in particular the meeting with States parties, which had helped to convey the message that presenting a report to the Committee was not like appearing before a tribunal. She declared the twenty-seventh session of the Committee closed.

The meeting rose at 5.45 p.m.