COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN TO HOLD NINETEENTH SESSION AT HEADQUARTERS

19 June 1998

Press Release
WOM/1053

COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN TO HOLD NINETEENTH SESSION AT HEADQUARTERS

19980619 Background Release To Consider Reports of New Zealand, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Republic of Korea, Slovakia, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania

The nineteenth session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women -- the only United Nations human rights treaty- monitoring body to deal exclusively with women -- will be held at United Nations Headquarters from 22 June to 10 July. Consisting of 23 experts serving in their individual capacities, the Committee monitors the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which was adopted by the General Assembly in 1979 and came into force in 1981.

Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice. They are also committed to submit national reports on measures taken to comply with their treaty obligations. An initial report is required within one year of accession, and periodic reports at least every four years. The Committee reviews the reports, evaluates countries' progress and formulates general recommendations to all States parties on eliminating discrimination against women. These cover issues ranging from the impact of structural adjustment policies to maternity leave, from violence against women to the dissemination of the Convention.

During the coming session, the Committee will review reports submitted by eight States, including the first-ever reports from South Africa and Slovakia. It will examine the combined second and third periodic reports of Nigeria, Panama and the United Republic of Tanzania, the combined third and fourth reports of New Zealand and Peru, and the third and fourth periodic reports of the Republic of Korea. It will also receive country-specific information from non-governmental organizations.

South Africa's report says the country has a high rate of all forms of violent crime, partly due to the state of conflict and deprivation from which the country emerged. While State violence has decreased since the country's 1994 political transformation, rates of reported rape, sexual abuse of children and domestic violence are increasing. The Government is determined to redress gender imbalances along with the deep-seated racial legacies of apartheid. However, social, traditional and customary practices still contradict provisions of the Convention in many respects. Existing power

relations -- from the domestic to the highest public level -- often prevent women from leading productive and fulfilling lives.

Slovakia's report is also submitted after a period of dramatic political and geographical change. Since 1989, the country has been striving to create a balanced democratic society and market economy. Today, traditions vie with new socio-economic realities. While the Convention's principles are provided for in full within the Constitution promulgated in 1993 -- at the time of Slovakia's independence -- the prevalence of traditional perspectives, combined with the country's overall poor economic situation, often prevent women from exercising their rights. Traditional family roles are culturally reinforced by social control exerted by communities.

To date, the Committee has considered 93 initial, 63 second, 33 third and seven fourth periodic reports, as well as five reports on an exceptional basis: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Rwanda, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In addition to the country reports, the expert body will also have before it a note by the Secretary-General on reports of specialized agencies on the implementation of the Convention in areas falling within the scope of their activities; and reports of the World Health Organization (WHO), International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The Committee will also take up a revised draft general recommendation on women and health, as well as the Secretary- General's report on the submission of reports by States parties.

Further, the Committee will consider the issue of reservations which States parties can place on their acceptance of the terms of the Convention, as it considers a revised working paper on the subject. While there are 161 States parties to the Convention, making it among the international human rights treaties with the largest number of ratifications, it is also one of the treaties with the most reservations.

At its seventeenth session, the Committee had decided that part of its contribution to the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights should include a written statement on reservations. Reservations have been made on such issues as equal rights for women regarding freedom to choose their residence and domicile (article 15.4), submitting disputes between States concerning the interpretation of the Convention to arbitration (article 29.1), and the granting to women equal rights with men with respect to the nationality of their children (article 9.2).

The Committee meets twice annually. The Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, Angela King, is scheduled to open the session on 22 June.

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Women's Anti-Discrimination Convention

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women is the most comprehensive, legally binding treaty on women's human rights. Often referred to as an international bill of rights for women, it establishes an agenda for national action to end discrimination. The first 16 articles of the Convention call on States parties to take appropriate measures to ensure women's civil, political, economic and cultural rights and their legal equality.

By terms of the Convention, States parties are called on to take measures such as: guaranteeing basic human rights and fundamental freedoms of women; ensuring the suppression of the traffic in, and the exploitation of the prostitution of women; eliminating discrimination against women in political and public life; ensuring equal rights to acquire, change or retain their nationality; and eliminating discrimination in the fields of education, employment, health and other areas of economic and social life. Other articles address issues such as problems faced by rural women, equality before the law and elimination of discrimination against women within marriage and the family. The rights of women to take part in the political and public life of their countries and to perform all functions at all levels of government are also guaranteed by the Convention.

Article 1 of the Convention defines discrimination against women as: "any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field".

States Parties to Convention

As of 15 January, the following 161 States have either ratified or acceded to the Convention, which entered into force on 3 September 1981: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania and Luxembourg.

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Also, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Committee Membership

The 23-expert members of the Committee, serving in their personal capacity, are: Charlotte Abaka, of Ghana; Ayse Feride Acar, of Turkey; Emma Aouij, of Tunisia; Antonia Guvava, of Zimbabwe; Desiree Patricia Bernard, of Guyana; Carlota Bustelo Garcia del Real, of Spain; Silvia Rose Cartwright, New Zealand; Ivanka Corti, of Italy; Aurora Javate de Dios, of the Philippines; Miriam Yolanda Estrada Castillo, of Ecuador; Yolanda Ferrer Gomez, of Cuba; Aida Gonzalez, of Mexico; Sunaryati Hartono, of Indonesia; Salma Khan, of Bangladesh; Yung-Chung Kim, of the Republic of Korea; Ahoua Ouedraogo, of Burkina Faso; Anne Lise Ryel, of Norway; Chikako Taya, of Japan; Hanna Beate Schopp-Schilling, of Germany; Carmel Shalev, of Israel; Lin Shangzhen, China; Kongit Sinegiorgis, of Ethiopia; and Mervat Tallawy, Egypt.

Committee Officers

The Committee is chaired by Salma Khan of Bangladesh. Its three vice-chairpersons are: Charlotte Abaka, of Ghana; Carlota Bustela Garcia del Real, of Spain; and Miriam Estrada, of Ecuador. Aurora Javate de Dios, of the Philippines, is the Rapporteur. The Committee's officers are elected for a two-year period. The current Bureau was elected in January 1997.

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