Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Eighty-ninth session

Summary record of the 2089th meeting

Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on Monday, 7 October 2024, at 10 a.m.

Chair:Ms. Peláez Narváez

Contents

Opening of the session

Statement by the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Adoption of the agenda and organization of work

Report of the Chair on activities undertaken between the eighty-eighth and eighty-ninth sessions of the Committee

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention

Follow-up to the consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention

The meeting was called to order at 10.10 a.m.

Opening of the session

The Chair declared open the eighty-ninth session of the Committee.

Statement by the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Mr. Cissé-Gouro (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)) said that it was stated in the Pact for the Future, adopted during the Summit of the Future held in New York on 22 and 23 September 2024, that none of the goals set out in the Pact could be achieved without the full, safe, equal and meaningful participation and representation of all women in political and economic life. The principles underlying that reality were enshrined in the Committee’s draft general recommendation No.40 on the equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making systems, an innovative road map that he was pleased to note had been presented at the annual meeting of the General Assembly Platform of Women Leaders on 24 September 2024 and at a ministerial event entitled “Galvanizing the Pact for the Future for a Feminist Implementation of the 2030 Agenda”.

On 25 September 2024, to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the International Year of the Family, the Human Rights Council had held a panel discussion on the implementation of States’ obligations on the role of the family in supporting the human rights of its members. As recognized in Council resolution 54/17, which had mandated the panel discussion, family‑oriented policies in the areas of poverty, work-family balance and intergenerational issues could contribute to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, and to eliminating all forms of violence, in particular against women and girls.

The annual discussion on the integration of a gender perspective throughout the work of the Council and that of its mechanisms, held on 30 September 2024, had focused on the theme of enhancing gender integration in human rights investigations. The Council’s commissions of inquiry and fact-finding missions had stepped up their gender integration efforts in recent years. However, further progress was needed to combat forms of gender‑based violence other than sexual violence and their root causes, which were often exacerbated by conflict. The Council planned to adopt resolutions convening two separate panel discussions to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and to address the issue of domestic violence. It also intended to request OHCHR to prepare a comprehensive report containing specific recommendations on how to tackle structural and underlying causes and risk factors in order to prevent domestic violence.

OHCHR continued to actively support efforts to strengthen the treaty body system, which had been the key topic at the thirty-sixth meeting of the Chairs of the human rights treaty bodies in New York in June 2024. The Chairs had noted marked progress in aligning working methods and, at a well-attended meeting with Member States, had called for resources to implement the predictable review schedule and other key treaty body strengthening proposals. The Chairs had reiterated that call in a recent statement welcoming the adoption of the Pact for the Future, in which they had noted the reference in the Pact to the need for adequate, predictable, increased and sustained financing of the United Nations human rights mechanisms. The upcoming General Assembly resolution on the human rights treaty body system would provide an important opportunity for Member States to reiterate their commitment to strengthening the system.

Mr. Safarov said that it was important to promote technological innovation and the participation of women and girls in the treaty body strengthening process. The United Nations as a whole should adopt and implement a gender equality strategy, and the rights of women and girls should be taken into account in efforts to protect the environment and combat climate change and poverty.

Adoption of the agenda and organization of work ( CEDAW/C/89/1 )

The agenda was adopted.

Report of the Chair on activities undertaken between the eighty-eighth and eighty‑ninth sessions of the Committee

The Chair said that she wished to pay tribute to Ms. Dettmeijer-Vermeulen and Ms. Manalo, who would be absent from the session for health reasons, and to Ms. Morsy, who had been appointed Minister of Social Solidarity in her home country of Egypt and was thus unable to continue as a Committee member. She also wished to congratulate the experts who had been elected or re-elected to serve on the Committee from January 2025.

Since the previous session, the number of States parties to the Convention had remained unchanged at 189, of which 81 had accepted the amendment to article 20 (1). The amendment would have to be accepted by 126 to enter into force. There were 115 States parties to the Optional Protocol. The Committee had received periodic reports from Kazakhstan, Paraguay, the Republic of Moldova and the Syrian Arab Republic and the combined initial to fifth periodic reports of San Marino. Since the Committee had decided to make the simplified reporting procedure the default procedure for the submission of State party reports, 13 States parties had indicated that they wished to maintain the traditional reporting procedure.

During the intersessional period, it had been her privilege to attend the awarding of the Legion of Honour to Ms. Ameline by President of France Emmanuel Macron. At the thirty-sixth meeting of the Chairs of the human rights treaty bodies, which had taken place from 24 to 28 June, she had been able to meet with the Secretary-General, the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights and representatives of States parties and non‑governmental organizations, and to participate in a side event on strengthening human rights through regional engagement.

On 29 June, she had given a presentation on the situation of women with visual impairment in Latin America on behalf of the ONCE Foundation for Solidarity with Blind Persons in Latin America. On 3 July, she had delivered a presentation at a capacity-building session organized by the Land is Life coalition and devoted to the Committee’s general recommendation No. 39 (2022) on the rights of Indigenous women and girls. On 8 July, she had taken part in a hearing held by the European Economic and Social Committee on the sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls with disabilities, while on 11 and 12 July, she had attended a coordination meeting of the Expanded Advisory Board of the Women Parliamentary Forum established by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean.

On 15 July, she had participated in a hearing of the European Economic and Social Committee on Directive (EU) 2024/1385 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on combating violence against women and domestic violence. She had also co‑chaired the twentieth and twenty-first meetings of the Platform of Independent Expert Mechanisms on the Elimination of Discrimination and Violence against Women (EDVAW Platform).

On 26 July, she had delivered a video message at a meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum Women Leaders on the possibility of the Committee providing technical cooperation on an extraordinary basis in Suva, Fiji. On 23 August, she had attended an online meeting of the Action Coalition on Gender-Based Violence and had provided an update on the activities planned by the EDVAW Platform to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

On 18 September, she had taken part in a workshop in Spain on women with disabilities in rural areas, while on 20 September, she had attended an online round table to discuss the recent amendment to article 49 of the Spanish Constitution to promote the rights of persons with disabilities. On 23 September, she had participated in an informal online meeting, convened by the Chair of the thirty-sixth meeting of the Chairs of the human rights treaty bodies, on possible follow-up to the upcoming General Assembly resolution on the treaty body system.

On 2 October, she had taken part in a meeting in Geneva organized by the Permanent Mission of the Netherlands and the Council of Europe to discuss the partnership opportunities offered by the EDVAW Platform and the follow-up to be given to the Convention and other international instruments on the prevention of violence against women. Lastly, on 4 October, she had attended a conference in Pamplona on sexual violence against women.

Ms. Rana said that, on 26 June, she had served as a panellist at a regional conference on sexual violence in South Asia. On 3 and 4 July, at an expert group meeting in Bangkok organized by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, she had contributed to the drafting of a document concerning the thirtieth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. She had been a speaker at the Beijing+30 National Women’s Conference in Nepal on 16 August, had chaired a panel discussion at the International Conference on Gender Inclusion in National Human Rights Institutions on 3September and, on the same day, had served as a panellist at a session on gender and transitional justice at the Nepal Civil Society Conference for the Summit of the Future. On 10 September, at the fifty-seventh session of the Human Rights Council, she had been a panellist at a side event on an all-tools approach for accountability in Afghanistan. From 13to 15 September, she had led a workshop on a women, peace, and security strategic framework for the Women’s League of Burma, and from 19 to 24 September, she had attended the Summit of the Future and related events.

Ms. Ameline said that, as part of the process of finalizing draft general recommendation No. 40, she had spoken before the Human Rights Council in late June, had attended a meeting in Mexico City on 4 and 5 July and had been invited to present the document by a coalition for feminist diplomacy. The final consultation on the draft with civil society organizations had taken place successfully in Bangkok on 4 and 5 September. Thanks to the Committee’s hard work, its vision of gender parity had been incorporated into the Pact for the Future.

Ms. Akizuki said that, on 16 June, she had delivered a keynote speech on the current state of gender equality in Japan and the role of the Committee at an exchange meeting organized by the Japan Federation of National Public Service Employees’ Unions. On 29June, she had delivered a lecture on why Japan ranked so low in the Global Gender Gap Index, while on 30 June, she had reported on the Committee’s eighty-sixth to eighty-eighth sessions at a symposium organized by the Japanese Association of International Women’s Rights. On 2August, she had given a keynote speech on international gender equality trends and the current situation in Japan at an online dialogue held by the Japanese branch of the Association of Former International Civil Servants. On 26 September, she had delivered a speech on global gender issues at a meeting of the Council of the Kyoto Peacebuilding Center.

Ms. Eghobamien-Mshelia said that, in June, she had helped the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association to develop training modules on human rights and gender. In August, she had attended a follow-up workshop at which she had shared insights concerning the role of parliamentarians in upholding international gender-related conventions. At the request of the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund, she had presented a training session on the use of digital technologies to improve women’s income generation in crisis and displacement contexts. On 30 July, she had made a presentation for the African Women’s Development and Communications Network (FEMNET) on a rights-based approach to women’s economic justice and rights. She had also led the validation of the third national action plan of Nigeria for the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution1325. On 4 October, she had facilitated a meeting, also attended by Ms. Mikko, on promoting women’s rights in business with the support of digital technologies.

Ms. Bethel said that she had attended two side events during the Summit of the Future in New York. The purpose of the first event had been to discuss the steps that the Groupof20 could take to accelerate progress towards eradicating hunger and poverty, promoting sustainable development and combating climate change. The second event had been organized by UN-Women to launch the 2024 edition of its report entitled The Gender Snapshot. She had also participated with Ms. Reddock in a virtual meeting hosted by the CEDAW Committee of Trinidad and Tobago, at which they had delivered training on the Convention and had enjoyed a first exchange with Eudine Barriteau, who had recently been elected to become a member of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

Ms. de Silva de Alwis said that she had given classes on innovative developments in the Convention and the women and peace and security agenda at the University of Oxford in England in the summer. She would continue to teach those subjects to students at universities in the United States of America in the autumn. She had given an interview about the Convention to a journalist from The New York Times and had been invited by OHCHR to speak about survivor-centred approaches to justice and reparations and the role of survivors as actors of international justice. She and Ms. Ameline had spoken in Bangkok about the relevance of draft general recommendation No. 40 in the context of the Global Digital Compact and the General Assembly’s first resolution on artificial intelligence, and she had written articles for various law journals to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the women and peace and security agenda. She had spoken at many law schools in the United States of America about ensuring accountability and justice for women in Afghanistan, and she had also helped to form the Afghan Women’s Coalition for Justice.

Mr. Safarov said that in Azerbaijan he had spoken to information technology managers of State institutions about women and girls’ participation in cybersecurity and the development of new technologies; he had participated in the organization of a national competition for children between the ages of 14 and 18 with a quota for girls’ participation; and he had made a speech about the Convention and the Optional Protocol at a conference on digital leadership in Shusha. His new book on children’s rights and the media had been published and he had participated in the preparation of documents for the forthcoming Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Ms. Mikko said that, on 5 September, she had met with a women’s non-governmental organization in Estonia to discuss, among other things, the pay gap, parental leave and draft general recommendation No. 40. On 25 September, she had attended the launch of an exhibition of photographs of active women in the north-east of Estonia and had led a discussion on how to combat racism.

Ms. Stott Despoja said that she had participated in several activities relating to the work of the Committee, the most notable of which had been an event at the University of Adelaide on 4 September to celebrate 130 years of women’s suffrage in South Australia.

Ms. Bonifaz Alfonzo said that, since the start of June, she had made speeches and presentations on the importance of the Convention at the Mexico City School of Public Administration, at a meeting in Costa Rica organized by UN-Women, for a non‑governmental organization called Documenta AC, at the National University of Córdoba in Argentina and for the United States Agency for International Development. On 25 June, she had attended an event on human rights progress in Latin America held in Asunción, Paraguay. She had also spoken about access to justice at the Supreme Court of Mexico and discussed international and domestic law with the National Union of Jurists of Cuba. Lastly, she had made several speeches at educational establishments in Mexico to mark the publication of her new book on women in diplomacy.

Ms. Tisheva said that, during the fifty-sixth session of the Human Rights Council in June, she had participated in a panel discussion on economic violence against women. At the invitation of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, she had also spoken to the Transitional Legislative Assembly of Burkina Faso in August about the Committee’s work and draft general recommendation No. 40. Along with other members of the Committee, she had participated in developing training on the Convention and the Optional Protocol for the Women’s Human Rights Training Institute in Bulgaria.

Ms. González Ferrer said that she had delivered training courses and given media interviews to raise awareness and foster understanding of draft general recommendation No.40 in Cuba. Her presentation to the National Assembly of People’s Power, which had included the screening of a video made by Ms. Ameline, had been well received. She had also raised awareness among legal institutions in Cuba of the Committee’s work on the issues of gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy and early marriage. She had included references to the Committee’s jurisprudence on matters such as family law, comprehensive care and gender-based violence in articles that she had written for academic publications in Argentina, Italy and Spain.

Ms. Akia said that she had been invited by the International Commission of Jurists to train judicial officers and judges in Africa on how to apply the Convention in the cases brought before them, especially those concerning sexual and reproductive rights. In August, IPAS had asked her to deliver training to a range of participants on the role played by the Committee in promoting the sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls in Africa. She had also spoken at the 2024 edition of the Reproductive Justice Litigation Baraza, organized by Afya na Haki. In September, she had been invited by the Geneva Human Rights Platform to speak about the Committee’s work and provide training on women’s rights in the context of environmental issues such as climate change. Lastly, she had spoken to the Ugandan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the German Academic Exchange Service about women’s rights and gender equality in relation to the Convention and draft general recommendation No. 40.

Ms. Reddock said that, in August, she had delivered a keynote speech about gender‑based violence at an event to mark the sixty-fifth anniversary of the Port of Spain branch of Soroptimist International. On 25 September, she had taken part in a national consultation on gender-based violence that had been organized following a landmark ruling by the High Court, stressing the importance of prevention in the efforts made to combat domestic violence.

Ms. Haidar said that she had been the moderator of a side event to the Human Rights Council, held to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the creation of the office of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences. She had taken that opportunity to draw attention to the work of the Committee’s Working Group on Gender-based Violence against Women. On 26 and 27 June, she had been invited to California by Meta as an independent expert to participate in consultations concerning the group’s global human rights policy, stakeholder engagement and content moderation, particularly in countries in crisis. She had highlighted the Committee’s work on women’s rights in the digital domain and its concerns about violence against women online. On 13September, she had worked alongside civil society organizations to prepare training on a gender-sensitive action plan to support families displaced from southern Lebanon. Given the deterioration of the situation in Lebanon, she felt that the Committee needed to do much more work of a humanitarian nature. Lastly, on 25 September, she had acted as moderator of a Human Rights Council side event looking at 20 years of transitional justice in Morocco.

Ms. Xia said that, as a member of the All China Women’s Federation, she had attended an event marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. She had also organized field visits to clinics and meetings with representatives of different government departments to review the implementation of government policy aimed at facilitating women’s return to work after giving birth.

Ms. Gbedemah said that, in September, she had participated in reviewing the provisional draft of an African Union convention on ending violence against women and girls. It had been an enriching experience, and she looked forward to the adoption of a new regional instrument that would provide women with a further layer of protection against violence.

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention

Ms. Bonifaz Alfonzo, speaking in her capacity as Chair of the pre-sessional working group for the eighty-ninth session, said that the pre-sessional working group had met in Geneva from 19 to 23 February 2024. It had prepared lists of issues and questions in relation to the reports of Belize, Chad, Congo, Nepal and Vietnam, and lists of issues prior to reporting for Cyprus and Saint Lucia. To prepare the lists of issues and questions, the working group had been able to draw on the core documents of the States parties, with the exception of Belize, Saint Lucia and Vietnam, and the periodic reports of the States parties, with the exception of Cyprus and Saint Lucia, which would submit their periodic reports in response to the respective list of issues and questions prior to reporting. The working group had also drawn on the Committee’s general recommendations, draft lists of issues and questions prepared by the secretariat, the concluding observations of the Committee and other treaty bodies, and, in particular, the States parties’ follow-up to the Committee’s concluding observations on their previous reports. In addition, the working group had received information from entities of the United Nations system, non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions. The lists of issues and questions had been transmitted to the States parties concerned.

The Chair said that, owing to the backlog of State party reports pending consideration by the Committee that had accumulated during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Committee had decided to postpone to future sessions the consideration of the reports of the States parties mentioned in the report of the pre-sessional working group for the eighty-ninth session (CEDAW/C/PSWG/89/1).

Follow-up to the consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention

Ms. Stott Despoja, speaking in her capacity as Rapporteur for follow-up to concluding observations, said that, at the end of its eighty-eighth session, the Committee had sent letters outlining the assessment of follow-up reports to the Russian Federation and Uzbekistan. Reminder letters had been sent to the Dominican Republic, Gabon, Lebanon, Panama, Peru, Senegal and Uganda, as their follow-up reports had been scheduled for consideration at the eighty-eighth session but had not been received. Panama had requested and been granted an extension until 25 August 2024 to submit its follow-up report, but the report had still not been received. The Committee had received follow-up reports on time from Azerbaijan, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Morocco and Türkiye. It had also received two reports that had been overdue: one from Peru, which had been received more than five months late, and the other from South Africa, which had been received eight months late. She invited the country rapporteurs for Azerbaijan, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Peru and Türkiye to assist in the assessment of those follow-up reports. She thanked Ms.Ameline for having volunteered to assist in the assessment of the follow-up report from Morocco and called for a volunteer to assist in the assessment of the report from South Africa. Reminders to submit follow-up reports should be sent to Mongolia, Namibia, Portugal and the United Arab Emirates.

Ms. Tisheva said that she wished to volunteer to assist in the assessment of the follow‑up report from the Government of South Africa.

The meeting rose at 11.30 a.m.