United Nations · New York, 2015

Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Fifty-eighth session

(30 June-18 July 2014)

Fifty-ninth session

(20 October-7 November 2014)

Sixtieth session

(16 February-6 March 2015)

ISSN 0255-0970

Note

Symbols of United Nations documents are composed of letters combined with figures. Mention of such a symbol indicates a reference to a United Nations document.

The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

[30 March 2015]

Contents

Chapter			Page
Letter of transmittal	6
Part one Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on its fifty-eighth session	7
Matters brought to the attention of the States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women	8
Organizational and other matters	10
States parties to the Convention and to the Optional Protocol	10
Opening of the session	10
Adoption of the agenda	10
Report of the pre-sessional working group	11
Organization of work	11
Membership of the Committee	12
Report of the Chair on the activities carried out between the fifty-seventh and fifty-eighth sessions of the Committee	13
Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention	14
Activities carried out under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women	16
Action taken by the Committee in respect of issues arising under article 2 of the Optional Protocol	16
Follow-up to views of the Committee on individual communications	16
Action taken by the Committee in respect of issues arising under article 8 of the Optional Protocol	17
Ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee	18
Implementation of article 21 of the Convention	20
Provisional agenda for the fifty-ninth session	22
Adoption of the report	23
Annexes
I.Decision 58/II. Decision of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on the simplified reporting procedure	24
II.Documents before the Committee at its fifty-eighth session	25
III.Report of the Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on its twenty-ninth session	26
Part two Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on its fifty-ninth session	28
I.Matters brought to the attention of the States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women	29
II.Organizational and other matters	31
A.States parties to the Convention and to the Optional Protocol	31
B.Opening of the session	31
C.Adoption of the agenda	31
D.Report of the pre-sessional working group	31
E.Organization of work	31
F.Membership of the Committee	32
III.Report of the Chair on the activities carried out between the fifty-eighth and fifty-ninth sessions of the Committee	34
IV.Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention	35
V.Activities carried out under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women	37
A.Action taken by the Committee in respect of issues arising under article 2 of the Optional Protocol	37
B.Follow-up to views of the Committee on individual communications	37
C.Action taken by the Committee in respect of issues arising under article 8 of the Optional Protocol	38
VI.Ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee	39
VII.Implementation of article 21 of the Convention	41
VIII.Provisional agenda for the sixtieth session	42
IX.Adoption of the report	43
Annexes
I.Decision 59/VII. Decision of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on the publication of the report of an inquiry	44
II.Documents before the Committee at its fifty-ninth session	45
III.Membership of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women as at 7 November 2014	46
IV.Report of the Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on its thirtieth session	47
Part three Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on its sixtieth session	49
I.Matters brought to the attention of the States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women	50
II.Organizational and other matters	54
A.States parties to the Convention and to the Optional Protocol	54
B.Opening of the session	54
C.Adoption of the agenda	54
D.Report of the pre-sessional working group	54
E.Organization of work	54
F.Membership of the Committee	55
III.Report of the Chair on activities carried out between the fifty-ninth and sixtieth sessions of the Committee	56
IV.Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention	57
V.Activities carried out under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women	58
A.Action taken by the Committee in respect of issues arising under article 2 of the Optional Protocol	58
B.Follow-up to views of the Committee on individual communications	58
C.Action taken by the Committee in respect of issues arising under article 8 of the Optional Protocol	58
VI.Ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee	60
VII.Implementation of article 21 of the Convention	62
VIII.Provisional agenda for the sixty-first session	63
IX.Adoption of the report	64
Annexes
I.Documents before the Committee at its sixtieth session	65
II.Membership of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women as at 6 March 2015	66
III.Report of the Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on its thirty-first session	67

Letter of transmittal

[30 March 2015]

I have the honour to refer to article 21 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, according to which the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, established pursuant to the Convention, “shall, through the Economic and Social Council, report annually to the General Assembly of the United Nations on its activities”.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women held its fifty-eighth session, from 30 June to 18 July 2014, its fifty-ninth session, from 20 October to 7 November 2014, and its sixtieth session, from 16 February to 6 March 2015, at the United Nations Office at Geneva. It adopted its reports on the sessions at the 1244th meeting, on 18 July 2014, the 1274th meeting, on 7 November 2014, and the 1304th meeting, on 6 March 2015. The three reports of the Committee are herewith submitted to you for transmission to the General Assembly at its seventieth session.

(Signed) Yoko HayashiChair

Part one

Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on its fifty-eighth session

30 June-18 July 2014

Chapter I

Matters brought to the attention of the States partiesto the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

Decisions

Decision 58/I

On 18 July 2014, the Committee adopted a statement on the situation of women in Gaza (the statement is available on the website of the Committee: www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/CEDAW/StatementsChair/GazaStatement_AsAdopted_18072014.pdf).

Decision 58/II

On 18 July 2014, the Committee decided to offer, on a pilot basis, the simplified reporting procedure to those States parties that wish to avail themselves of the procedure for the submission of their periodic reports as from 1 January 2015, provided that the States parties concerned have submitted an updated common core document, in accordance with the harmonized guidelines on reporting under the international human rights treaties, including guidelines on a common core document and treaty-specific documents, which dates back no more than five years or less in case there have been significant political and/or socioeconomic changes during the five-year period. It also decided to consider, at its fifty-ninth session, in October 2014, the practical modalities for the implementation of the simplified reporting procedure, including its impact on the calendar of work of the Committee (see annex I to part one of the present report).

Decision 58/III

On 15 July 2014, the Committee adopted its findings and recommendations in relation to inquiry No. 2011/1 and decided to transmit them to the State party concerned.

Decision 58/IV

On 18 July 2014, the Committee decided to discuss the modalities of its consideration of inquiries under article 8 of the Optional Protocol, including adequate time and resources and the issue of confidentiality, at an informal one-day meeting, to be held outside official meeting time, during its fifty-ninth session. It requested the secretariat to prepare a note on possible ways to make available additional time for the consideration of inquiries.

Decision 58/V

The Committee decided to appoint Yoko Hayashi, Ismat Jahan and Pramila Patten as focal points for the cooperation of the Committee with the Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Decision 58/VI

The Committee also confirmed the members of the pre-sessional working group for the sixtieth session, namely, Olinda Bareiro-Bobadilla, Hilary Gbedemah, Biancamaria Pomeranzi, Dubravka Šimonović and Xiaoqiao Zou.

Chapter II

Organizational and other matters

A.States parties to the Convention and to the Optional Protocol

1.As at 18 July 2014, the closing date of the fifty-eighth session of the Committee, there were 188 States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which was adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 34/180 and opened for signature, ratification and accession in New York on 1 March 1980. In accordance with its article 27, the Convention entered into force on 3 September 1981. In addition, 69 States parties had accepted the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention, concerning the Committee’s meeting time. A total of 126 States parties to the Convention are currently required to accept the amendment in order to bring it into force, in accordance with its provisions.

2.As at the same date, there were 104 States parties to the Optional Protocol to the Convention, which was adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 54/4 and opened for signature, ratification and accession in New York on 10 December 1999. In accordance with its article 16, the Optional Protocol entered into force on 22 December 2000.

3.Updated information on the status of the Convention, the amendment to the Convention and its Optional Protocol, as well as lists of States signatories and parties and the texts of declarations, reservations, objections and other relevant information are available from the website of the United Nations Treaty Collection (http://treaties.un.org).

B.Opening of the session

4.The Committee held its fifty-eighth session at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 30 June to 18 July 2014. The Committee held 19 plenary meetings and also held 11 meetings to discuss agenda items 5, 6, 7 and 8. A list of the documents before the Committee is contained in annex II to part one of the present report.

5.At its 1215th meeting, on 30 June 2014, the session was opened by the Chair of the Committee, Nicole Ameline.

C.Adoption of the agenda

6.The Committee adopted the provisional agenda (CEDAW/C/58/1) at its 1215th meeting.

D.Report of the pre-sessional working group

7.The report of the pre-sessional working group (CEDAW/PSWG/58/1), which met from 21 to 25 October 2013, was introduced by the Chair of the Committee at the 1215th meeting.

E.Organization of work

8.On 30 June and 7 July 2014, the Committee held closed meetings with representatives of the specialized agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system, and other intergovernmental organizations, during which those bodies provided country-specific information and information on the efforts they had made to support the implementation of the Convention.

9.Also on 30 June and 7 July 2014, the Committee held informal public meetings with representatives of non-governmental organizations and three national human rights institutions, who provided information on the implementation of the Convention by the States parties whose reports the Committee had considered at its fifty-eighth session.

10.On 30 June 2014, the Committee was briefed by the Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), Lakshmi Puri, via videoconference on the review of progress made in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 20 years after its adoption at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995.

11.On 7 July 2014, the Committee held a meeting with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, who briefed the Committee on the nexus between gender, disaster risk reduction and climate change.

12.On 16 July 2014, the Committee and the Human Rights Committee met for an informal consultation. At the meeting, hosted by the Geneva Academy for International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, both Committees exchanged their respective jurisprudence on abortion and on a minimum age for marriage.

13.On 17 July 2014, the Committee sent a letter to the co-chairs of the Open Working Group of the General Assembly on Sustainable Development Goals, transmitting its comments on the revised zero draft that had been released on 30 June 2014, in particular on its stand-alone goal on gender equality (the letter is available on the website of the Committee).

14.On 18 July 2014, the Committee held an informal meeting with the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on violence against women, its causes and consequences to exchange information on each other’s work in addressing violence against women and to discuss the ongoing cooperation of both mechanisms as well as the recommendation contained in the report of the Special Rapporteur to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/26/38) that the Council should undertake an inquiry into the normative gap in relation to violence against women.

F.Membership of the Committee

15.All members attended the fifty-eighth session, with the exception of Ayse Feride Acar and Meriem Belmihoub-Zerdani. The following members did not attend the session on the indicated dates: Nicole Ameline, from 7 to 11 July 2014; Barbara Bailey, on 30 June 2014; Niklas Bruun, on 9 and 10 July 2014; Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, on 18 July 2014; Maria-Helena Pires, on 18 July 2014; Patricia Schulz, from 30 June to 4 July 2014; and Dubravka Šimonović, on 9 and 10 July 2014. A list of members of the Committee for 2014, indicating the duration of their terms of office, is contained in annex III to part two of the present report.

Chapter III

Report of the Chair on the activities carried out between the fifty-seventh and fifty-eighth sessions of the Committee

16.At the 1215th meeting, the Chair presented her report on the activities she had carried out since the fifty-seventh session of the Committee.

Chapter IV

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

17.At its fifty-eighth session, the Committee considered the reports of eight States parties submitted under article 18 of the Convention: the combined initial to fifth periodic reports of the Central African Republic; the combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of Georgia; the combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of India; the fifth periodic report of Lithuania; the combined second and third periodic reports of Mauritania; the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of Peru; the combined initial and second periodic reports of Swaziland; and the second periodic report of the Syrian Arab Republic.

18.The Committee prepared concluding observations on each of the reports considered. The concluding observations are available from the Official Document System of the United Nations (http://documents.un.org/) under the symbols indicated below:

Central African Republic	(CEDAW/C/CAF/CO/1-5)
Georgia	(CEDAW/C/GEO/CO/4-5)
India	(CEDAW/C/IND/CO/4-5)
Lithuania	(CEDAW/C/LTU/CO/5)
Mauritania	(CEDAW/C/MRT/CO/2-3)
Peru	(CEDAW/C/PER/CO/7-8)
Swaziland	(CEDAW/C/SWZ/CO/1-2)
Syrian Arab Republic	(CEDAW/C/SYR/CO/2)

It should be noted that consideration of the Central African Republic, in the absence of a report, had originally been scheduled for the fifty-third session. However, on 26 June 2012, the Central African Republic submitted its combined initial to fifth periodic reports, the consideration of which was subsequently postponed to the fifty-eighth session so as to allow for the translation of the report and the establishment of an updated list of issues at the meeting of the pre-sessional working group.

Follow-up procedures relating to concluding observations

19.The Committee adopted the report of the Rapporteur on follow-up to concluding observations at its fifty-eighth session, and considered the follow-up reports received from the following States parties:

Belarus	(CEDAW/C/BLR/CO/7/Add.1)
Lao People’s Democratic Republic	(CEDAW/C/LAO/CO/7/Add.1)
Liechtenstein	(CEDAW/C/LIE/CO/4/Add.1)
Mauritius	(CEDAW/C/MUS/CO/6-7/Add.1)
Paraguay	(CEDAW/C/PRY/CO/6/Add.1)
Republic of Korea	(CEDAW/C/KOR/CO/7/Add.1)
Singapore	(CEDAW/C/SGP/CO/4/Rev.1/Add.1)

20.The Committee considered additional follow-up information received from the following States parties:

The Netherlands	(CEDAW/C/NLD/CO/5/Add.2)
Turkey	(CEDAW/C/TUR/CO/6/Add.2)

The follow-up reports and additional follow-up information received from States parties and the Committee’s replies are available from the Official Document System of the United Nations under the symbols indicated above.

21.The Committee also sent first reminders to the following States parties whose follow-up reports were overdue: Algeria, the Congo, Grenada, Jordan, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.

22.The Committee sent second reminders to the following States parties whose follow-up reports were overdue: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Nepal, Tunisia and Zambia.

23.The Rapporteur for follow-up and her alternate met with a representative of Haiti, as the follow-up report of the State party was overdue.

Chapter V

Activities carried out under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

24.Article 12 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention provides that the Committee shall include in its annual report under article 21 of the Convention a summary of its activities under the Optional Protocol.

A.Action taken by the Committee in respect of issues arising under article 2 of the Optional Protocol

25.On 14 and 16 July 2014, the Committee discussed activities under the Optional Protocol.

26.The Committee endorsed the report of the Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol on its twenty-ninth session (see annex III to part one of the present report).

27.The Committee adopted final decisions with regard to two individual communications submitted under article 2 of the Optional Protocol. It adopted views finding a violation with regard to communication No. 47/2012 (González Carreño v.  Spain), by consensus. It also adopted an inadmissibility decision on communication No. 30/2011 (M .S. v. the Philippines), with two members abstaining and one member reserving her right to submit a dissenting individual opinion. The final decisions and individual opinion are available from the Official Document System of the United Nations under the symbols CEDAW/C/58/D/47/2012 and CEDAW/C/58/D/30/2011.

B.Follow-up to views of the Committee on individual communications

28.No follow-up progress report was prepared for the fifty-eighth session. However, the Committee was informed that the Working Group, during its twenty-ninth session, had discussed the follow-up situation in each case where the follow-up dialogue was ongoing and that it had agreed on the action to be taken. The Committee did not take a decision to put the follow-up dialogue to an end in any of the cases currently under follow-up examination. Of the 10 cases that are currently under follow-up examination, one relates to Belarus, one to Brazil, three to Bulgaria, one to Canada, one to Peru, one to the Philippines and one to Turkey; and in the case adopted at the fifty-eighth session in which the Committee found a violation (No. 47/2012), the State party was given six months to provide its follow-up reply.

C.Action taken by the Committee in respect of issues arising under article 8 of the Optional Protocol

29.The Committee was briefed on the status of all pending submissions and proceedings under the inquiry procedure.

30.On 18 July 2014, one of the two designated members for inquiry No. 2010/1, Pramila Patten, met with the Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations Office at Geneva to discuss the submission by the State party of its observations on the Committee’s findings from the inquiry.

31.On 15 July 2014, the Committee adopted its findings and recommendations in relation to inquiry No. 2011/1 and decided to transmit them to the State party concerned.

32.In relation to submission No. 2013/1, two members of the Committee met with a representative of the State party concerned on 15 July 2014 to discuss the submission by the State party of its observations with regard to the information received by the Committee under article 8 of the Optional Protocol.

33.In relation to submissions Nos. 2014/1, 2014/2 and 2014/3, received on 21 January and 5 and 11 June 2014, respectively, the Committee in each case decided to request the State party concerned to submit, within two months, observations with regard to the information received by the Committee under article 8 of the Optional Protocol.

Chapter VI

Ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee

34.The Secretariat informed the Committee about the status of submission of overdue reports by States parties under article 18 of the Convention.

35.On 4 July 2014, the Chair briefed the Committee on her participation in the twenty-sixth meeting of chairs of the human rights treaty bodies, held from 23 to 27 June 2014 in Geneva, during which the chairs discussed the implementation of General Assembly resolution 68/268 on strengthening and enhancing the effective functioning of the human rights treaty body system in three areas: the simplified reporting procedure; the alignment of methodologies for constructive dialogue with States parties; and a common format for short, focused and actionable concluding observations.

Action taken by the Committee under agenda item 7

Dates of future sessions of the Committee

36.In accordance with the calendar of conferences, dates were confirmed as follows for the Committee’s fifty-ninth and sixtieth sessions and related meetings:

Fifty-ninth session (Geneva)

(a)Thirtieth session of the Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol to the Convention: 15 to 17 October 2014;

(b)Fifty-ninth session: 20 October to 7 November 2014;

(c)Pre-sessional working group for the sixty-first session: 10 to 14 November 2014.

Sixtieth session (Geneva)

(d)Thirty-first session of the Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol to the Convention: 12 and 13 February 2015;

(e)Sixtieth session: 16 February to 6 March 2015;

(f)Pre-sessional working group for the sixty-second session: 9 to 13 March 2015.

Reports to be considered at future sessions of the Committee

37.The Committee confirmed that it would consider the reports of the following States parties at its fifty-ninth and sixtieth sessions:

Fifty-ninth session:

BelgiumBrunei DarussalamChinaGhanaGuineaPolandSolomon Islands

Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

It is noted that the consideration of Solomon Islands, in the absence of a report, had originally been scheduled for the fifty-fourth session. The State party submitted its combined initial to third periodic reports (CEDAW/C/SLB/1-3) on 30 January 2013 and the consideration was subsequently postponed to the fifty-ninth session of the Committee so as to allow for the translation of the report and the establishment of an updated list of issues at the meeting of the pre-sessional working group.

Sixtieth session:

AzerbaijanDenmarkEcuadorEritreaGabonKyrgyzstanMaldivesTuvalu

Chapter VII

Implementation of article 21 of the Convention

38.During the fifty-eighth session, the Committee considered agenda item 6, on the implementation of article 21 of the Convention.

Action taken by the Committee under agenda item 6

Joint general recommendation/comment on harmful practices

39.The working group met during the session and finalized the draft joint general recommendation of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women/general comment of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on harmful practices. The Committee completed its first reading of the draft general recommendation.

Working group on gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylumand statelessness

40.The working group met during the session and finalized the draft general recommendation on gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum and statelessness. The Committee completed its first reading of the draft general recommendation.

Working group on access to justice

41.The working group met during the session and discussed a revised draft of the general recommendation on women’s access to justice, incorporating comments received, between sessions, from other Committee members as well as from stakeholders. The Committee decided to schedule the first reading of the general recommendation for the fifty-ninth session.

Working group on rural women

42.The working group met during the session and was briefed by a representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on FAO methodology for facilitating the implementation of article 14 of the Convention.

Working group on the right to education

43.The working group met during the session. On 7 July 2014, the Committee held a half-day general discussion on girls’ and women’s right to education, with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as part of the first phase in the elaboration of a general recommendation on the right to education under article 10 of the Convention. The discussion was opened by the Vice-Chair of the Committee, Violeta Neubauer, followed by opening addresses by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at that time, Navi Pillay, the Director of the Liaison Office for UNESCO in Geneva and the Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of the Independent States, UNICEF. The envisaged general recommendation was introduced by the Chair of the Committee’s working group on the right to education, Barbara Bailey. Seven expert speakers explored the different dimensions of girls’ and women’s right to education: the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador to Ethiopia, Hannah Godefa; the Chief of the Section for Basic Education, UNESCO; former teacher of Malala Yousafzai, Mariam Khalique, of Pakistan; the Executive Director of the Protection Project, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, Washington, D.C., Mohamed Y. Mattar; an adviser for the Right to Education Project, Angela Melchiorre; the education adviser for Plan International, Vernor Muñoz; and the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on the right to education. After the interventions of the speakers, oral statements were made by the following States parties: Australia, Brazil, Colombia, France, Malta, Qatar, Slovenia and Thailand. Further statements were made by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and by 15 civil society organizations (Autistic Minority International; Center for Reproductive Rights; Global Coalition for Human Rights Education; European Roma Rights Centre; Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children; Global Network for Rights and Development; Human Rights Watch; International Disability Alliance; International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission; International Lesbian and Gay Association; International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific; Organization for Defending Victims of Violence; Organisation internationale pour le droit à l’éducation et la liberté d’enseignement; and Plan International). The representatives of 30 States parties and one other State (Holy See) attended the general discussion: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Finland, France, Greece, Haiti, Jamaica, Kuwait, Malta, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Chapter VIII

Provisional agenda for the fifty-ninth session

44.The Committee considered and approved the draft provisional agenda for its fifty-ninth session at its 1244th meeting, on 18 July 2014 (see para. 6 of part one of the present report).

Chapter IX

Adoption of the report

45.The Committee considered the draft report on its fifty-eighth session on 18 July 2014 and adopted it, as orally revised during the discussion.

Annex I

Decision 58/II

Decision of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on the simplified reporting procedure

Adopted on 18 July 2014

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women,

Bearing in mind that General Assembly resolution 68/268 encourages the human rights treaty bodies to offer to States parties, for their consideration, the simplified reporting procedure and to set a limit on the number of questions to be included,

Noting that the twenty-sixth meeting of chairs of the United Nations human rights treaty bodies recommended that the treaty bodies that consider periodic reports should consider making the simplified reporting procedure available as from 1 January 2015,

Noting further that under the simplified reporting procedure, as applied by other human rights treaty bodies, States parties may avail themselves of such a procedure only for the submission of their periodic reports, but not for that of their initial reports,

Considering the importance of the information, of a general and factual nature, relating to the implementation of the Convention contained in the common core document to be submitted by States parties under the “Harmonized guidelines on reporting under the international human rights treaties, including guidelines on a common core document and treaty-specific documents” (HRI/MC/2006/3 and Corr.1),

Recalling that States parties should endeavour to update the common core document whenever they submit a treaty-specific document, and that a treaty body may request that the common core document be updated if it considers that the information it contains is out of date (HRI/MC/2006/3 and Corr.1, paras. 18 and 27),

Decides to offer, on a pilot basis, the simplified reporting procedure to those States parties that wish to avail themselves of the procedure for the submission of their periodic (but not of their initial) reports, as from 1 January 2015, provided that the States parties concerned have submitted an updated common core document, in accordance with the “Harmonized guidelines on reporting under the international human rights treaties, including guidelines on a common core document and treaty-specific documents”, which dates back no more than five years or less in case there have been significant political and/or socioeconomic changes in the State party concerned during the five-year period, and also decides to consider, at its fifty-ninth session, the practical modalities for the implementation of the simplified reporting procedure, including its impact on the calendar of work of the Committee.

Annex II

Documents before the Committee at its fifty-eighth session

Document number	Title or description
CEDAW/C/58/1	Provisional agenda and annotations
CEDAW/C/58/2	Note by the secretariat on ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee
CEDAW/C/58/3	Report of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
CEDAW/C/58/4	Report of the International Labour Office
Reports of States parties
CEDAW/C/CAF/1-5	Combined initial to fifth periodic reports of the Central African Republic
CEDAW/C/GEO/4-5	Combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of Georgia
CEDAW/C/IND/4-5	Combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of India
CEDAW/C/LTU/5	Fifth periodic report of Lithuania
CEDAW/C/MRT/2-3	Combined second and third periodic reports of Mauritania
CEDAW/C/PER/7-8	Combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of Peru
CEDAW/C/SWZ/1-2	Combined initial and second periodic reports of Swaziland
CEDAW/C/SYR/2	Second periodic report of the Syrian Arab Republic

Annex III

Report of the Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on its twenty-ninth session

1.The Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women held its twenty-ninth session in Geneva from 25 to 27 June 2014. Four members attended the session (Olinda Bareiro-Bobadilla, Niklas Bruun, Yoko Hayashi and Dubravka Šimonović).

2.At the beginning of the session, the Working Group adopted its agenda.

3.The Working Group decided to register two new communications (Nos. 68/2014 and 69/2014) and to transmit the correspondence to the States parties concerned.

4.During its twenty-ninth session, the Working Group also reviewed all unregistered correspondence received since its previous session. It took note of the action taken by the secretariat to date and decided on a number of requests for clarifications and/or explanations or for replies to be sent to authors of such correspondence.

5. The Working Group discussed three draft recommendations in relation to communications Nos. 30/2011, 46/2012 and 47/2012. All three recommendations were adopted by consensus and will be referred to the Committee for adoption.

6.The members of the Group proceeded to an inventory of all case files for the communications for which they had been appointed case rapporteurs. The Group then reviewed the status of all pending cases registered and had a discussion on each of them. With regard to communication No. 63/2013, the Committee decided to ask the State party concerned, in light of its repeated requests for extension, to provide its observations within two months, indicating that in the absence of such observations, the Committee would adopt a decision on the basis of the information contained in the file.

7.The Working Group further decided to reject the requests of the States parties concerned to consider the admissibility of the communication separately from the merits (split request) in relation to two communications (Nos. 54/2013 and 65/2014).

8.For its thirtieth session, the Working Group requested the secretariat to prepare three draft recommendations in relation to communications Nos. 37/2012, 49/2013 and 59/2013.

9.The Working Group discussed the status of 11 cases in which the follow-up dialogue with the States parties concerned remained ongoing, namely Belarus (No. 23/2009), Brazil (No. 17/2008), Bulgaria (Nos. 20/2008, 31/2011 and 32/2011), Canada (No. 19/2008), the Netherlands (No. 36/2011), Peru (No. 22/2009), the Philippines (Nos. 18/2008 and 34/2011) and Turkey (No. 28/2010).

10.The Working Group decided to request informal meetings to discuss follow-up matters with representatives of the Permanent Missions of the Philippines and Turkey to the United Nations Office at Geneva, to be held during the Committee’s fifty-eighth session.

11.The Working Group also held a discussion on the possible designation of one member of the Group member to act as Special Rapporteur on interim measures.

Action taken at the twenty-ninth session:

12.At its twenty-ninth session, the Working Group decided:

(a)To refer for adoption to the Committee a recommendation in relation to communication No. 47/2012 (views, violation), adopted by consensus;

(b)To refer for adoption to the Committee a recommendation in relation to communication No. 30/2011 (inadmissibility), adopted by consensus;

(c)To refer for adoption to the Committee a recommendation in relation to communication No. 46/2012 (admissibility), adopted by consensus;

(d)To reject the requests of the States parties concerned to examine the admissibility of the communication separately from the merits (split request) in relation to communications Nos. 54/2013 and 65/2014;

(e)To register two new communications: Nos. 68/2014 (Rapporteur: Niklas Bruun) and 69/2014 (Rapporteur: Yoko Hayashi);

(f)To request the secretariat to arrange meetings during the Committee’s fifty-eighth session with representatives of the Permanent Missions of the Philippines and Turkey to the United Nations Office at Geneva to discuss follow-up to the Committee’s views on individual communications concerning those States parties;

(g)To further reflect on the possible establishment of the mandate of a Special Rapporteur on interim measures of the Working Group, with effect from 2015.

13.The Working Group decided to hold its thirtieth session in Geneva, from 15 to 17 October 2014.

Part two

Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on its fifty-ninth session

20 October-7 November 2014

Chapter I

Matters brought to the attention of the States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

Decisions

Decision 59/I

On 3 November 2014, the Committee adopted joint general recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women/general comment No. 18 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on harmful practices (see paragraph 42 of part two of the present report).

Decision 59/II

On 5 November 2014, the Committee adopted general recommendation No. 32 on gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women (see paragraph 43 of part two of the present report).

Decision 59/III

The Committee decided to systematically apply the guidelines on the independence and impartiality of members of the human rights treaty bodies (the Addis Ababa guidelines), which form an integral part of the Committee’s rules of procedure (see decision 54/VIII), as from 1 January 2015.

Decision 59/IV

On 7 November 2014, the Committee decided to entrust its pre-sessional working group, to be convened after each regular session, with the preparation of draft lists of issues prior to reporting under the simplified reporting procedure (see decision 58/II), to be approved, in the pilot phase, by the Committee at its next regular session, and to limit the number of questions in those lists of issues to a maximum of 25 questions. In addition to the criteria stipulated in its decision 58/II, the Committee decided that, in the pilot phase, the simplified reporting procedure would only be offered to States parties whose periodic reports (not initial reports or initial reports that are combined with periodic reports) are overdue, and that the number of lists of issues prior to reporting to be adopted per year may be limited during the pilot phase, based on the resource constraints faced by the Committee and its secretariat.

Decision 59/V

On 7 November 2014, the Committee decided to amend rule 24 of its rules of procedure as follows, in accordance with paragraph 30 of General Assembly resolution 68/268 of 9 April 2014: “English, French and Spanish shall be the official working languages of the Committee. In addition, on an exceptional basis, a fourth official language shall be included to facilitate communication among the members, which shall be subject to review every two years following the election of members of the Committee, based on the composition of the Committee.” The Committee decided that during the period from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2016, Arabic shall be its fourth official language.

Decision 59/VI

On 5 November 2014, the Committee decided to establish, on a pilot basis, a Working Group on Inquiries under the Optional Protocol, which shall consist of no more than five members of the Committee and shall reflect equitable geographical representation. It also decided that the Working Group shall replace the Committee’s Task Force on Inquiries and shall meet for six days per year, within existing resources and through the reallocation of existing meeting time and interpretation entitlements (for 1.5 days), prior to its regular sessions, to examine information received under article 8 of the Optional Protocol. The Committee decided to review the decision after two years. It further decided that the first session of the Working Group on Inquiries shall be convened from 1 to 3 July 2015 in Geneva.

Decision 59/VII

On 7 November 2014, the Committee decided to make public and publish on the website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights the full report of an inquiry setting out the Committee’s findings, comments and recommendations upon the completion of all proceedings related to the conduct of the inquiry as well as the expiry of the time limit pursuant to article 8, paragraph 4, of the Optional Protocol (see annex I to part two of the present report).

Decision 59/VIII

The Committee decided that the Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol shall meet immediately prior to the regular sessions of the Committee, including when new members of the Working Group are appointed at the regular session concerned (thereby amending its decision 46/I). Accordingly, it decided that the thirty-first session of the Working Group would be held from 10 to 13 February 2015 in Geneva.

Decision 59/IX

The Committee decided to appoint Xiaoqiao Zou as rapporteur on follow-up and Hilary Gbedemah as alternate rapporteur, both for a period of two years, from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2016.

Decision 59/X

The Committee confirmed the members of the pre-sessional working group for the sixty-first session, namely, Violeta Neubauer, Theodora Oby Nwankwo, Maria-Helena Pires and Patricia Schulz.

Decision 59/XI

The Committee decided to entrust Nicole Ameline with exploring ways and means for mobilizing extrabudgetary financial resources to support the activities of the Committee and to discuss such modalities at its sixtieth session.

Chapter II

Organizational and other matters

A.States parties to the Convention and to the Optional Protocol

1.On 7 November 2014, the closing date of the fifty-ninth session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the ratification status of the Convention (188 States parties) and the number of States parties (69) having accepted the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention, concerning the Committee’s meeting time, both remained unchanged, each reflecting the same number of States parties as at 18 July 2014, the closing date of the fifty-eighth session of the Committee (see para. 1 of part one of the present report).

2.In the same period, Tajikistan ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention, bringing the total number of States parties to the Optional Protocol to 105 (see paras. 2 and 3 of part one of the present report).

B.Opening of the session

3.The Committee held its fifty-ninth session at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 20 October to 7 November 2014. The Committee held 19 plenary meetings and also held 11 meetings to discuss agenda items 5, 6, 7 and 8. A list of the documents before the Committee is contained in annex II to part two of the present report.

4.At its 1245th meeting, on 20 October 2014, the session was opened by the Chair of the Committee, Nicole Ameline.

C.Adoption of the agenda

5.The Committee adopted the provisional agenda (CEDAW/C/59/1) at its 1245th meeting.

D.Report of the pre-sessional working group

6.The report of the pre-sessional working group (CEDAW/C/PSWG/59/1), which met from 3 to 7 March 2014, was introduced by Pramila Patten at the 1245th meeting.

E.Organization of work

7.On 20 and 27 October 2014, the Committee held closed meetings with representatives of the specialized agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system, as well as other intergovernmental organizations, during which those bodies provided country-specific information and information on the efforts they had made to support the implementation of the Convention.

8.Also on 20 and 27 October 2014, the Committee held informal public meetings with representatives of non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions, who provided information on the implementation of the Convention in the States parties considered by the Committee at its fifty-ninth session.

9.On 20 October 2014, the Committee was briefed by the Director of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development on critical research relating to social development, gender and women’s rights.

10.On 3 November 2014, Ms. Patten briefed the Committee on the meeting of the high-level advisory group for the global study on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), held in New York from 27 to 31 October 2014.

11.On 7 November 2014, the Committee held an informal meeting with representatives of the Inter-Agency Group on CEDAW Reporting (the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund, UNICEF, FAO and UN-Women), including via videoconference.

F.Membership of the Committee

1.Filling of casual vacancies

12.On 18 August 2014, Noor Al-Jehani resigned from the Committee. On 2 September 2014, the Secretary-General requested the Government of Qatar to appoint, within a period of two months, another expert from among its nationals to serve for the remainder of Ms. Al-Jehani’s term. On 30 October 2014, the Government of Qatar informed the Committee of its decision to appoint Bakhita Al‑Dosari to serve as a member of the Committee for the remainder of the term of Ms. Al-Jehani, until 31 December 2016. On 4 November 2014, the Committee decided to approve the appointment of Ms. Al-Dosari, in accordance with article 17, paragraph 7, of the Convention.

13.On 17 September 2014, the Government of Algeria informed the Committee of the passing, on 6 September 2014, of Kheira Mahdjoub-Ouiguini, who had been elected as a member of the Committee on 26 June 2014, for a mandate to begin on 1 January 2015 and to expire on 31 December 2018. On 18 September 2014, the Chair extended the Committee’s condolences to the Permanent Mission of Algeria to the United Nations Office at Geneva. On 25 September 2014, the Secretary-General requested the Government of Algeria to appoint, within a period of two months, another expert from among its nationals to fill the vacancy that had occurred through the death of Ms. Mahdjoub-Ouiguini. On 4 November 2014, the Government of Algeria informed the Committee of its decision to appoint Luiza Chalal to serve as a member of the Committee for the term of the late Ms. Mahdjoub-Ouiguini. On 6 November 2014, the Committee decided to approve the appointment of Ms. Chalal, in accordance with article 17, paragraph 7, of the Convention.

2.Attendance at the fifty-ninth session

14.All members attended the fifty-ninth session, with the exception of Barbara Bailey. The following members did not attend the session on the indicated dates: Ayse Feride Acar, on 20 October and 6 and 7 November 2014; Meriem Belmihoub-Zerdani, from 20 to 27 October 2014; Niklas Bruun, on 21 and 22 October and from 5 to 7 November 2014; Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, from 27 to 31 October and on 7 November 2014; Ismat Jahan, on 20 October 2014; Pramila Patten, from 27 to 31 October 2014; Biancamaria Pomeranzi, from 20 to 24 October 2014; and Dubravka Šimonović, from 20 to 22 October 2014. A list of the members of the Committee, indicating the duration of their terms of office, is contained in annex III to part two of the present report.

Chapter III

Report of the Chair on the activities carried out between the fifty-eighth and fifty-ninth sessions of the Committee

15.At the 1245th meeting, the Chair presented a report on the activities she had carried out since the fifty-eighth session of the Committee.

Chapter IV

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

16.At its fifty-ninth session, the Committee considered the reports of eight States parties submitted under article 18 of the Convention: the seventh periodic report of Belgium; the combined initial and second periodic reports of Brunei Darussalam; the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of China; the combined sixth and seventh periodic reports of Ghana; the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of Guinea; the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of Poland; the combined initial to third periodic reports of Solomon Islands; and the combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of).

17.The Committee adopted concluding observations on each of the reports considered. The concluding observations are available through the Official Document System of the United Nations under the symbols indicated below:

Belgium	(CEDAW/C/BEL/CO/7)
Brunei Darussalam	(CEDAW/C/BRN/CO/1-2)
China	(CEDAW/C/CHN/CO/7-8)
Ghana	(CEDAW/C/GHA/CO/6-7)
Guinea	(CEDAW/C/GIN/CO/7-8)
Poland	(CEDAW/C/POL/CO/7-8)
Solomon Islands	(CEDAW/C/SLB/CO/1-3)
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	(CEDAW/C/VEN/CO/7-8)

18.It is noted that consideration of Solomon Islands, in the absence of a report, had originally been scheduled for the fifty-fourth session. However, on 30 January 2013, the State party submitted its combined initial to third periodic reports, and the consideration was subsequently postponed to the fifty-ninth session so as to allow for the translation of the report and the establishment of an updated list of issues at the meeting of the pre-sessional working group.

Follow-up procedures relating to concluding observations

19.The Committee considered the follow-up reports received from the following States parties:

Brazil	(CEDAW/C/BRA/CO/7/Add.1)
Costa Rica	(CEDAW/C/CRI/CO/5-6/Add.1)
Kenya	(CEDAW/C/KEN/CO/7/Add.1)
Montenegro	(CEDAW/C/MNE/CO/1/Add.1)
Norway	(CEDAW/C/NOR/CO/8/Add.1)

The follow-up reports of the States parties and the Committee’s replies are available from the Official Document System of the United Nations under the symbols indicated above.

20.The Committee also sent first reminders to the following States parties whose follow-up reports were overdue: Guyana, Indonesia, Jamaica, Mexico and Samoa.

21.The Committee sent second reminders to the following States parties whose follow-up reports were overdue: Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Kuwait and Oman.

22.The alternate rapporteur on follow-up met with a representative of South Africa, as the State party’s follow-up report was overdue.

Appointment of a new rapporteur on follow-up and of an alternate rapporteur

23.The term of Barbara Bailey as Rapporteur on follow-up and that of Xiaoqiao Zou as alternate rapporteur were to expire on 31 December 2014. The Committee therefore decided to appoint Xiaoqiao Zou as Rapporteur on follow-up and Hilary Gbedemah as alternate rapporteur, both for a period of two years, until 31 December 2016 (see decision 59/IX).

Chapter V

Activities carried out under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

24.Article 12 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women provides that the Committee shall include in its annual report a summary of its activities carried out under the Optional Protocol.

A.Action taken by the Committee in respect of issues arising under article 2 of the Optional Protocol

25.The Committee discussed activities under the Optional Protocol on 27 October and 3 November 2014.

26.The Committee endorsed the report of the Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol on its thirtieth session (see annex IV to part two of the present report).

27.The Committee adopted final decisions with regard to three individual communications submitted under article 2 of the Optional Protocol. The Committee adopted inadmissibility decisions on communications No. 37/2012 (T.N. et al. v. Denmark), No. 49/2013 (S.O. v. Canada) and No. 59/2013 (Y.C. v. Denmark), by consensus. In addition, it declared admissible one communication (No. 46/2012), with one member dissenting and reserving her right to submit an individual opinion. The final decisions are available through the Official Document System of the United Nations under the symbols CEDAW/C/59/D/37/2012, CEDAW/C/59/D/49/2013 and CEDAW/C/59/D/59/2013, respectively.

B.Follow-up to views of the Committee on individual communications

28.No follow-up progress report was prepared during the reporting period. However, the Committee was informed that during its thirtieth session, the Working Group had discussed the follow-up situation in each case where the follow-up dialogue was ongoing and that it had agreed on the action to be taken. The Committee decided to suspend the follow-up dialogue, finding a non-satisfactory implementation of the Committee’s recommendations with regard to its views on two communications, one concerning the Philippines (No. 18/2008) and another one concerning Belarus (No. 23/2009). It decided that all further follow-up discussions regarding those two cases would take place in the framework of the Committee’s reporting procedure. The Committee did not take a decision to put the follow-up dialogue to an end in any of the remaining cases under follow-up examination. Of the 10 cases that are currently under follow-up examination, one relates to Brazil, three to Bulgaria, and one each to Canada, the Netherlands, Peru, the Philippines, Spain and Turkey. The Committee requested to have a meeting arranged during its sixtieth session with the Permanent Mission of Bulgaria to discuss follow-up matters.

C.Action taken by the Committee in respect of issues arising under article 8 of the Optional Protocol

29.The Committee was briefed on the status of all pending submissions and proceedings under the inquiry procedure.

30.On 26 October 2014, the Committee held an informal retreat to discuss its working methods relating to the inquiry procedure, including the issue of confidentiality of the inquiry procedure and the allocation of adequate meeting time and resources for its work under article 8 of the Optional Protocol.

31.In relation to inquiry No. 2010/1, the Committee decided to defer its decision on the publication of the report of the inquiry to its sixtieth session.

32.In relation to submission No. 2012/1, the Committee decided to request additional information from the State party and from other sources of information on the incidence of the alleged violations in other parts of the State party.

33.In relation to submission No. 2013/1, the Committee decided to conduct an inquiry and to transmit its decision to the State party.

34.In relation to submission No. 2013/2, the Committee decided to request the State party concerned to submit, within two months, observations with regard to the information received by the Committee under article 8 of the Optional Protocol.

35.In relation to submissions Nos. 2014/1 and 2014/2, the Committee in each case decided to extend by two months the time limit for the State party concerned to submit observations with regard to the information received by the Committee under article 8 of the Optional Protocol.

Chapter VI

Ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee

36.During its fifty-ninth session, the Committee considered agenda item 7 on ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee.

Action taken by the Committee under agenda item 7

Enhancing the working methods of the Committee

37.On 20 October 2014, the Chair briefed the Committee about her presentation of the report of the Committee on its fifty-fifth, fifty-sixth and fifty-seventh sessions (A/69/38) to the Third Committee of the General Assembly in New York, on 13 October 2014.

38.On 6 November 2014, the Committee held an informal meeting with the States parties to the Convention, which was attended by 65 States parties. The Committee briefed the States parties on the implementation of the Convention and the Optional Protocol in the context of the outcome of the treaty body strengthening process. Several States parties welcomed the adoption by the Committee of the simplified reporting procedure; some expressed the wish to avail themselves of the procedure for the submission of their periodic reports. Among the other issues discussed were the integration of women’s rights into the post-2015 development agenda and the Committee’s work on violence against women.

Dates of future sessions of the Committee

39.In accordance with the calendar of conferences, the following dates were confirmed for the Committee’s sixtieth and sixty-first sessions and related meetings:

Sixtieth session (Geneva)

(a)All dates remain unchanged (see para. 36 of part one of the present report);

Sixty-first session (Geneva)

(b)Thirty-second session of the Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol: 30 June to 3 July 2015;

(c)First session of the Working Group on Inquiries under the Optional Protocol: 1 to 3 July 2015;

(d)Sixty-first session: 6 to 24 July 2015;

(e)Pre-sessional working group for the sixty-third session: 27 to 30 July 2015.

Reports to be considered at future sessions of the Committee

40.The Committee confirmed that it would consider the reports of the States parties listed below at its sixtieth and sixty-first sessions.

Sixtieth session: See para. 37 of part one of the present report.

Sixty-first session:

Bolivia (Plurinational State of)

Croatia

Gambia

Namibia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Senegal

Spain

Viet Nam

It is noted that the consideration of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, in the absence of a report, had originally been scheduled for the fifty-sixth session. However, the State party submitted its combined fourth to eighth periodic reports on 5 August 2013, and the consideration was subsequently postponed to the sixty-first session, so as to allow for the translation of the report and the establishment of an updated list of issues at the meeting of the pre-sessional working group.

Chapter VII

Implementation of article 21 of the Convention

41.During the fifty-ninth session, the Committee considered agenda item 6 on the implementation of article 21 of the Convention.

Action taken by the Committee under agenda item 6

Joint general recommendation/comment on harmful practices

42.On 3 November 2014, the Committee adopted joint general recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women/general comment No. 18 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on harmful practices (CEDAW/C/GC/31-CRC/C/GC/18), by consensus, in accordance with rule 31 of the rules of procedure of the Committee.

General recommendation on the gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women

43.On 5 November 2014, the Committee adopted general recommendation No. 32 on the gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women (CEDAW/C/GC/32), by consensus, in accordance with rule 31 of the rules of procedure of the Committee.

Working group on access to justice

44.The working group met during the session and finalized the draft general recommendation on women’s access to justice. On 7 November 2014, the Committee completed a first reading of the draft general recommendation.

Working group on gender equality in the context of climate change and natural disasters

45.The working group met during the session and was expanded to include Ayse Feride Acar.

Working group on working methods

46.The working group met during the session and considered and submitted draft decisions to the Committee on the practical modalities for the application of the simplified reporting procedure, the working languages of the Committee, the establishment of a Working Group on Inquiries under the Optional Protocol and the application of the Addis Ababa guidelines (see decision 59/III).

Chapter VIII

Provisional agenda for the sixtieth session

47.On 7 November 2014 the Committee considered and adopted the draft provisional agenda for its sixtieth session (see para. 5 of part two of the present report).

Chapter IX

Adoption of the report

48.The Committee considered the draft report on its fifty-ninth session on 7 November 2014 and adopted the text, as orally revised, during the discussion.

Annex I

Decision 59/VII

Decision of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on the publication of the report of an inquiry

Adopted on 7 November 2014

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women,

Bearing in mind its mandate under article 8 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,

Recalling the powers conferred on the Committee under article 8, paragraph 2, of the Optional Protocol to designate one or more of its members to conduct an inquiry when it receives information indicating grave or systematic violations by a State party of rights under the Convention,

Recalling also that in pursuance of its powers under article 8, paragraph 2, where it is warranted and with the consent of the State party, the inquiry may include a visit to a State party’s territory,

Noting that, pursuant to article 8, paragraph 5, of the Optional Protocol, an inquiry shall be conducted confidentially and that the cooperation of the State party shall be sought at all stages of the proceedings,

Recalling that, pursuant to article 9 of the Optional Protocol, the Committee may invite the State party concerned to include in its report under article 18 of the Convention details of any measures taken in response to an inquiry conducted under article 8 of the Optional Protocol,

Recalling also that pursuant to article 13 of the Optional Protocol, States parties undertake to facilitate access to information about the views and recommendations of the Committee under the Optional Protocol,

Considering that once all proceedings relating to the conduct of an inquiry under article 8 of the Optional Protocol have been completed and after the expiry of the time limit pursuant to article 8, paragraph 4, of the Optional Protocol, no provision in the Optional Protocol precludes the Committee from publishing its full report of an inquiry, setting out its findings, comments and recommendations,

1.Decides to make public, and to publish on the website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights the full report of an inquiry, setting out the Committee’s findings, comments and recommendations, upon completion of all proceedings relating to the conduct of the inquiry and after the expiry of the time limit pursuant to article 8, paragraph 4, of the Optional Protocol;

2.Also decides to request the Secretary-General to transmit the present decision to the States parties to the Convention.

Annex II

Documents before the Committee at its fifty-ninth session

Document number	Title or description
CEDAW/C/59/1	Provisional agenda and annotations
CEDAW/C/59/2	Report of the International Labour Office
CEDAW/C/59/3	Report of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Reports of States parties
CEDAW/C/BEL/7	Seventh periodic report of Belgium
CEDAW/C/BRN/1-2	Combined initial and second periodic reports of Brunei Darussalam
CEDAW/C/CHN/7-8	Combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of China
CEDAW/C/GHA/6-7	Combined sixth and seventh periodic reports of Ghana
CEDAW/C/GIN/7-8	Combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of Guinea
CEDAW/C/SLB/1-3	Combined initial to third periodic reports of Solomon Islands
CEDAW/C/VEN/7-8	Combined seventh and eighth periodic reports of Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Annex III

Membership of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women as at 7 November 2014

Name of member	Country of nationality	Term of office expires on 31 December
Ayse Feride Acar	Turkey	2014

Bakhita Al-Dosari	Qatar	2016
Nicole Ameline	France	2016
Barbara Bailey	Jamaica	2016
Olinda Bareiro-Bobadilla	Paraguay	2014
Meriem Belmihoub-Zerdani	Algeria	2014
Niklas Bruun	Finland	2016
Náela Gabr	Egypt	2014
Hilary Gbedemah	Ghana	2016
Nahla Haidar	Lebanon	2016
Ruth Halperin-Kaddari	Israel	2014
Yoko Hayashi	Japan	2014
Ismat Jahan	Bangladesh	2014
Dalia Leinarte	Lithuania	2016
Violeta Neubauer	Slovenia	2014
Theodora Oby Nwankwo	Nigeria	2016
Pramila Patten	Mauritius	2014
Silvia Pimentel	Brazil	2016
Maria-Helena Pires	Timor-Leste	2014
Biancamaria Pomeranzi	Italy	2016
Patricia Schulz	Switzerland	2014
Dubravka Šimonović	Croatia	2014
Xiaoqiao Zou	China	2016

Annex IV

Report of the Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on its thirtieth session

1.The Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women held its thirtieth session from 15 to 17 October 2014 in Geneva. Four members attended the session (Olinda Bareiro-Bobadilla, Niklas Bruun, Yoko Hayashi and Pramila Patten).

2.At the beginning of the session, the Working Group adopted its agenda.

3.The Working Group decided to register two new communications (Nos. 68/2014 and 69/2014) and to transmit the correspondence to the States parties concerned.

4.During its thirtieth session, the Working Group also reviewed all unregistered correspondence received since its previous session. It took note of the action taken by the secretariat so far and decided on a number of requests for clarifications and/or explanations or for replies to be sent to the authors of such correspondence.

5.The Working Group discussed four draft recommendations in relation to communications Nos. 37/2012, 49/2013, 59/2013 and 46/2012. All four recommendations were adopted by consensus and would be referred to the Committee for adoption.

6.The Working Group members proceeded to an inventory of all case files for the communications for which they had been appointed rapporteurs. The Working Group then reviewed the status of all pending communications registered and had a discussion on each of them.

7.For its thirty-first session, the Working Group requested the secretariat to prepare, on a priority basis, draft recommendations in relation to communications Nos. 48/2012, 50/2013 and 58/2013.

8.The Working Group discussed the status of 12 cases in which the follow-up dialogue with the States parties concerned remained ongoing, namely Brazil (No. 17/2008), Bulgaria (Nos. 20/2008, 31/2011 and 32/2011), Canada (No. 19/2008), the Netherlands (No. 36/2011), Peru (No. 22/2009), the Philippines (No. 34/2011), Spain (No. 47/2012) and Turkey (No. 28/2010). The Working Group decided to recommend that the Committee suspend the follow-up dialogue, with a finding of unsatisfactory resolution of the Committee’s recommendations, in relation to communications Nos. 18/2008 and 23/2009 concerning the Philippines and Belarus, respectively, and to deal with any further information regarding follow-up on these communications in the framework of the reporting procedure under article 18 of the Convention.

9.The Working Group decided to request an informal meeting during the Committee’s sixtieth session with representatives of the Permanent Mission of Bulgaria to discuss follow-up matters.

10.The chair of the Working Group, Ms. Hayashi, expressed her appreciation for the work of the outgoing Working Group members, Ms. Šimonović and Ms. Bareiro-Bobadilla. Ms. Patten, on behalf of the Working Group, thanked the chair and vice‑chair of the Working Group for their work.

Action taken at the thirtieth session

11.At its thirtieth session, the Working Group decided:

(a)To refer for adoption to the Committee recommendations in relation to communications Nos. 37/2012, 49/2013 and 59/2013 (inadmissibility, in all cases), all adopted by consensus;

(b)To refer for adoption to the Committee a recommendation in relation to communication No. 46/2012 (two options — admissibility/inadmissibility), adopted by consensus;

(c)To register two new communications: Nos. 74/2014 (Rapporteur: Niklas Bruun) and 75/2014 (Rapporteur: Olinda Bareiro-Bobadilla);

(d)To request the secretariat to arrange a meeting during the Committee’s sixtieth session with representatives of the Permanent Mission of Bulgaria to the United Nations Office at Geneva to discuss follow-up to the Committee’s views on individual communications concerning the State party.

12.The Working Group decided to hold its thirty-first session on 12 and 13 February 2015 in Geneva.

Part three

Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on its sixtieth session

16 February-6 March 2015

Chapter I

Matters brought to the attention of the States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

Decisions

Decision 60/I

On 16 February 2015, the Committee elected Yoko Hayashi as chair of the Committee.

Decision 60/II

Also on 16 February 2015, the Committee elected the other officers of the Committee, as follows: Barbara Bailey, Vice-Chair; Náela Gabr, Vice-Chair; Dalia Leinarte, Vice-Chair; and Patricia Schulz, Rapporteur.

Decision 60/III

The Committee elected the members of the Working Group on Communications, as follows: Gladys Acosta Vargas, Niklas Bruun, Nahla Haidar, Dalia Leinarte and Pramila Patten.

Decision 60/IV

The Committee elected the members of the working group on inquiries, as follows: Barbara Bailey, Hilary Gbedemah, Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, Ismat Jahan and Lia Nadaraia.

Decision 60/V

On 6 March 2015, the Committee decided to send an open letter to Radhika Coomaraswamy, the lead author for the global study on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security (the letter is available on the website of the Committee).

Decision 60/VI

The Committee decided to adopt the guidance note for States parties on the constructive dialogue with the human rights treaty bodies, as recommended by the twenty-sixth meeting of the Chairs of the human rights treaty bodies, held in Geneva from 23 to 27 June 2014 (see A/69/285, annex I), on the understanding that:

(a)The Committee will continue to hold its constructive dialogues with States parties in two consecutive meetings of up to three hours, taking place on the same day;

(b)The current level of documentation pertaining to State party reviews that is put at the disposal of Committee members in paper format will be maintained and will continue to be made available to them in the future, with no reduction in the types of documents that are placed in hard copy in the documentation boxes in the conference room.

Decision 60/VII

The Committee decided to adopt a framework for concluding observations, as recommended by the twenty-sixth meeting of the chairs of the human rights treaty bodies, held in Geneva from 23 to 27 June 2014 (see A/69/285, annex II), on the understanding that the practice of the Committee is that only issues discussed during the constructive dialogue with the State party concerned may be raised in the concluding observations.

Decision 60/VIII

The Committee, while reaffirming its commitment to the protection of individuals who communicate with the Committee, be it in the context of the procedure for the examination of reports of States parties or under the Optional Protocol, decided to mandate its Chair and Bureau to deal with cases of allegations of ill-treatment, intimidation, harassment or other reprisals against individuals as a consequence of their communicating or seeking to communicate with the Committee. Accordingly, the Committee decided that the Chair, at the request of the Bureau, shall bring any such matter to the attention of the State party concerned and seek from it written explanations and/or clarifications in relation to allegations received that the State party has failed to ensure that individuals under its jurisdiction are not subjected to any such reprisals.

Decision 60/IX

The Committee decided that the following States parties having requested to submit their periodic reports under the simplified reporting procedure and meeting the eligibility criteria stipulated in its decisions 58/II and 59/IV would be considered under that procedure: Belarus (eighth periodic report), Ireland (combined sixth to eighth periodic reports), Israel (sixth periodic report), Luxembourg (combined sixth and seventh periodic reports) and Romania (combined seventh to ninth periodic reports).

Decision 60/X

The Committee decided to hold a half-day general discussion on gender-related dimensions of disaster risk reduction and climate change during its sixty-third session.

Decision 60/XI

The Committee confirmed the members of the pre-sessional working group for the sixty-second session, namely, Barbara Bailey, Nahla Haidar, Dalia Leinarte, Pramila Patten and Patricia Schulz.

Decision 60/XII

On 6 March 2015, the Committee decided to update its General Recommendation No. 19 (1992) on violence against women, with support from the Women’s Human Rights and Gender Section of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and to establish an open-ended working group for that purpose, to be chaired by Ayse Feride Acar and comprising Barbara Bailey, Náela Gabr, Nahla Haidar, Lilian Hofmeister, Dalia Leinarte, Pramila Patten and Silvia Pimentel.

Decision 60/XIII

The working group on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations was expanded to include Dalia Leinarte and Lia Nadaraia, in addition to the existing members: Nicole Ameline, Niklas Bruun, Nahla Haidar, Ismat Jahan, Theodora Oby Nwankwo, Pramila Patten (Chair) and Biancamaria Pomeranzi.

Decision 60/XIV

The working group on working methods was expanded to include Magalys Arocha Dominguez, Luiza Chalal and Lia Nadaraia, in addition to the existing members: Nahla Haidar, Dalia Leinarte, Biancamaria Pomeranzi, Patricia Schulz (Chair) and Xiaoqiao Zou.

Decision 60/XV

The working group on rural women was expanded to include Lilian Hofmeister, in addition to the existing members: Barbara Bailey, Niklas Bruun, Náela Gabr (Chair), Ismat Jahan, Theodora Oby Nwankwo, Biancamaria Pomeranzi and Xiaoqiao Zou.

Decision 60/XVI

The working group on gender-related dimensions of disaster risk reduction and climate change was expanded to include Lilian Hofmeister, in addition to the existing members: Ayse Feride Acar, Hilary Gbedemah, Nahla Haidar, Yoko Hayashi (Chair), Ismat Jahan and Xiaoqiao Zou.

Decision 60/XVII

The working group on the right to education was expanded to include Niklas Bruun, Bakhita Al-Dosari and Luiza Chalal, in addition to the existing members: Ayse Feride Acar, Barbara Bailey (Chair), Náela Gabr, Hilary Gbedemah and Xiaoqiao Zou.

Decision 60/XVIII

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women/United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) working group was expanded to include Gladys Acosta Vargas, Dalia Leinarte and Biancamaria Pomeranzi, in addition to the existing members: Ayse Feride Acar, Nicole Ameline (Chair), Náela Gabr, Nahla Haidar and Silvia Pimentel.

Decision 60/XIX

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women/Inter-Parliamentary Union working group was expanded to include Magalys Arocha and Lia Nadaraia, in addition to the existing members: Nicole Ameline (Chair), Nahla Haidar, Ismat Jahan, Pramila Patten and Patricia Schulz.

Decision 60/XX

The Committee decided to confirm Patricia Schulz and appoint Luiza Chalal as co-focal points on sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Decision 60/XXI

The Committee decided to confirm Theodora Oby Nwankwo as gender and HIV/AIDS focal point.

Decision 60/XXII

The Committee decided to transform its Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women/Human Rights Committee working group into a working group on cooperation with other treaty bodies, with equitable regional representation and open membership, to initiate and maintain regular exchanges with other treaty bodies.

Decision 60/XXIII

The Committee decided to transform its focal points for cooperation with the Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) into a working group on cooperation with regional human rights mechanisms, with equitable regional representation and open membership, to establish and maintain regular contacts and information exchange with regional human rights mechanisms.

Chapter II

Organizational and other matters

A.States parties to the Convention and to the Optional Protocol

1.On 6 March 2015, the closing date of the sixtieth session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the ratification status of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (188 States parties) and the number of States parties (69) having accepted the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention, concerning the Committee’s meeting time, both remained unchanged since 7 November 2014, the closing date of the fifty-ninth session of the Committee (see para. 1 to part two of the present report).

2.In the same period, the ratification status of the Optional Protocol to the Convention (105 States parties) also remained unchanged. (See para. 2 to part two of the present report.)

B.Opening of the session

3.The Committee held its sixtieth session at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 16 February to 6 March 2015. The Committee held 19 plenary meetings and also held 11 meetings to discuss agenda items 5, 6, 7 and 8. A list of the documents before the Committee is contained in annex I to part three of the present report.

4.The session was opened by the outgoing Chair of the Committee, Nicole Ameline, on 16 February 2015, at its 1275th meeting.

C.Adoption of the agenda

5.The Committee adopted the provisional agenda (CEDAW/C/60/1) at its 1275th meeting.

D.Report of the pre-sessional working group

6.The report of the pre-sessional working group (CEDAW/C/PSWG/60/1), which met from 21 to 25 July 2014, was introduced by Xiaoqiao Zou at the 1275th meeting.

E.Organization of work

7.On 16 February 2015, the Committee elected Yoko Hayashi as Chair of the Committee. The following members were also elected as officers of the Committee: Barbara Bailey, Vice-Chair; Náela Gabr, Vice-Chair; Dalia Leinarte, Vice-Chair; and Patricia Schulz, Rapporteur.

8.The following newly elected members of the Committee assumed their duties and took the solemn declaration, as provided for in rule 15 of the rules of procedure of the Committee, on 16 February: Gladys Acosta Vargas, Bakhita Al-Dosari, Magalys Arocha Dominguez, Luiza Chalal, Lilian Hofmeister and Lia Nadaraia.

9.On 16 and 23 February 2015, the Committee held closed meetings with representatives of the specialized agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system, and other intergovernmental organizations, during which those bodies provided country-specific information and information on the efforts they had made to support the implementation of the Convention.

10.Also on 16 and 23 February 2015, the Committee held informal public meetings with representatives of non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions, who provided information about the implementation of the Convention in the States parties considered by the Committee at its sixtieth session.

11.On 16 February, the Committee met with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, and exchanged views on the impact of extremism on women’s rights and the Committee’s working languages and resources.

12.On 5 March 2015, the Committee held an informal meeting with representatives of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to discuss strengthened cooperation, including with regard to the dissemination and implementation of its general recommendation No. 32 (2014) on the gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women.

F.Membership of the Committee

13.All members attended the sixtieth session, with the exception of Theodora Oby Nwankwo. The following members did not attend the session on the indicated dates: Ayse Feride Acar, on 24 February 2015; Bakhita Al-Dosari, from 23 February to 6 March; Nicole Ameline, from 26 February to 2 March and on 4 March; Niklas Bruun, on 19 and 20 February; Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, on 27 February and 5 and 6 March; Yoko Hayashi, from 4 to 6 March; and Ismat Jahan, from 16 to 20 February. A list of members of the Committee, indicating the duration of their terms of office, is contained in annex II to part three of the present report.

Chapter III

Report of the Chair on activities carried out between the fifty-ninth and sixtieth sessions of the Committee

14.At the 1275th meeting, the outgoing Chair, Nicole Ameline, presented her report on the activities that she had carried out since the fifty-ninth session of the Committee.

Chapter IV

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

15.At its sixtieth session, the Committee considered the reports of eight States parties submitted under article 18 of the Convention: the fifth periodic report of Azerbaijan; the eighth periodic report of Denmark; the combined eighth and ninth periodic reports of Ecuador; the fourth and fifth periodic reports of Eritrea; the sixth periodic report of Gabon; the fourth periodic report of Kyrgyzstan; the combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of Maldives; and the combined third and fourth periodic reports of Tuvalu.

16.The Committee adopted concluding observations on each of the reports considered. The concluding observations will be available from the Official Document System of the United Nations under the symbols indicated below:

Azerbaijan	(CEDAW/C/AZE/CO/5)
Denmark	(CEDAW/C/DNK/CO/8)
Ecuador	(CEDAW/C/ECU/CO/8-9)
Eritrea	(CEDAW/C/ERI/CO/5)
Gabon	(CEDAW/C/GAB/CO/6)
Kyrgyzstan	(CEDAW/C/KGZ/CO/4)
Maldives	(CEDAW/C/MDV/CO/4-5)
Tuvalu	(CEDAW/C/TUV/CO/3-4)

Follow-up procedures relating to concluding observations

17.The Committee considered the follow-up reports from the following States parties:

Bahamas	(CEDAW/C/BHS/CO/1-5/Add.1)
Bulgaria	(CEDAW/C/BGR/CO/4-7/Add.1)
Jordan	(CEDAW/C/JOR/CO/5/Add.1)
New Zealand	(CEDAW/C/NZL/CO/7/Add.1)
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	(CEDAW/C/GBR/CO/7/Add.1)
Bahamas	(CEDAW/C/BHS/CO/1-5/Add.1)

18.The Committee sent first reminders to the following States parties whose follow-up reports were overdue: Comoros, Equatorial Guinea and Togo.

19.The Committee sent second reminders to the following States parties whose follow-up reports were overdue: Algeria, the Congo, Grenada and Zimbabwe.

20.The Rapporteur on follow-up met with representatives of Tunisia and Zambia, whose follow-up reports were overdue.

Chapter V

Activities carried out under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

21.Article 12 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention provides that the Committee shall include in its annual report, under article 21 of the Convention, a summary of its activities under the Optional Protocol.

A.Action taken by the Committee in respect of issues arising under article 2 of the Optional Protocol

22.The Committee discussed activities under article 2 of the Optional Protocol on 23 February and 2 March 2015. It endorsed the report of the Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol regarding its thirty-first session (see annex III to part three of the present report).

23.The Committee adopted final decisions with regard to two individual communications submitted under article 2 of the Optional Protocol. It adopted views finding a violation on communication No. 48/2013 (E.S. and S.C. v. United Republic of Tanzania) as well as an inadmissibility decision on communication No. 51/2013 (Y.W. v. Denmark). In addition, it declared admissible one communication (No. 62/2013). All decisions were adopted by consensus. The final decisions will be available from the Official Document System of the United Nations under the symbols CEDAW/C/60/D/48/2013 and CEDAW/C/60/D/51/2013.

B.Follow-up to views of the Committee on individual communications

24.No follow-up progress report was prepared during the reporting period, but the Committee was informed that the Working Group, during its thirty-first session, had discussed the follow-up situation in each case where the follow-up dialogue was ongoing and that it had agreed on the action to be taken. The Committee decided that in all cases under follow-up examination, the follow-up dialogue would continue. Of the 10 cases that are currently under follow-up examination, one relates to Brazil, three to Bulgaria and one each to Canada, the Netherlands, Peru, the Philippines, Spain and Turkey. The Committee requested to have meetings arranged during its sixty-first session with the Permanent Missions of Canada and Peru to discuss follow-up matters.

C.Action taken by the Committee in respect of issues arising under article 8 of the Optional Protocol

25.The Committee was briefed on the status of all pending submissions and proceedings under the inquiry procedure. It decided that pending submissions would be considered by the Working Group on Inquiries established under rule 82 (3) of the rules of procedure of the Committee.

26.In relation to inquiry No. 2010/1 concerning the Philippines, the Committee decided, on 6 March 2015, to make public its full report of the inquiry together with the State party’s observations thereon, should the State party consent to such publication by 20 March 2015. The Committee also decided that, in the absence of such consent, it would include a summary of the inquiry, including the Committee’s findings and recommendations, in its annual report to the General Assembly, in accordance with article 12 of the Optional Protocol.

27.In relation to inquiry No. 2011/1 concerning Canada, the Committee received the observations of the State party on its report of the inquiry and concluded the proceedings under article 8 of the Optional Protocol.

28.In relation to submission No. 2013/1, the Committee decided to extend by two months the time limit for the State party concerned to submit observations with regard to the information received by the Committee under article 8 of the Optional Protocol.

29.In relation to submission No. 2014/1, the Committee decided to conduct an inquiry and to transmit its decision to the State party.

Chapter VI

Ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee

30.During its sixtieth session, the Committee considered agenda item 7 on ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee.

Action taken by the Committee under agenda item 7

Enhancing the working methods of the Committee

31.The secretariat informed the Committee about the status of submission of overdue reports by States parties under article 18 of the Convention.

32.On 17 February 2015, the Committee was briefed on the informal meeting of the chairs of the human rights treaty bodies at Wilton Park, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, from 16 to 18 January 2015, in which the Chair of the Committee had participated.

Dates of future sessions of the Committee

33.In accordance with the calendar of conferences, the following dates were confirmed for the Committee’s sixty-first and sixty-second sessions and related meetings:

Sixty-first session (Geneva)

(a)All dates remain unchanged (see para. 39 of part two of the present report);

Sixty-second session (Geneva)

(b)Thirty-third session of the Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol: 20 to 23 October 2015;

(c)Second session of the Working Group on Inquiries under the Optional Protocol: 21 to 23 October 2015;

(d)Sixty-second session: 26 October to 20 November 2015;

(e)Pre-sessional working group for the sixty-fourth session: 23 to 27 November 2015.

Reports to be considered at future sessions of the Committee

34.The Committee confirmed that it would consider the reports of the following States parties at its sixty-first and sixty-second sessions:

Sixty-first session: see para. 40 of part two of the present report.

Sixty-second session:

Lebanon

Liberia

Madagascar

Malawi

Portugal

Russian Federation

Slovakia

Slovenia

Timor-Leste

United Arab Emirates

Uzbekistan

Yemen

Chapter VII

Implementation of article 21 of the Convention

35.During its sixtieth session, the Committee considered agenda item 6 on the implementation of article 21 of the Convention.

Action taken by the Committee under agenda item 6

Task force on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations

36.The task force met during the session to discuss the Committee’s contribution to the global study on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security.

Working group on access to justice

37.The working group met during the session and further improved the draft general recommendation on women’s access to justice. On 6 March 2015, the Committee held another first reading of the draft general recommendation.

Working group on rural women

38.The working group met during the session and discussed a first draft of the general recommendation, which will be shared with other stakeholders between sessions.

Working group on gender-related dimensions of disaster risk reduction and climate change

39.The working group met with the secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction during the session to discuss coordination and procedures in relation to a draft concept note. It was expected that the concept note would be tabled by the working group for endorsement by the Committee at its sixty-second session. A day of general discussion was tentatively scheduled for the sixty-third session.

Working group on working methods

40.The working group met during the session and considered and submitted to the Committee draft decisions on the adoption of a guidance note for States parties on the constructive dialogue with the human rights treaty bodies and of a framework for concluding observations (see decisions 60/VI and 60/VII).

Chapter VIII

Provisional agenda for the sixty-first session

41.The Committee considered and approved the draft provisional agenda for its sixty-first session on 6 March 2015 (see para. 5 of part three of the present report).

Chapter IX

Adoption of the report

42.The Committee considered the draft report on its sixtieth session on 6 March 2015 and adopted it, as orally revised, during the discussion.

Annex I

Documents before the Committee at its sixtieth session

Document number	Title or description
CEDAW/C/60/1	Provisional agenda and annotations
CEDAW/C/60/2	Report of the International Labour Office
CEDAW/C/60/3	Report of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Reports of States parties
CEDAW/C/AZE/5	Fifth periodic report of Azerbaijan
CEDAW/C/DNK/8	Eighth periodic report of Denmark
CEDAW/C/ECU/8-9	Combined eighth and ninth periodic reports of Ecuador
CEDAW/C/ERI/4 andCEDAW/C/ERI/5	Fourth and fifth periodic reports of Eritrea
CEDAW/C/GAB/6	Sixth periodic report of Gabon
CEDAW/C/KGZ/4	Fourth periodic report of Kyrgyzstan
CEDAW/C/MDV/4-5	Combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of Maldives
CEDAW/C/TUV/3-4	Combined third and fourth periodic reports of Tuvalu

Annex II

Membership of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women as at 6 March 2015

Name of member	Country of nationality	Term of office expires on 31 December
Ayse Feride Acar	Turkey	2018
Gladys Acosta Vargas	Peru	2018
Bakhita Al-Dosari	Qatar	2016
Nicole Ameline	France	2016
Magalys Arocha Dominguez	Cuba	2018
Barbara Bailey (Vice-Chair)	Jamaica	2016
Niklas Bruun	Finland	2016
Luiza Chalal	Algeria	2018
Náela Gabr (Vice-Chair)	Egypt	2018
Hilary Gbedemah	Ghana	2016
Nahla Haidar	Lebanon	2016
Ruth Halperin-Kaddari	Israel	2018
Yoko Hayashi (Chair)	Japan	2018
Lilian Hofmeister	Austria	2018
Ismat Jahan	Bangladesh	2018
Dalia Leinarte (Vice-Chair)	Lithuania	2016
Lia Nadaraia	Georgia	2018
Theodora Oby Nwankwo	Nigeria	2016
Pramila Patten	Mauritius	2018
Silvia Pimentel	Brazil	2016
Biancamaria Pomeranzi	Italy	2016
Patricia Schulz (Rapporteur)	Switzerland	2018
Xiaoqiao Zou	China	2016

Annex III

Report of the Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on its thirty-first session

1.The Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women held its thirty-first session on 12 and 13 February 2015 in Geneva. Five members attended the session (Niklas Bruun, Nahla Haidar, Dalia Leinarte, Pramila Patten and Silvia Pimentel). Mr. Bruun was elected Chair of the Working Group for the session.

2.At the beginning of the session, the Working Group adopted its agenda.

3.The Working Group decided to register one new communication (No. 82/2015) and to transmit the correspondence to the State party concerned. It also decided that the Rapporteur for the communication would be assigned at the plenary meeting of the Committee.

4.During its thirty-first session, the Working Group reviewed all unregistered correspondence processed since its previous session. It took note of the action taken by the secretariat to date and decided on a number of requests for clarifications and/or explanations or replies to be sent to the authors of such correspondence.

5.The Working Group discussed three draft recommendations in relation to communications Nos. 48/2012, 51/2013 and 62/2013. The first two recommendations were adopted by consensus and would be referred to the Committee for adoption. The Working Group discussed the third communication at length and requested the secretariat to finalize the draft recommendation, to be further examined by the Working Group before its consideration by the Committee.

6.For its thirty-second session, the Working Group requested the secretariat to prepare, on a priority basis, draft recommendations in relation to communications Nos. 24/2009, 45/2012, 50/2013 and 52/2013.

7.The Working Group discussed the status of 10 cases in which the follow-up dialogue with the States parties concerned remained ongoing, namely Brazil (No. 17/2008), Bulgaria (Nos. 20/2008, 31/2011 and 32/2011), Canada (No. 19/2008), the Netherlands (No. 36/2012), Peru (No. 22/2009), the Philippines (No. 34/2011), Spain (No. 47/2012) and Turkey (No. 28/2010).

8.The Working Group decided to request informal meetings during the Committee’s sixty-first session (to be held from 6 to 24 July 2015) to discuss follow-up matters with representatives of the Permanent Missions of Canada and Peru to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

Action taken at the thirty-first session

9.The Working Group decided:

(a)To refer for adoption to the Committee a recommendation in relation to communication No. 48/2013 (views, violation), by consensus;

(b)To refer for adoption to the Committee a recommendation in relation to communication No. 51/2013 (inadmissibility), by consensus;

(c)To refer for adoption to the Committee a recommendation in relation to communication No. 62/2013 (admissibility), by consensus;

(d)To register one new communication (No. 82/2015);

(e)To request the secretariat to arrange meetings during the Committee’s sixty-first session with representatives of the Permanent Missions of Canada and Peru to the United Nations Office at Geneva in order to discuss follow-up to the Committee’s views on individual communications concerning those States parties.

10.The Working Group decided to hold its thirty-second session from 30 June to 3 July 2015 in Geneva.

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