Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Forty-eighth session
Summary record of the 976th meeting*
Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on Friday, 4 February 2011, at 11 a.m.
Chairperson:Ms. Pimentel
Contents
Adoption of the report of the Committee on its forty-eighth session
Provisional agenda for the forty-ninth session of the Committee
Statement by the Chairperson
Closure of the session
The meeting was called to order at 12.40 p.m.
Adoption of the report of the Committee on its forty-eighth session (CEDAW/C/2011/I/L.1; CEDAW/C/BGD/CO/7, CEDAW/C/BLR/CO/7, CEDAW/C/ISR/CO/5, CEDAW/C/KEN/CO/7, CEDAW/C/LIE/CO/4, CEDAW/C/ZAF/CO/4 and CEDAW/C/LKA/CO/7; CEDAW/C/2011/I/CRP)
Ms. Awori (Rapporteur) introduced document CEDAW/C/2011/I/L.1, containing chapters II and III of the Committee’s draft report, and the draft concluding observations on the reports by States parties that the Committee had considered during its forty-eighth session (CEDAW/C/BGD/CO/7, CEDAW/C/BLR/CO/7, CEDAW/C/ISR/CO/5, CEDAW/C/KEN/CO/7, CEDAW/C/LIE/CO/4, CEDAW/C/ZAF/CO/4 and CEDAW/C/LKA/CO/7).
Mr. Smith (Secretary of the Committee) said that the first and second sentences of section F of document (CEDAW/C/2011/I/L.1) would be amended to read: “All members attended the forty-eighth session, except Ms. Jaising and Ms. Pires. Ms. Zou Xiaoqiao was not able to attend the first week of the session.”
The Chairperson said that she took it that the Committee wished to adopt the sections of the draft report contained in document CEDAW/C/2010/I/L.1, as amended, and the draft concluding observations on the reports by States parties considered at the session.
It was so decided.
Ms. Awori (Rapporteur) introduced the draft report of the Working Group of the Whole (CEDAW/C/2011/I/CRP), which described the actions taken by the Committee under items 6 and 7 of the provisional agenda (CEDAW/C/48/1).
Mr. Smith (Secretary of the Committee) said that in chapter I, at the end of the paragraph on Decision 48/VII, the list of names of members of the working group on access to justice, as currently indicated on the last page of the document, would be inserted. Ms. Popescu’s name would be added to that list. At the end of the paragraph on Decision 48/VIII, the list of names of members of the working group on harmful practices, as currently indicated on the last page of the document, would be inserted. In chapter IV, in the penultimate paragraph of the section entitled “Follow-up procedures relating to concluding observations”, Kyrgyzstan would be added to the list of countries whose follow-up reports were overdue. In the last paragraph of that section, the reference to “reminders” would be changed to “second reminders” and the reference to “overdue reports” would be changed to “overdue follow-up reports”.
In chapter V, paragraph C, the phrase “Two requests for inquiries were received by the Secretariat” would be amended to read “Two requests for inquiries were received and registered by the Secretariat”. In chapter VII, in the paragraph on the general recommendation on gender equality in the context of displacement and statelessness, the second sentence would be replaced by the following text: “The Committee has decided to form a task force to further study the issue.”
The Chairperson said that it was her understanding that the Committee wished to adopt the draft report of the Working Group of the Whole, as amended, for inclusion in the Committee’s draft report.
It was so decided.
The draft report of the Committee on its forty-eighth session was adopted as a whole, as amended, subject to finalization by the Rapporteur.
Provisional agenda for the forty-ninth session of the Committee
Ms. Awori (Rapporteur) drew attention to the provisional agenda for the forty-ninth session, which was to be found in the report of the Working Group of the Whole.
The provisional agenda for the forty-ninth session was adopted.
Statement by the Chairperson
The Chairperson said that the Committee had considered the reports of seven States parties submitted under article 18 of the Convention. In addition to adopting concluding observations on the reports of the foregoing States parties, the Committee had further elaborated the draft general recommendation on dissolution of marriage and its economic consequences. Preliminary work had begun on the draft general recommendation on women in situations of armed conflict, and the Committee had decided to draft a general recommendation on access to justice. The Committee had also continued its work with the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the joint general recommendation on harmful practices.
Fruitful meetings had been held with the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons and with United Nations bodies and international and national NGOs, including UN-Women, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and the World Alliance of Young Men’s Christian Associations (YMCA).
The Committee had considered follow-up information provided by States parties on the implementation of the Convention and had decided, on the Working Group’s recommendation, that in all cases the reports had been partially implemented. The Committee had adopted the report of the rapporteur on follow-up. It had received a request for an inquiry relating to a follow-up matter, but had decided to continue with the follow-up procedure and to place the inquiry on hold. In addition, it had decided to send reminders to several States that had not submitted their follow-up reports within the established deadlines.
Closure of the session
Following an exchange of courtesies, the Chairperson declared the forty-eighth session closed.
The meeting rose at 1.10 p.m.