UN to review 8 countries on discrimination against women

6 July 2012

UN experts to review eight countries’ record on discrimination against women

Violence against women, political participation, women’s health, employment, discriminatory family law, eliminating gender stereotypes and preventing trafficking will be some of the areas explored by a committee of 23 experts charged with ensuring that governments eliminate discrimination against women, when it meets at the UN headquarters in New York from 9 to 27 July.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Woman will review the situation of women in eight countries as follows:

10 July: Guyana
11 July: Indonesia
12 July: Bulgaria
13 July: Jamaica
17 July: Mexico
18 July: New Zealand
19 July: Samoa
20 July: Bahamas

Following the reviews, the experts will adopt concluding observations, making recommendations to each government about what more it should do to eliminate discrimination against women.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the Committee will also hold a special event with a panel discussion on “Women’s Political Participation and Leadership – In Pursuit of Equality”, on Monday 9 July at 11am. Speakers will include the Deputy Secretary-General, Mr. Jan Eliasson; the Chair of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Ms. Silvia Pimentel; the Executive Director of UN Women, Ms. Michelle Bachelet and Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Simonovic. A statement of the President of Brazil, H.E. Ms. Dilma Rouseff, will be delivered by Ms. Eleonora Menicucci de Oliveira, the Minister of Policies for Women in Brazil. The event’s programme is available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/30thAnniversaryCEDAW.htm

Background
The Committee regularly reviews each country once it becomes a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Currently, 187 countries have accepted the Convention, which was adopted in 1979. Government representatives of each country will be questioned by the experts about how they are ensuring that women are able to fully exercise their rights under each of the 16 substantive articles of the 30-article Convention.

The opening of the session and the anniversary event on 9 July, meetings with non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions on 9 and 16 July, as well as meetings with the States parties 10 to 13 July and 17 to 20 July are open to the public. Meetings at which the Committee discusses individual complaints under the Optional Protocol as well as meetings at which concluding observations are adopted are closed to the public.

For the session’s provisional agenda, and reports about each country, visit: www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/cedaws52.htm

The full list of Committee members is available at: www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/membership.htm.

ENDS

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