Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination

against Women

Pre-session working group

Report of the pre-session working group on its fifty-sixth session (4–8 March 2013)

1.It is the practice of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to convene a pre-session 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 future sessions.

2.The Committee decided that the pre-session working group for the fifty-sixth session of the Committee would meet from 4 to 8 March 2013, immediately after the fifty-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, as well as to ensure their timely translation.

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

Ms. Barbara Bailey

Ms. Meriem Belmihoub-Zerdani

Ms. Violeta Neubauer

Ms. Maria Helena Pires

Ms. Patricia Schulz

4.The pre-session working group elected Ms. Bailey as its Chairperson.

5.The pre-session working group prepared lists of issues and questions with respect to the reports of Andorra, Benin, Cambodia, Colombia, the Republic of Moldova, Seychelles and Tajikistan. It also prepared a list of issues and questions with respect to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the absence of a report. In this regard, the pre-session working group was guided by the decision of the Committee, adopted at its forty-ninth session, to limit the lists of issues to 20 questions, with each question containing no more than three issues.

6.To assist in the preparation of the lists of issues and questions, the pre-session working group had before it the reports of the States parties listed above, as well as the States parties’ core documents; the general recommendations adopted by the Committee; background information and draft lists of issues and questions prepared by the Secretariat, based on an analytical comparison of current reports of States parties, and the Committee’s discussion on earlier reports; and other pertinent information, including concluding observations of the Committee and other treaty bodies, if relevant. In preparing the lists of issues and questions for periodic reports, the pre-session working group paid particular attention to the States parties’ follow-up to the Committee’s concluding observations on its previous reports.

7.The pre-session working group benefited from written and oral information submitted by United Nations entities and specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations.

8.Lists of issues and questions adopted by the pre-session 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 combined second and third periodic reports of Andorra (CEDAW/C/AND/Q/2-3);

(b)List of issues and questions in relation to the fourth periodic report of Benin (CEDAW/C/BEN/Q/4);

(c)List of issues and questions in relation to the combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of Cambodia (CEDAW/C/KHM/Q/4-5);

(d)List of issues and questions in relation to the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of Colombia (CEDAW/C/COL/Q/7-8);

(e)List of issues and questions in relation to the combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of the Republic of Moldova (CEDAW/C/MDA/Q/4-5);

(f)List of issues and questions in relation to the combined initial to fifth periodic reports of Seychelles (CEDAW/C/SYC/Q/1-5);

(g)List of issues and questions in relation to the combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of Tajikistan (CEDAW/C/TJK/Q/4-5);

(h)List of issues prepared in the absence of the combined fourth to eighth periodic reports of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (CEDAW/C/VCT/Q/4-8).

9.In accordance with Committee decisions 22/V, 25/II and 31/III, the lists of issues and questions focused on themes addressed by the Convention. These themes include, inter alia, the constitutional and legislative framework and national machinery for the advancement of women; gender stereotypes; violence against women, including domestic violence; trafficking in women and exploitation of prostitution; participation of women in decision-making; education and training; employment; health; social and economic benefits; rural women; the situation of disadvantaged groups of women, such as older women, women with disabilities, women belonging to ethnic minorities, and refugee and migrant women; equality before the law; and marriage and family relations.