Pre-sessional working group

Ninety-first session

Geneva, 28 October–1 November 2024

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

Report of the pre-sessional working group

1.It is the practice of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to convene a pre-sessional working group for five days to prepare lists of issues and questions relating to the periodic reports that will be considered by the Committee at an upcoming session.

2.The Committee decided that the pre-sessional working group for its ninety-first session would meet from 28 October to 1 November 2024, immediately after the eighty-ninth session, in order to ensure that sufficient time would be available to States parties to submit their written replies to the lists of issues and questions and to ensure their timely translation.

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

Brenda Akia

Dalia Leinarte

Bandana Rana

Rhoda Reddock

4.Daphna Hacker had been designated as a member of the pre-sessional working group but was unable to attend the session due to an urgent situation.

5.The pre-sessional working group elected Ms. Akia as its Chair.

6.The pre-sessional working group prepared lists of issues and questions in relation to the reports of Botswana, Cabo Verde, Czechia, El Salvador and Lesotho, in addition to lists of issues and questions prior to the submission of the reports of Equatorial Guinea, Libya and Malta under the simplified reporting procedure. The pre-sessional working group was guided by Committee decisions 49/IX, 59/IV and 64/II, according to which the Committee decided to limit lists of issues and questions and lists of issues and questions prior to reporting to 20 and 25 paragraphs, respectively. However, in practice and exceptionally, some lists of issues and questions contain a maximum of 23 paragraphs.

7.To assist in the preparation of the lists of issues and questions, the pre-sessional working group had at its disposal electronic versions of the core documents of the States parties listed above, with the exception of Botswana and Malta. It also had at its disposal the reports of the States parties listed above, with the exception of Equatorial Guinea, Libya and Malta, which will submit their periodic reports in response to the lists of issues and questions prior to reporting. It further had before it the general recommendations adopted by the Committee; draft lists of issues and questions and lists of issues and questions prior to reporting prepared by the secretariat; and other pertinent information, including concluding observations of the Committee and other treaty bodies, as relevant. In preparing the lists, the pre sessional working group paid particular attention to the States parties’ follow-up to the concluding observations of the Committee on their previous reports.

8.The pre-sessional working group benefited from written and oral information submitted by entities of the United Nations system, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations with regard to the States parties listed above.

9.The lists of issues and questions and lists of issues and questions prior to reporting adopted by the pre-sessional working group were transmitted to the States parties concerned and are contained in the following documents:

(a)List of issues and questions in relation to the fifth periodic report of Botswana (CEDAW/C/BWA/Q/5);

(b)List of issues and questions in relation to the tenth periodic report of Cabo Verde (CEDAW/C/CPV/Q/10);

(c)List of issues and questions in relation to the seventh periodic report of Czechia (CEDAW/C/CZE/Q/7);

(d)List of issues and questions in relation to the tenth periodic report of El Salvador (CEDAW/C/SLV/Q/10);

(e)List of issues and questions prior to the submission of the seventh periodic report of Equatorial Guinea (CEDAW/C/GNQ/QPR/7);

(f)List of issues and questions in relation to the combined fifth to seventh periodic reports of Lesotho (CEDAW/C/LSO/Q/5-7);

(g)List of issues and questions prior to the submission of the combined sixth to ninth periodic reports of Libya (CEDAW/C/LBY/QPR/6-9);

(h)List of issues and questions prior to the submission of the combined fifth to seventh periodic reports of Malta (CEDAW/C/MLT/QPR/5-7).

10.In accordance with Committee decisions 22/IV, 25/II and 31/III, the lists of issues and questions were focused on themes addressed by the Convention, as well as on the linkages between relevant themes and the Sustainable Development Goals. Those themes included the legislative framework, discriminatory laws and the definition of discrimination against women; the legal status and visibility of the Convention, the Optional Protocol thereto and the general recommendations of the Committee; reservations to the Convention; women’s rights and gender equality in relation to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, recovery efforts and global crises; women’s access to justice and legal complaint mechanisms; national machineries for the advancement of women; national human rights institutions; women human rights defenders; temporary special measures for the advancement of women; stereotypes; harmful practices; gender-based violence against women and girls; crimes in the name of so-called honour; trafficking in women and girls and exploitation of prostitution; the equal participation of women in political and public life; women and peace and security; nationality; education; employment; health; HIV/AIDS; economic empowerment; rural women; climate change and disaster risk reduction; equality in marriage and family relations; data collection; and intersecting forms of discrimination faced by disadvantaged groups of women, such as older women, women with disabilities, Indigenous women, women in detention, internally displaced women, asylum-seeking and refugee women, migrant women and lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex women.