Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Eighty-eighth session
Summary record of the 2088th meeting*
Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on Friday, 31 May 2024, at 3 p.m.
Chair:Ms. Peláez Narváez
Contents
Adoption of the report of the Committee on its eighty-eighth session
Provisional agenda for the eighty-ninth session of the Committee
Statement by the Chair
Closure of the session
The meeting was called to order at 4.05 p.m.
Adoption of the report of the Committee on its eighty-eighth session
Provisional agenda for the eighty-ninth session of the Committee
1.Ms. Bethel (Rapporteur) said that she had the honour of introducing the Committee’s draft report on its eighty-eighth session, which was contained in document CEDAW/C/2024/II/L.1. She wished to draw attention to chapters II and III.
2.T he Chair said she took it that the Committee wished to adopt those chapters.
3. It was so decided.
4.Ms. Bethel (Rapporteur) said that she also wished to draw attention to chapters I andIV to VII of the Committee’s draft report and to chapter VIII, which contained the provisional agenda for the eighty-ninth session. Chapters VI and VII contained the draft report of the Working Group of the Whole, which described the action taken by the Committee for the implementation of article 21 of the Convention and ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee.
5.The Chair said she took it that the Committee wished to adopt the report of the eighty-eighth session in its entirety, including the provisional agenda for the eighty-ninthsession.
6. It was so decided.
7. The draft report of the Committee on its eighty-eighth session , as a whole, was adopted.
Statement by the Chair
8.The Chair said that, during the session, the Committee had considered eight State party reports and adopted concluding observations on those reports. It had decided to explore the possibility of considering the fourth periodic report of Afghanistan, once that report had been submitted by the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations Office at Geneva. The Committee had held informal meetings with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and national human rights institutions and attended lunchtime briefings organized by NGOs. It had been pleased by the high level of engagement of numerous NGOs and two national human rights institutions.
9.International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific had coordinated the country-specific briefings by NGOs, which had once again made significant contributions to the Committee’s work. Thanks were due to the United Nations entities and other intergovernmental bodies that had provided the Committee with detailed information, including the inter-agency group on reporting to the Committee. A number of United Nations country teams had contributed their reports through the inter-agency group.
10.One of the highlights of the session had been the first reading of the Committee’s draft general recommendation No. 40 on the equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making systems. A significant number of States parties had attended the technical briefing on the draft general recommendation held on 28 May 2024. She was pleased to note that work had begun on planning a future general recommendation on gender stereotyping, in connection with which a half-day of general discussion would be held at the Committee’s ninetieth session in February 2025. The Committee had adopted two important statements during the session, one calling for peace between the Russian Federation and Ukraine and another relating to a bill proposing to decriminalize female genital mutilation in the Gambia, which posed a serious threat to the rights and dignity of women and girls in that country.
11.She welcomed the progress made in rationalizing and harmonizing the Committee’s working methods and wished to thank the chair of the Working Group on Working Methods, Ms. Ameline, and the Vice-Chair of the Group, Ms. Akizuki, for their excellent work in enhancing the methods used to conduct constructive dialogues with States parties. The working group on gender-based violence against women, chaired by Ms. Tisheva, had overseen the development of research papers on conflict-related sexual violence and online and technology-facilitated gender-based violence against women. At the Committee’s forthcoming session, the task force on gender/sex self-identification, chaired by Ms. Hacker, would give a briefing on that subject and produce a report setting out an overview of the salient issues.
12.The task force on Afghanistan, chaired by Ms. Rana, had held a remote meeting with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan to discuss the increasingly alarming situation of women and girls in that country. The task force on Ukraine, chaired by Mr. Safarov, had drafted an excellent statement calling for an end to the war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
13.Despite the ongoing impact of the liquidity crisis facing the United Nations, the Committee had continued to fulfil its core mandate under the Convention and the Optional Protocol. In that connection, she wished to thank Ms. Stott Despoja and Ms. Akia for their work on follow‑up, which had enabled the Committee to adopt two follow-up assessments. Thanks were also due to the Working Group on Communications, chaired by Ms. Dettmeijer-Vermeulen, whose efforts had enabled the Committee to adopt two final decisions on individual communications. The Working Group on Inquiries, chaired by Ms. Reddock, had made progress in undertaking follow-up assessments and processing requests for confidential country visits.
14.During the session, the Committee had organized a number of fruitful events and exchanges, including a briefing by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, and a briefing by the Pacific Community concerning a regional session of the Committee to be held in Fiji in 2025. The Government of France had invited the Committee to an event in Paris to recognize the Committee’s essential work in promoting and protecting women’s human rights. The event was to take place later in 2024 and would include a prelaunch of general recommendation No. 40 on the equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making systems.
Closure of the Session
15.Following the customary exchange of courtesies, the Chair declared the eighty-eighth session closed.
The meeting rose at 4.30 p.m.