22 March 1996

Press Release
WOM/917

COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN CONDEMNS MIDDLE EAST TERRORISM

19960322 Middle East Resolution Adopted by Vote of 27-2-11; Other Texts Concern Hostages, UN Activities, Work Methods, Beijing Conference

22 March 1996

Press Release
WOM/918

COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN CONCLUDES FORTIETH SESSION IN NEW YORK

19960322 Dialogues Held with Panels of Experts on Poverty, Women and Media, Child and Dependent Care, Areas of 'Critical Concern' at Beijing Conference

27 March 1996

Press Release
WOM/917/

COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN CONDEMNS MIDDLE EAST TERRORISM

19960327 Middle East Resolution Adopted by Vote of 27-2-11; Other Texts Concern Hostages, UN Activities, Work Methods, Beijing Conference

CORRECTION

In press release WOM/917 of 22 March, the annex should read as follows:

ANNEX

Experts of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women today recognized the legislative and policy efforts of Guinea-Bissau, a least developed sub-Saharan African nation, to erase gender discrimination and improve the lot of women, but expressed concern over the country’s slow pace in removing discriminatory laws from its books, and the traditional bias that held sway in many areas.

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.

Domestic violence, political participation, discriminatory family law, eliminating stereotypes and preventing trafficking will be among the areas explored by a committee of 23 experts charged with ensuring that Governments eliminate discrimination against women, when it meets in New York from 20 July to 7 August at United Nations Headquarters.

This year, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women should seize the opportunity of the thirtieth anniversary of the women’s rights Convention and the tenth anniversary of its Optional Protocol to raise their visibility and strengthen their impact for the sake of women worldwide, with the ultimate aim of getting more States to ratify both instruments and withdraw any reservations to them, Naela Gabr, Committee Chair said this morning.

Denmark had established strong institutional mechanisms, including a Minister for Gender Equality and a complaints board, to protect women’s rights in the labour market and curb domestic violence and human trafficking for sexual exploitation, the Deputy Permanent Secretary of Denmark’s Department for Gender Equality told the Committee monitoring State parties’ compliance with the Women’s Convention today.

Spain had made sweeping moves to empower and legally protect women since Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero took office in 2004, including enactment of laws to erase gender inequality and gender-based violence, as well as action plans to help the country’s most socially and economically vulnerable women gain access to health care, education, employment and housing, Spain’s first ever Minister of Equality, Bibiana Aido Almagro, said this afternoon.

Following Bhutan’s historic transition last year to a democratic constitutional monarchy, the South Asian nation had harmonized a myriad of domestic laws in accordance with the women’s Convention and created its first national action plan to ensure gender equality in all aspects of economic, political and social life, Bhutan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs said today.