Meeting of States Parties to Women’s

 Anti-Discrimination Convention

1^st & 2^nd Meetings (AM & PM)

States Parties to Women’s Anti-Discrimination Convention

 

Elect 11 Experts to Monitoring Body

 

States Parties to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women today elected by secret ballot 11 members of its monitoring body to replace those whose four-year terms are set to expire at year’s end.

During three rounds of voting, the following experts were elected to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to serve from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2016:  Noor Al Malki Al-Jehani (Qatar), Nicole Ameline (France), Hilary Gbedemah (Ghana), Nahla Haidar (Lebanon), Silvia Pimentel (Brazil), Bianca Pomeranzi (Italy), Xiaoqiao Zou (China), Barbara Bailey (Jamaica), Dalia Leinarte (Lithuania), Niklas Bruun (Finland) and Theodora Oby Nwankwo (Nigeria).  The experts were elected from a list of 24 candidates, whose biographical data is contained in documents CEDAW/SP/2012/2 and Add.1.

The Committee, which monitors States Parties’ implementation of the Convention, comprises 23 independent experts, serving in their personal capacity, that are elected to four-year terms by the States Parties.  Elections are held every two years, ensuring a balance between continuity and change in the Committee’s composition.

Also today, Maarit Kohonen Sheriff, Special Representative of the Secretary‑General, discussed developments in the Committee since the States Parties’ had last met on 28 June 2010.  She said one more State had acceded to the Convention, bringing the total number of States parties to 187.  Five States Parties had ratified or acceded to the Optional Protocol, bringing the total number to 104.  There were nine additional acceptances of the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1 of the Convention on the Committee’s meeting time, bringing the total to 55.  During six sessions, the Committee had considered and adopted concluding observations on reports submitted by 43 States Parties. 

Additionally, the Committee’s working group on communications under the Optional Protocol had since its inception registered 41 communications, she said.  The Committee had discontinued four communications, declared 11 communications inadmissible, found violations in 11 communications and no violation in one communication.  At its fiftieth session, the Committee — in keeping with its “inquiry procedure” mandate under article 8 of the Optional Protocol — had decided to establish a task force on inquiries in the light of the number of requests received for inquiries.

Moreover, she said the Committee continued to elaborate general recommendations to provide clarification and promote understanding of the Convention’s substantive content.  To date, the Committee had adopted 28 general recommendations.  Two of those had been adopted at its forty-seventh session in October 2010, including one on older women and the protection of their human rights, and one on the core obligations of States Parties under article 2 of the Convention.

Turning to efforts to strengthen the treaty body system, she said that the previous Friday, the compilation report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, which contained recommended steps towards that end, had been posted on the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) website, she said.  The Committee had participated throughout the treaty body strengthening process up to the “Dublin II” wrap-up meeting in November 2011, where the treaty body Chairpersons and the conveners of consultations had presented recommendations to all relevant stakeholders.  The Committee also had set up a working group on working methods to implement best practices and efficiency measures, with a focus on priority issues and better time management.  Despite such efforts, however, the Committee grappled with insufficient resources for its ever-increasing workload of reports by States Parties.

At the outset of the meeting, Paulette Bethel (Bahamas) from the Latin American and Caribbean Group was elected to serve as its Chair.  Yana Boiko (Ukraine) from the Group of Eastern European States, Tanisha Hewanpola (Australia) from the Group of Western European and other States and Fatima Alfeine (Comoros) from the African Group were elected Vice-Chairs.

Voting Results

First round, in which 185 States Parties voted:

Noor Al Malki Al-Jehani (Qatar) — 102 votes

Nicole Ameline (France) — 116 votes

Hilary Gbedemah (Ghana) — 95 votes

Nahla Haidar (Lebanon) — 127 votes

Silvia Pimentel (Brazil) — 128 votes

Bianca Pomeranzi (Italy) — 132 votes

Xiaoqiao Zou (China) — 129 votes

Second round, in which 184 States Parties voted:

Barbara Bailey (Jamaica) — 102 votes

Dalia Leinarte (Lithuania) — 97 votes

Third round, in which 183 States Parties voted:

Niklas Bruun (Finland) — 92 votes

Theodora Oby Nwankwo (Nigeria) — 99 votes

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For information media • not an official record