[women-rights] CEDAW 28th Session from 13-31 January 2003

UNITED NATIONS
Press Release
9 January 2003

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xxxxxxxxxxWOMEN'S ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE WILL HEAR REPORTS OF EIGHT 
COUNTRIES, WHEN IT MEETS AT HEADQUARTERS, 13-31 JANUARY
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Background Release

The twenty-eighth session of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women will take place at United Nations
Headquarters in New York from 13 to 31 January 2003.

The Committee will review the reports of eight States parties,
including the combined initial and second periodic report of Albania
and Switzerland respectively; the fifth periodic report of Canada;
the combined initial, second, third, fourth and fifth periodic
reports of Republic of Congo; the combined third and fourth, the
fifth and the sixth periodic reports of El Salvador; the combined
third and fourth periodic reports of Kenya; the fourth periodic
report of Luxembourg; the fifth and sixth periodic reports of Norway.
The 23 experts of the Committee, who serve in their personal
capacities, monitor the implementation of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Since 1997,
the Committee has met twice annually. In August 2002 the Committee
conducted an exceptional session to reduce the backlog of reports
awaiting its consideration.

The Convention, which as of 7 January 2003 had been ratified or
acceded to by 170 countries, requires States parties to eliminate
discrimination against women in the enjoyment of all civil,
political, economic and cultural rights. In pursuing the Convention's
goals, States parties are encouraged to introduce affirmative action
measures designed to promote equality between women and men. The
Convention was adopted by the General Assembly in 1979 and came into
force in 1981.

The Optional Protocol to the Convention entered into force on 22
December 2000. It entitles the Committee to consider petitions from
individual women or groups of women who have exhausted national
remedies and to conduct inquiries into grave or systematic violations
of the Convention. As of 7 January 2003, there were 49 States parties
to the Optional Protocol.

Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally
bound to put its provisions into practice. They are also committed to
submit reports, one year after becoming a State party and then at
least once every four years thereafter, on measures they have taken
to comply with their treaty obligations. In addition to reviewing the
reports and evaluating progress made in concluding comments, the
Committee formulates general recommendations on eliminating
discrimination against women to the States parties as a whole. It may
also invite UN specialized agencies to submit reports and receive
information from non-governmental organizations.

To date, the Committee has considered 119 initial, 89 second, 69
third, 41 fourth and 15 fifth periodic reports. It has also received
five reports on an exceptional basis –- Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Croatia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), and Rwanda.

The Committee has adopted 24 general recommendations covering such
issues as women's economic position; the impact of structural
adjustment policies; maternity leave; measures taken to allow women
to combine child-bearing with employment; violence against women; the
dissemination of the Convention and its provisions; and the extent to
which non-governmental organizations have been incorporated into the
process of preparing reports on the implementation of the Convention.
The Committee is currently working on its twenty-fifth general
recommendation, which was begun during its twenty-fourth session.
When completed, this new recommendation will address article 4.1 of
the Convention on temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de
facto equality between men and women.

Experts receive country-specific information from non-governmental
organizations, which are able to brief the Committee's pre-session
working group and plenary meeting.


About the Convention

With the accession to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women by Bahrain on 18 June 2002, the
number of States parties to the Convention became 170. Adopted in
1979 and opened for signature in March 1980, the Convention is now
among the international human rights treaties with the largest number
of ratifications and accessions. However, it is also among those
treaties with the highest number of reservations by States parties.

The Convention in its 16 substantive articles defines discrimination
against women and provides an agenda for national action to end such
discrimination. Discrimination against women is defined 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".

The Convention spells out the basis for realizing equality between
men and women through ensuring women's equal access to, and equal
opportunities in, political and public life –- including the
right to vote and stand for election -– as well as education
and employment. States parties agree to take all appropriate
measures, including legislative and temporary special measures, so
that women can enjoy all their human rights and fundamental freedoms.

On 6 October 1999, the General Assembly adopted an Optional Protocol
to the Convention, which enables women victims of sex discrimination
to submit complaints to the Committee. By accepting the Optional
Protocol, States recognize the competence of the Committee to receive
and consider complaints from individuals or groups of individuals
within its jurisdiction in cases where they have exhausted domestic
remedies. It also creates an inquiry procedure enabling the Committee
to initiate inquiries into situations of grave or systematic
violations of women's rights. Although the Optional Protocol includes
an "opt-out clause", allowing States upon ratification or accession
to declare that they do not accept the inquiry procedure, it
explicitly provides that no reservations may be entered to its terms.

Opened for signature on 10 December 1999, as of 7 January 2003, 75
States had signed the Optional Protocol, and 49 had ratified or
acceded to it. Two States Parties -- Bangladesh and Belize -–
have opted out of the inquiry procedure. The Optional Protocol came
into force on 22 December 2000.

The 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women called upon governments to
promote and protect the human rights of women through the full
implementation of all human rights instruments, especially the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women. It urged universal ratification of the Convention by the year
2000 and asked Governments to limit the extent of any reservations to
the Convention. The twenty-third special session of the General
Assembly "Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the
twenty-first century", which took place in June 2000, called on
governments to ratify the Convention, limit the extent of any
reservations to it, and withdraw reservations which were contrary to
the object and purpose of the Convention or otherwise incompatible
with international treaty law. It also asked governments to consider
signing and ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention.
States Parties to Convention

As of 7 January 2003, the following 170 States had 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, Bahrain,
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, Co^te d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic,
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, 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, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan,
Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia,
Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi,
Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico,
Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands,
New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama,
Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal,
Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts
and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa,
Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovak
Republic, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain,
Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, The
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago,
Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United
Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu,
Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
States Parties to Optional Protocol

As of 7 January 2003, the following 49 States had either ratified or
acceded to the Optional Protocol of the Convention which entered into
force on 22 December 2000: Andorra, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh,
Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica,
Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic,
Ecuador, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala,
Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Liechtenstein, Mali, Mexico, Mongolia, Namibia, Netherlands, New
Zealand, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Senegal, Slovakia,
Solomon Islands, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay and
Venezuela.


Committee Membership

The current members of the Committee, serving in their personal
capacity, are: Ayse Feride Acar, Turkey; Sjamsiah Achmad, Indonesia;
Meriem Belmihoub-Zerdani, Algeria; Huguette Bokpe Gnancadja, Benin;
Mari'a Yolanda Ferrer Go'mez, Cuba; Cornelis Flinterman, the
Netherlands; Naela Gabr, Egypt; Franc,oise Gaspard, France; Ai'da
Gonza'lez Marti'nez, Mexico; Christine Kapalata, United Republic of
Tanzania; Salma Khan, Bangladesh; Akua Kuenyehia, Ghana; Fatima
Kwaku, Nigeria; Rosario Manalo, Philippines; Go"ran Melander , Sweden;
Krisztina Morvai, Hungary; Pramila Patten, Mauritius; Victoria
Popescu Sandru, Romania; Fumiko Saiga, Japan; Hanna Beate
Scho"pp-Schilling, Germany; Heisoo Shin, Republic of Korea; Dubravka
Šimonovic, Croatia; Maria Regina Tavares da Silva, Portugal.


Media Contact

Myriam Dessables, Department of Public Information, tel: (212)
963-2932;
fax: (212) 963-1186; email: mediainfo@un.org.


For more information on the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women and women's rights contact: Women's
Rights Unit, Division for the Advancement of Women, Department of
Economic and Social Affairs, Room DC2-1228, United Nations, New York,
NY 10017;fax: (212) 963-3463, e-mail: del-vasto@un.org; Web site:
www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw.

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