Pre-sessional working group

Seventy-first session

12–16 March 2018

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 initial and periodic reports that will be considered by the Committee at one of its upcoming sessions.

2.The Committee decided that the pre-sessional working group for the seventy-first session of the Committee would meet from 12 to 16 March 2018, immediately after the sixty-ninth 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, as well as to ensure their timely translation.

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

Marion Bethel

Hilary Gbedemah

Rosario Manalo

Lia Nadaraia

Patricia Schulz

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

5.The pre-sessional working group prepared lists of issues and questions with regard to the reports of the Bahamas, the Congo, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Nepal, Samoa, Tajikistan and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. In that regard, it was guided by Committee decision 49/IX, according to which the Committee decided to limit such lists to 20 questions. In practice and exceptionally, some lists 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 reports of the States parties listed above, in addition to the core documents of those States parties, with the exception of the core documents of the Bahamas and Samoa; the general recommendations adopted by the Committee; draft lists of issues and questions 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 with regard to the States parties listed above.

8.The lists of issues and questions 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 the Bahamas (CEDAW/C/BHS/Q/6);

(b)List of issues and questions in relation to the seventh periodic report of the Congo (CEDAW/C/COG/Q/7);

(c)List of issues and questions in relation to the combined eighth and ninth periodic reports of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (CEDAW/C/LAO/Q/8-9);

(d)List of issues and questions in relation to the sixth periodic report of Nepal (CEDAW/C/NPL/Q/6);

(e)List of issues and questions in relation to the sixth periodic report of Samoa (CEDAW/C/WSM/Q/6);

(f)List of issues and questions in relation to the sixth periodic report of Tajikistan (CEDAW/C/TJK/Q/6);

(g)List of issues and questions in relation to the sixth periodic report of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (CEDAW/C/MKD/Q/6).

9.In accordance with Committee decisions 22/IV, 25/II and 31/III, the lists of issues and questions focused on themes addressed by the Convention, as well as on the linkages between relevant themes and target 5.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Those themes include the constitutional and legislative framework; access to justice; women and peace and security, where applicable; national machinery for the advancement of women; stereotypes and harmful practices; gender-based violence against women and girls, including domestic violence; trafficking in women and exploitation of prostitution; participation of women in decision-making; nationality; education and training; employment; health; economic and social life; rural women; the situation of disadvantaged groups of women, such as older women, women with disabilities, women in detention, indigenous women, women belonging to ethnic minorities, refugee women and migrant women, and lesbian, bisexual and transgender women and intersex persons; disaster risk reduction and climate change; equality before the law; and marriage and family relations.