Committee on Elimination of

Discrimination against Women

905^th Meeting (PM)

women’s anti-discrimination committee concludes forty-fourth session;

 

adopts provisional agenda for next session in geneva

 

Wrapping up the forty-fourth session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this afternoon, Committee Chairperson Naela Gabr, expert from Egypt, noted that the Committee had adopted decisions on three cases under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and it had continued discussions on the draft general recommendation on article 2 of the Convention related to policy measures.

The Committee today also adopted the draft report of its three-week session, introduced by Committee Rapporteur Violeta Neubauer, expert from Slovenia, as well as concluding observations and recommendations on the 11 States parties whose periodic reports were considered during the meetings:  Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Denmark, Guinea-Bissau, Japan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Liberia, Spain, Switzerland, Timor-Leste and Tuvalu.  Further, it adopted the draft report of the Working Group of the Whole on the Committee’s action on implementing article 21 of the Convention and on ways and means of expediting its work, and it adopted the provisional agenda for its forty-fifth session scheduled for 18 January to 5 February 2010 in Geneva.

Ms. Gabr said the session was marked by a heavy work load, and presentations by four States parties that had submitted their initial reports after very long delays.  The Committee had also adopted new work methods on the procedure for following up its concluding observations and it met with non-governmental organizations and United Nations entities to discuss background papers on general recommendations on older women and on the economic consequences of marriage and its dissolution.  It also reflected on ways to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Convention and the tenth anniversary of the Optional Protocol next year, and continued its work on papers concerning the Committee’s relationship with parliaments and non-governmental organizations.

Jessica Neuwirth, Director of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights New York Office, also spoke, thanking the Committee for its work during the session.

The Committee, which monitors State parties’ compliance with the Convention, comprises 23 experts acting in their personal capacities. 

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For information media • not an official record