Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Ninety-second session

Summary record of the 3007th meeting*

Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on Friday, 20 February 2026, at 4 p.m.

Chair:Ms. Haidar

Contents

Adoption of the report of the Committee on its ninety-second session

Provisional agenda for the ninety-third session of the Committee

Statement by the Chair

Closure of the session

The meeting was called to order at 4.05 p.m.

Adoption of the report of the Committee on its ninety-second session

Provisional agenda for the ninety-third session of the Committee

Ms. Akia (Rapporteur) said that she had the honour of introducing the Committee’s draft report on its ninety-second session, which was contained in document CEDAW/C/2026/I/L.1. She wished to draw attention to chapters II and III.

The Chair said she took it that the Committee wished to adopt those chapters.

It was so decided.

Ms. Akia (Rapporteur) said that she also wished to draw attention to chapter VIII of the Committee’s draft report, which contained the provisional agenda for the ninety-third session. Chapters VI and VII contained the draft report of the Working Group of the Whole, which described the action taken by the Committee for the implementation of article 21 of the Convention and ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee.

The Chair said she took it that the Committee wished to adopt the report on the ninety-second session in its entirety, including the provisional agenda for the ninety-third session.

It was so decided.

The draft report of the Committee on its ninety-second session , as a whole, was adopted.

Statement by the Chair

The Chair said that, during the session, the Committee had considered eight State Party reports and adopted concluding observations on those reports. It had adopted one list of issues and nine lists of issues prior to reporting, which had been prepared by the pre‑sessional working group for the ninety-fourth session in informal meetings held from 27to 31 October 2025. The informal meetings had been held via video link as, owing to the liquidity crisis facing the United Nations, the official meetings of the pre-sessional working group had been cancelled.

The Committee had held informal meetings with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and national human rights institutions, and attended lunchtime briefings organized by NGOs. It had been pleased by the high level of engagement of NGOs from the States Parties reviewed and two national human rights institutions. International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific had coordinated the country-specific briefings by NGOs, which had once again made a significant contribution to the Committee’s work.

She wished to thank the United Nations entities and other intergovernmental bodies that had provided the Committee with detailed information, including the inter-agency group on reporting to the Committee, which was composed of representatives of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), among other agencies. She was pleased to note that a number of United Nations country teams had submitted their reports through the inter-agency group and that one new entity had briefed the Committee in person, while another two had submitted pre-recorded video statements.

A reception held to commemorate the forty-fifth anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention had been attended by more than 120 participants, including representatives of States Parties, civil society, women leaders and academia. Thanks were due to Ms. Stott Despoja for conceiving and developing the idea for the reception.

Another highlight of the session had been the Committee’s adoption of the addendum to its general recommendation No. 30 (2013) on women in conflict prevention, conflict and post-conflict situations. Gratitude was due to Ms. de Silva de Alwis for overseeing the development of the document, which addressed subjects such as women’s leadership in peace and security, survivor-centric justice, conflict-related sexual violence, technology facilitated gender-based violence and the gendered impacts of climate change and transnational organized crime.

Thanks were due to the Working Group on Working Methods for making innovative proposals to enhance the effectiveness of the constructive dialogues and for its work on the Committee’s lists of issues and questions, lists of issues prior to reporting, follow-up assessments during the intersessional period and procedure for adopting statements on controversial issues during the intersessional period.

As a result of the efforts made by the working group on gender stereotypes, the revised draft of general recommendation No. 31 on gender stereotypes was nearing completion. Gratitude was due to the team responsible for drafting the Committee’s strongly worded statement on the financial and liquidity crisis facing the United Nations.

In spite of the harsh conditions under which the Committee had been working, it had been able to deliver on its core mandates under the Convention and the Optional Protocol. In that connection, she wished to thank the rapporteur on follow-up, Ms. Pia-Comella, and the alternate rapporteur on follow-up, Ms. Draz, whose work had enabled the Committee to adopt 10 follow-up assessments during the session.

Thanks to the Working Group on Communications, the Committee had adopted eight decisions on individual communications during the session and had revised the rules of procedure governing the consideration of individual communications. The Working Group on Inquiries had carried out important work on a number of pending confidential inquiry proceedings and had revised the rules of procedure relating to inquiries.

During the session, the Committee had held an important informal briefing for States Parties and other stakeholders on the draft addendum to the Committee’s general recommendation No. 24 (1999) on women and health. The Committee had also had interesting exchanges with UN-Women and the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, among other bodies.

Closure of the session

Following an exchange of courtesies, the Chair declared the ninety-second session closed.

The meeting rose at 4.25 p.m.