Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Ninety-second session
Summary record of the 2178th meeting
Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on Monday, 2 February 2026, at 10 a.m.
Chair:Ms. Haidar
Contents
Opening of the session
Statement by the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Adoption of the agenda and organization of work
Report of the Chair on activities undertaken between the ninety-first and ninety-second sessions of the Committee
Follow-up to the consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of the Convention
The meeting was called to order at 10.05 a.m.
Opening of the session
The Chair declared open the ninety-second session of the Committee.
Statement by the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Mr. Cissé-Gouro (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights) said that the current session had originally been scheduled for October 2025 but had regrettably been postponed owing to the liquidity crisis facing the United Nations. The Committee was meeting at a very difficult time for multilateralism and human rights, including women’s rights. Around the world, 10% of women lived in extreme poverty, a figure that had not improved since 2020. A total of 26.1% of women faced food insecurity, compared to 24.2% of men. The education of too many girls ended abruptly and nearly one in five girls married before reaching the age of 18. In addition, one in eight women aged between 15 and 49 years had been subjected to intimate partner violence in 2024. However, in places where strong laws, protection systems and support services were in place, those rates were 2.5 times lower.
Around 708 million women were excluded from the labour market because they were undertaking unpaid care work. Women made up only about 29% of the global technology workforce and nearly 28% of women’s jobs were at risk from artificial intelligence, compared to 21% of men’s. At the same time, severe reductions in global aid had forced front-line women’s rights and civil society groups to reduce or close essential services, including shelters, legal aid services, and psychosocial support and prevention programmes for survivors of gender-based violence. Cuts to the World Health Organization and health programmes had deprived millions of women and girls of access to essential health services, including maternal health services.
In 2024, around 676 million women and girls had lived within 50 km of a deadly conflict, at a time when budget cuts had severely impacted the provision of humanitarian aid, including to women and girls. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at the end of 2025, less than 70% of the $46 billion needed to meet global humanitarian needs had been received, representing a 40% reduction compared to 2024. In the face of that situation, he called on all governments, donors and partners to urgently renew their commitment to protecting women’s and girls’ human rights and to combating gender‑based violence and restoring essential services.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) was committed to building partnerships in order to advance human rights. In the coming months, the High Commissioner would be launching a global alliance for human rights. The establishment of the alliance was a large-scale, long-term initiative whose purpose was to put human rights back at the heart of political leadership, public debate and everyday life. The global alliance would bring together governments, civil society, young people, artists, scientists, businesses, philanthropic organizations and the entire United Nations system to defend human rights, inspire collective action and strengthen the global human rights ecosystem. Its goal was to renew the promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and build a world in which accountability, dignity and justice defined relationships between people and institutions.
The work of the treaty bodies had never been more important, yet they were facing unprecedented constraints. In 2025, more than 30% of meeting time had been lost, resulting in major delays and the cancellation of State Party reviews and pre-sessional meetings of working groups. That situation, coupled with the fall in the submission of State Party reports in 2025, had serious consequences for the functioning of the entire treaty body system. In 2026, the resource situation was expected to remain very difficult, with further cuts being made to both post- and non-post resources, resulting in fewer meetings, fewer conferences, fewer conference services, and, ultimately, less impact.
The High Commissioner had repeatedly warned that, if the current trend continued, the system would risk reaching a point of no return. He had called for solutions and innovative ideas, particularly in connection with the UN80 Initiative. OHCHR was doing everything in its power to support the Committee and the other treaty bodies, in particular by highlighting the direct impact that resource constraints had on the protection of human rights on the ground.
With regard to the work of the Human Rights Council, the Council’s annual high‑level meeting on human rights mainstreaming would take place on 23 February 2026 during its sixty-first session. The meeting would focus on the role of new and emerging technologies in preventing and eliminating female genital mutilation and would explore how digital technology could be a tool for facilitating access to services and information that delinked female genital mutilation from culture and religion. It would also consider how such technology could help to raise awareness of gender equality, discrimination and the discriminatory social and gender norms at the root of harmful practices, while bridging the gender digital divide, protecting women human rights defenders from online violence and safeguarding women’s and girls’ right to privacy in digital spaces. At the Council’s sixty‑second session, to be held in June and July 2026, it would be holding its annual full‑day discussion on the human rights of women, with one panel focusing on domestic violence and the other on women’s participation and representation in public decision-making, including in international affairs.
The Chair said that she would be grateful if OHCHR would consider enhancing the number of staff allocated to the secretariat so that the Committee could carry out its work more effectively.
Mr. Safarov said that it was necessary to consider the challenges that civil society organizations were facing. In recent sessions, there had been meetings in which no NGOs or members of civil society had participated. In the current session, some of the dialogues with States Parties would not involve any participation by NGOs. There was no future for human rights without NGOs and civil society organizations. In the light of that situation, he wondered how NGOs could continue contributing to the human rights system over the coming years.
Almost four years had passed since the outbreak of the conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Almost 6 million refugees, 90% of whom were women and children, had fled the conflict. In view of that situation, he wondered what new initiatives would be launched by OHCHR to support the refugees. He also wished to know how digital technology could be used to support the work of the United Nations and what challenges might be faced in using such technology over the next two years.
Ms. Stott Despoja said that she would welcome assurances that the Committee would be able to hold at least two sessions in 2026 so that it could address the many egregious violations of women’s and girls’ rights that were happening around the world.
Ms. González Ferrer said that she wished to know how the proposed global alliance for human rights would benefit the treaty bodies.
Mr. Cissé-Gouro (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights) said that OHCHR would leave no stone unturned in its efforts to ensure that the Committee could fulfil its mandate. However, only so much could be done without resources. At the current point in time, the staff were exhausted and the Member States were not paying their contributions. The aim of OHCHR was for the Committee to hold three sessions in 2026 but it was too early to say whether that would be possible.
The global alliance for human rights would be open to Member States, civil society organizations and individuals. OHCHR was currently preparing a concept note on the alliance that it would share with the Committee as soon as it was ready. With regard to digitalization, a non-paper that would set out ideas on how to strengthen the treaty body system, including through the use of digital technology, was currently being drafted.
Adoption of the agenda and organization of work ( CEDAW/C/92/1 )
The agenda was adopted.
Report of the Chair on activities undertaken between the ninety-first and ninety‑second sessions of the Committee
The Chair, welcoming the members of the Committee, said that, since the previous session, the number of States Parties to the Convention had remained unchanged at 189. On 17 July 2025, Estonia had accepted the amendment to article 20 (1) of the Convention, bringing the total number of States Parties that had accepted the amendment to 83. The amendment would have to be accepted by 126 States Parties to enter into force.
On 17 July 2025, Estonia had acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention, bringing the number of States Parties to the Optional Protocol to 116. The Committee had received periodic reports from Bangladesh, Egypt, Israel, Malta, Mauritius, the Russian Federation and Zambia. Since the Committee had decided to make the simplified reporting procedure the default procedure for the submission of State Party reports, 14 States Parties had indicated that they wished to maintain the traditional reporting procedure.
On 8 and 9 September 2025, she had participated as a panellist in an interactive dialogue on Afghanistan organized by the Human Rights Council, during which she had discussed aspects of the Committee’s dialogue with Afghanistan and encouraged the Council to refer to the Committee’s concluding observations. The Council had approved the establishment of an independent investigative mechanism for Afghanistan.
On 18 September 2025, she had met with the Minister of Women’s Affairs of the State of Palestine to discuss the dire situation of women and girls in Gaza and the impact of the occupation on the implementation of the Convention. On 22 September 2025, she had delivered a statement at the high-level meeting on the thirtieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. On the invitation of the President of the General Assembly, she had attended a high-level working dinner at which she had met women leaders from within and outside the United Nations system.
On 10 October 2025, she had presented a pre-recorded video statement on the advancement of women at the interactive dialogue of the Third Committee. She was grateful to Ms. Reddock for having ably responded to the questions posed by Member States during the interactive dialogue. In Beijing, she had taken part in the Global Leaders Meeting on Gender Equality and Empowerment, which had been held to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
From 15 to 17 October 2025, she had participated in the sixth annual “Faith for Rights” meeting in Bangkok, where she had spoken on two panels. On 22 and 23 October 2025, she had attended the fourth Ministerial Conference on Feminist Foreign Policies in Paris, a high-level international event dedicated to reaffirming the collective commitment of States and their partners to upholding women’s rights and promoting gender equality.
On 28 October 2025, she had participated as a panellist in a high-level workshop to launch a consultative dialogue process on engaging with Islamic philanthropy to improve protection outcomes for displaced women. The event had been hosted by the University of Birmingham, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Qatar Charity in Geneva. The panel discussion had focused on the protection of women against sexual violence in displacement settings.
On 30 October 2025, she had met with Ambassador Ivars Pundurs of Latvia to express the Committee’s concern about the motion of the Saeima (Latvian Parliament) to withdraw from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention). On 31 October 2025, she had participated in a high-level panel discussion to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women and peace and security. The event had been hosted by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), OHCHR and the permanent missions of Chile, Colombia, Japan and Switzerland in Geneva.
On 5 November 2025, she and Ms. Schläppi had attended the second meeting of the Advisory Board on Gender Equality of the President of the Human Rights Council. Later in the month, at a forum on women in sports convened by the National Human Rights Council of Morocco, she had given a presentation on sport, social inclusion and the fight against discrimination. On 5 and 6 December 2025, she had participated in the informal meeting of the Chairs and members of the human rights treaty bodies organized by the Geneva Human Rights Platform in cooperation with OHCHR. As many of the discussions had related to the harmonization of the working methods of the treaty bodies, the meeting had also been attended by Ms. Dettmeijer-Vermeulen in her capacity as Chair of the Committee’s Working Group on Working Methods.
On 9 January 2026, she had given a lecture on international humanitarian law in the current context and its impact on women and girls at the Academic University College for Non-Violence and Human Rights in Lebanon. Lastly, on 20 January 2026, she had met with the Minister of the Interior of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Mr. Rebar Ahmed Khalid, to discuss the implementation of the Convention in the Region and the Committee’s forthcoming review of Iraq, which would take place during the session.
Ms. Rana said that, on 26 and 27 August 2025, she had appeared as a keynote speaker at the Asia-Pacific Civil Society Regional Convening, hosted by the Australian Civil Society Coalition on Women and Peace and Security in Brisbane, where she had addressed the reigniting of the women and peace and security agenda in response to growing conflict and climate crisis. From 15 to 18 September 2025, she had attended the fifth World Conference on Women’s Shelters in Sydney, where she had given the keynote presentation on breaking barriers, dismantling gender stereotypes, and the Committee’s role in addressing structural barriers to equality and protection. During the same event, she had led a follow-up workshop on creating a world free from gender-based violence and dismantling gender stereotypes in the light of the Committee’s draft general recommendation No. 41 on gender stereotypes.
On 29 September 2025, she had been the keynote speaker at the Summit on Action for Gender Equality, which had been hosted by the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the accession to the Convention by Singapore. On 3 November 2025, she had participated as a remote speaker in a session on human rights education at the second World Summit for Social Development in Qatar. On 20 November 2025, she had attended a conference on feminism and justice in Luxembourg, where she had discussed how the Committee’s principles and vision of substantive equality could help to shape and strengthen feminist foreign policy frameworks.
On 4 and 5 December 2025, she had attended the regional consultation for Eastern Europe, South Caucasus, Western Balkans and Central Asia on the development of the Committee’s draft general recommendation No. 41 on gender stereotypes. On 27 and 29 January 2026, she had attended an event organized by UN-Women where she had spoken about the Committee’s general recommendation No. 30 (2013) on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations. Lastly, she had attended the Asia-Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting on the Seventieth Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, where she had spoken about dismantling discriminatory laws, presenting progress made, and persistent challenges affecting the Committee’s review procedure.
Ms. Mikko said that, on 11 September 2025 in Lima, she had attended a conference organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union to speak about the Committee’s general recommendation No. 40 (2024) on the equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making systems. On 24 and 25 October 2025, she had given one of the keynote addresses at a conference for women politicians. On 22 October 2025, in Geneva, she had attended a seminar on men’s role in combating harmful stereotypes, organized by the Inter‑Parliamentary Union. On 4 and 5 December 2025 in Istanbul, together with Ms. Jarbussynova and Ms. Rana,she had attended a regional consultation on the Committee’s draft general recommendation No. 41. Lastly, on 13 December 2025 in Madrid, she had given a presentation on behalf of the Committee at the “HearUs” conference in support of Afghan women.
Ms. Hacker said that, on 12 December 2025, she had been invited by the German Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to give a keynote speech at an event celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the ratification of the Convention by Germany. The interesting and uplifting event had turned into a profound discussion among experts from different fields on equality for women in Germany, past achievements and future missions.
Ms. Akizuki said that, on 25 July 2025, she had given a keynote speech on the necessity of national human rights institutions at a symposium organized by the Japan NGO Network for the Committee, Optional Protocol CEDAW Action and the Japanese Association of International Women’s Rights. On 5 September 2025, she had participated in a study group on the implementation of the individual communication mechanism and had given a lecture on the significance of the individual communication procedure from the Committee’s perspective.
On 19 September 2025, she had given a lecture on the global trend in gender equality and the current situation in Japan at an event organized by the Twenty-First Century Foundation for Women’s Empowerment. On 7 December 2025, she had given a lecture on the advancement of gender equality in Japan at a seminar organized by the Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women and the Kitakyushu Gender Equality Centre. Lastly, she and other Japanese international human rights lawyers had decided to publish a Japanese-language compilation of individual communications submitted to the Committee.
Ms. Stott Despoja said that she had participated as a panellist in the fifth World Conference on Women’s Shelters, where Ms. Rana had given an excellent speech on the role of the Committee and its applicability to women’s rights in general and to the elimination of violence against women in particular. She had been the Royal Commissioner of the historic Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence, initiated by the state government of South Australia. The Commission had issued a number of recommendations based on best international practices, including those of the Committee. The state government of South Australia had accepted 129 of the 136 recommendations issued.
Mr. Safarov said that, in June 2025, he had spoken at a conference on protecting children in the digital environment and joint actions against digital threats. In the same month, he had participated in panel discussions on the family organized by the Organization of Turkic States. Subsequently, he had participated as a speaker and jury member at a conference on women’s digital literacy organized as part of a digital literacy programme implemented by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). He had also helped to draft a concept note for the programme.
He had taken part in a number of conferences on digital security, the digital environment, smart cities and training sessions on gender equality, including as a trainer. On 17 October 2025, he had spoken at the third Safe Sport Forum, which had been organized by the Safe Sport Unit of the International Olympic Committee and national Olympic committees. He had also participated in conferences on transparency and digital reforms for the rights of women and children and training sessions for the Family Research Institute in Ankara, Turkey. Lastly, he had represented the Committee at a conference on the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations and those of the Committee on the Rights of the Child in Azerbaijan.
Ms. Peláez Narváez said that, as a member of the Working Group on Inquiries, she, along with Ms. Tisheva and Ms. Eghobamien-Mshelia, had undertaken work on an inquiry under article 8 of the Optional Protocol. A group of experts attached to UN-Women had requested that she write a paper on access to justice for women with disabilities in preparation for the seventieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
As a former Chair of the Committee, she had represented the Committee at two events organized by the Universal Rights Group: the Oslo+5 meeting of international development partners on ensuring effective results in times of change, held in Helsinki on 29 and 30 September 2025, and the eleventh Glion Human Rights Dialogue on the theme “Beijing at 30: Mobilizing the United Nations human rights system to accelerate progress towards gender equality and the full enjoyment of the rights of women and girls”. She had also participated in preparing the Committee’s general recommendation No. 42 on the rights of women and girls with disabilities.
Ms. de Silva de Alwis said that Cambridge University Press had invited her to publish a case book on global gender justice. The publication would consist of a comparative critical analysis of over 400 court decisions on gender that had either progressively shaped the domestic legal system or rolled back prior gains. Many of the progressive case decisions had been informed by the Convention and other human rights treaties. The analysis undertaken in the book would involve a critical assessment of the enduring value of the Convention as an interpretive tool in judicial decision-making.
Ms. Eghobamien-Mshelia said that, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), she had been invited to a round table in Nigeria to discuss the Third National Action Plan on the resolution, which had been issued in December 2025. With the support of the Chair and the secretariat, she had helped to organize a side event at the fourteenth Forum on Business and Human Rights that had looked at new frontiers of business and gender equality, strengthening partnerships and action to promote digital equality and accountability to the Committee. The event had been very well attended and well received.
Ms. Barriteau said that, on 4 and 6 November 2025, she had participated in two panels at the second World Summit on Social Development, where she had given presentations on different aspects of decent employment. In October 2025, at a meeting of the High-level Advisory Board on Economic and Social Affairs, she had participated in discussions on shaping the next sustainable development agenda and had given a presentation on the new economics of social inclusion. On 9 September 2025, she had delivered a workshop at the Open University on navigating research publications and outreach in the academy as part of the 100 Black Women Professors NOW Programme. She had also published a blog post for the Department of Economic and Social Affairs on the culture shift on gender equality required to achieve sustainable development.
Ms. Reddock said that, on 7 October 2025, she had given a presentation at an expert group meeting in Peru. On 7 November 2025, she and a colleague had given a briefing on the Committee’s draft general recommendation No. 41 at the sixty-seventh meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Santiago, Chile. She had also given a presentation at an expert workshop on draft general recommendation No. 41, organized by the University of Bern.
In Mexico City, at the sixteenth Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, she had given a presentation on a publication entitled “The Care Society: A Horizon for Sustainable Recovery with Gender Equality”, published by theEconomic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Lastly, at Stony Brook University in New York, she had given a presentation on Muslim women’s struggle to reclaim masjid space in Trinidad and Tobago.
Ms. Toledo Vásquez said that, in December 2025, she had participated in a meeting organized by the University of Buenos Aires to receive input for the drafting of the Committee’s general recommendation No. 41. At the meeting of experts mentioned by Ms. Peláez Narváez, she had prepared a presentation on femicide for the seventieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. She had helped to organize two activities in Barcelona to receive input from civil society for the Committee’s forthcoming addendum to general recommendation No. 24 (1999) on women and health. In December 2025, she had attended an international forum held to commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non‑custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules). At the forum, she had given a presentation on the links between the Convention and the Bangkok Rules.
Ms. Al- Shukairi said that, on 9 September 2025, she had participated in a meeting on the impact of climate change on the Indigenous Peoples of the United Arab Emirates. In December 2025, she had represented the Committee at an international conference on persons with disabilities. On 15 December 2025, in Muscat, she had participated in an event held to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of the United Nations. In collaboration with the Committee on the Rights of the Child, she had developed a training programme for human rights staff in Oman. The programme had been approved and allocated a budget and would be implemented in 2026. In October 2025, in accordance with the principles of objectivity and independence, she had stepped down from the national committee responsible for following up on the implementation of the Convention in Oman, for which she had worked since 2007.
Ms. Akia said that she had met with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to discuss the Committee’s work in narrowing the digital and electricity gap and promoting substantive equality for inclusive development for women and girls in Africa. At a meeting of the African Union in Addis Ababa, she had spoken about the work of the Committee, including its general recommendation No. 40 (2024) and its draft general recommendation No. 41.
She had been invited by the Government of Ghana to give a keynote address on women’s and girls’ right to justice at an event held to launch Legal Aid Week in Ghana. In order to foster intergenerational exchanges on women’s and girls’ rights under international law, including the Convention, she had interacted with over 15 students from schools and universities in different countries around the world, including Canada, Uganda, the United States of America, South Africa and Kenya. Lastly, she had given a keynote address on women’s reproductive autonomy, among other matters.
M s . Jarbussynova said that, on 15 July 2025, she had given a briefing on the Committee’s activities at the request of the UN-Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia. On 17 July 2025, she had moderated and chaired a side event on the rights of women with disabilities at the high-level political forum on sustainable development in New York. In November 2025, she had attended the Global South Women’s Forum organized by International Women’s Rights Action Watch.
Ms. Schläppi said that, on 19 November 2025, she had contributed to a global consultation on the guidelines issued by OHCHR on preventing and responding to child and forced marriage. The Government of Liechtenstein had invited her to participate in a panel on the Committee’s reporting process. Lastly, she had been invited to the Federal Office for Gender Equality of Switzerland to discuss the implementation of the Committee’s concluding observations in Switzerland.
Follow-up to the consideration of reports submitted by States Parties under article 18 of the Convention
Ms. Pia-Comella, speaking in her capacity as Alternate Rapporteur for follow-up to concluding observations, said that, at the end of its ninety-first session, the Committee had sent letters outlining the assessment of follow-up reports to Armenia, Bahrain, Finland, Georgia, Mongolia, Namibia, Norway and the United Arab Emirates. Reminder letters had been sent to Costa Rica, Hungary and Mauritania, as their follow-up reports had been scheduled for consideration at the ninety-first session but had not yet been received. During the current session, the Committee would consider follow-up reports from Germany, Guatemala, Slovenia and Uruguay, all of which had been received on time; from Bhutan, received one month late; from Costa Rica and Tunisia, both received more than two months late; from Hungary and Ukraine, both received five months late; and from Honduras, received six months late. She wished to thank the country rapporteurs for their valuable contributions to the inter-sessional preparation of the seven follow-up assessments developed in October 2025 and she invited them to review the follow-up reports one last time.
Three further follow-up assessments were due to be finalized during the current session. She therefore invited the country rapporteurs for Bhutan, Guatemala and Uruguay to assist in the assessment of the follow-up reports. Reminder letters regarding the submission of follow-up reports should be sent to Albania, China, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, France, Iceland, Jamaica, Malawi, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Sao Tome and Principe, Timor-Leste and Spain. In accordance with the decision taken by the Committee at its eighty‑fourth session in February 2023, the Committee would proceed to review the assessment of the follow-up procedure for the period 2023–2025. The review had initially been scheduled for October 2025 but had been delayed owing to the postponement of the ninety-second session.
The meeting rose at 11.20 a.m.