CEDAW CEDAW/C/2003/II/4 (2003)

Distr.: General

CEDAW/C/2003/II/4

14 May 2003

Original: English

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

Twenty-ninth session

30 June-18 July 2003

Item 6 of the provisional agenda*

Ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee

Report of the Secretariat

Contents

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* CEDAW/C/2003/II/1.

I. Introduction

1. The present report contains information that is relevant to the work of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Section II provides information on developments in the United Nations human rights regime, including information concerning other treaty bodies, the Commission on Human Rights and the Secretary-General's reform proposals for treaty bodies. Section III presents information on the reports to be considered by the Committee at future sessions, and section IV contains information on the efforts of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women and the Director of the Division for the Advancement of Women of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs to encourage universal ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, ratification of its Optional Protocol, timely reporting, and acceptance of the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention.

2. A list of States parties to the Convention whose reports are five years or more overdue is contained in annex I. A list of States parties whose reports have been submitted but not yet considered by the Committee, together with the date of receipt of those reports, is contained in annex II. A list of States parties that have signed, ratified or acceded to the Optional Protocol is contained in annex III, and a list of States parties that have accepted the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1, is contained in annex IV. A list of States that have not yet ratified or acceded to the Convention is contained in annex V.

II. Developments in the human rights regime

A. Human rights treaty bodies

3. The Human Rights Committee, at its seventy-seventh session, held from 17 March to 4 April 2003, completed its first reading of a draft general comment concerning article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. ¹ As stated in previous Secretariat reports on ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (see reports submitted at its twenty-sixth and twenty-eighth sessions), the Human Rights Committee has adopted a procedure for follow-up to concluding observations pursuant to its amended rules of procedure. Rule 70, paragraph 5, provides that the Committee may request the State party to give priority to such aspects of its concluding observations as it may specify. Rule 70 A states that where the Committee has specified for priority, under rule 70, paragraph 5, certain aspects of its concluding observations on a State party's report, it shall establish a procedure to consider replies by the State party on those aspects and to decide what consequent action, including the date set for the next periodic report, may be appropriate.

4. The Human Rights Committee has applied this follow-up procedure since March 2001 in the context of its consideration of periodic reports. Typically, in the final paragraph of its concluding observations the Committee identifies a limited number of the observations which it regards as having particular priority, and invites the State party to submit information on the implementation of the Committee's recommendations concerning these issues. At the same time, the Committee sets a provisional date by which the next report should be submitted, based broadly on an overall assessment of the seriousness of the human rights situation in the State party concerned. Upon receipt of the requested information and in the light of additional information that may have been made available from other sources, the Committee's Special Rapporteur on follow-up to concluding observations, after consulting with the country rapporteur responsible for the drafting of the concluding observations, reports to the Committee, recommending any further action that is warranted, including possible adjustment of the date at which the next report is due. If no (or only partial) information is received, the Rapporteur may dispatch a reminder without prior reference of the matter to the Committee. Further failure to supply information may give rise to the Rapporteur seeking an audience with representatives of the State party. As at the conclusion of the Committee's seventyseventh session, in April 2003, the Committee had considered and taken decisions on follow-up information submitted by eight States parties. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women may wish to adopt a similar practice on follow-up to its concluding comments.

5. The Committee against Torture, during its twenty-ninth session, held from 11 to 22 November 2002, decided to start preparing lists of issues and questions on initial and periodic reports submitted by States parties to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as of its thirty-first session, to be held in November 2003. It also decided that presentations by States parties of initial or periodic reports would be limited to 20 minutes and only include developments that had occurred since the reports were submitted. The Committee is scheduled to convene its first informal meeting with representatives of States parties to the Convention against Torture during its thirtieth session (28 April- 16 May 2003).

6. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, at its twenty-ninth session, held from 11 to 29 November 2002, adopted general comment No.15 (2002) on the right to water (arts. 11 and 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights).²

7. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination will convene its first informal meeting with States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination during its sixty-third session, scheduled to be held from 4 to 22 August 2003, and its next thematic discussion will focus on the rights of non-citizens and will be held during its sixty-fourth session, in March 2004.

8. The Committee on the Rights of the Child, at its thirty-second session, held from 13 to 31 January 2003, adopted its third general comment on HIV/AIDS and the rights of the child. It held its first informal meeting with States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 29 January 2003. Also at its thirty-second session, the Committee adopted a recommendation on the periodicity of reports. In that recommendation, it decided to inform States parties in the relevant concluding observations adopted by the Committee of the deadline for submission of their second and, where appropriate, following periodic reports and also decided, when a second (or third) periodic report is due between one and two years following the dialogue with the Committee, to request the State party concerned to combine that report with the third (or fourth) periodic report. The Committee's annual day of discussion is scheduled to be held on 19 September 2003 and focus on the rights of indigenous children. The Committee's membership has increased from 10 to 18 experts.³ The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women may wish to consider informing States parties, in its concluding comments on their reports, of the date when their next periodic report(s) is(are) due.

B. Commission on the Status of Women

9. The forty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women was held from 3 to 14 March 2003. Agreed conclusions were adopted on the thematic issue, "participation and access of women to the media, and information and communications technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women". Four resolutions were adopted, including a resolution on the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan, in which, inter alia, the Commission welcomed the ratification by the Afghan Transitional Authority of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on 5 March 2003. Two decisions were adopted, one on the communications procedure of the Commission and one on the report of the Working Group on the future operation of the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women.

C. Commission on Human Rights

10. The fifty-ninth session of the Commission on Human Rights was held from 17 March to 25 April 2003. A number of its resolutions made reference to the Convention or the Committee:

(a) Resolution 2003/10 on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea expresses deep concern about reports of systemic, widespread and grave violations of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, including continued violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women, and calls upon the Government to implement its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;

(b) Resolution 2003/18 on the question of the realization in all countries of the economic, social and cultural rights contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and study of special problems which the developing countries face in their efforts to achieve these human rights calls upon States to consider signing and ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention. The resolution encourages, inter alia, human rights treaty bodies, whose activities bear upon economic, social and cultural rights to enhance their cooperation and, as appropriate, increase coordination with the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in a manner that respects their distinctive mandates and promotes their policies, programmes and projects;

(c) Resolution 2003/22 on women's equal ownership, access to and control over land and the equal rights to own property and to adequate housing encourages the Committee to integrate the content of this resolution into its work;

(d) Resolution 2003/24 on human rights and extreme poverty calls on the Committee to take into account, when considering the reports of States parties, the question of extreme poverty and human rights;

(e) Resolution 2003/44 on integrating the human rights of women throughout the United Nations system encourages all entities of the United Nations system to pay systematic, increased and sustained attention to the recommendations of the Committee, in order to ensure that its concluding comments and general recommendations are better utilized in their respective work; urges all States that have not yet ratified or acceded to the Convention to consider doing so as a matter of priority and urges States parties to consider signing and ratifying the Optional Protocol; calls for limitation of reservations to the Convention and regular review of reservations with a view to their withdrawal, and withdrawal of reservations that are contrary to the object and purpose of the Convention; and urges States parties to the Convention to implement it fully, inter alia through national legislation, policies and practice and to take account of the recommendations of the Committee in this regard;

(f) Resolution 2003/45 on elimination of violence against women reaffirms the commitment to accelerate the achievement of universal ratification of the Convention and urges all States that have not yet ratified or acceded to the Convention to consider, as a matter of priority, doing so and States parties to consider signing and ratifying the Optional Protocol; urges limitation, review and withdrawal of reservations to the Convention; reminds Governments that their obligations under the Convention must be implemented fully with regard to violence against women, taking into account general recommendation 19; and requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences with adequate assistance for periodic consultations with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and all other treaty bodies;

(g) Resolution 2003/77 on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan welcomes the ratification by Afghanistan of the Convention and calls upon the Transitional Authority to respect and protect the human rights of Afghan women and girls, including by providing adequate support to the Women's Ministry, protecting women from all forms of violence, ensuring equal access to education and health care, addressing the problem of their extra-legal detention and ensuring their full participation in all spheres of Afghan life;

(h) Resolution 2003/79 on the situation of human rights in Cambodia urges the Government of Cambodia to take all steps to meet its obligations as a party to the Convention, including by seeking technical assistance.

11. Other resolutions referred to the work of all the human rights treaty bodies:

(a) Resolution 2003/9 on cooperation with representatives of United Nations human rights bodies requests treaty bodies, inter alia, to continue to take urgent steps, in conformity with their mandates, to help prevent the occurrence of intimidation and reprisals by Governments against private individuals and groups who seek to cooperate with the United Nations and representatives of human rights bodies, and the hampering of access to United Nations human rights procedures; and to include in their reports a reference to allegations of intimidation or reprisal and of hampering of access to United Nations human rights procedures, as well as an account of action taken by them in this regard;

(b) Resolution 2003/23 on globalization and its impact on the full enjoyment of human rights underlines the need for treaty bodies, within their mandates and where appropriate, to take into consideration the content of the resolution and the report of the High Commissioner on Human Rights entitled "globalization and its impact on the full enjoyment of human rights";

(c) Resolution 2003/25 on the right to food invites treaty bodies, inter alia, to cooperate fully with the Special Rapporteur on the right to food in the fulfilment of his mandate;

(d) Resolution 2003/28 on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health invites relevant treaty bodies to submit a contribution on the issue of violence prevention to the Commission at its sixtieth session;

(e) Resolution 2003/35 on strengthening of popular participation, equity, social justice and non-discrimination as essential foundations of democracy invites treaty bodies, inter alia, to continue taking into account, in the discharge of their respective mandates, the question of strengthening popular participation, equity, social justice and non-discrimination as the foundations of democracy;

(f) Resolution 2003/30 on the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance and the comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action requests the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance to continue his exchange of views with, inter alia, treaty bodies in order to further enhance their effectiveness and mutual cooperation. The resolution also, noting the progress made during the first session of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, held in New York from 29 July to 9 August 2002, invites treaty bodies, inter alia, to contribute to the work of the Ad Hoc Committee;

(g) Resolution 2003/41 on the incompatibility between democracy and racism invites treaty bodies, inter alia, to continue to pay particular attention to violations of human rights stemming from the rise of racism and xenophobia in political circles and society at large, especially as regards their incompatibility with democracy;

(h) Resolution 2003/46 on the human rights of migrants requests the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants in carrying out her mandate to request, receive and exchange information on violations of the human rights of migrants from, inter alia, treaty bodies;

(i) Resolution 2003/47 on the protection of human rights in the context of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) invites the treaty bodies, when considering reports submitted by States parties, to give particular attention to HIV/AIDS-related rights and invites States to include appropriate HIV/AIDS-related information in the reports they submit to the relevant treaty bodies;

(j) Resolution 2003/52 on human rights and mass exoduses encourages treaty bodies, inter alia, acting within their mandates, to pay particular attention to, exchange information on and to provide the High Commissioner for Human Rights with all relevant information in their possession on human rights situations that create or affect refugees and displaced persons, for appropriate action in fulfilment of his mandate;

(k) Resolution 2003/49 on the human rights of persons with disabilities invites the treaty bodies to take into account the concerns of persons with disabilities in their lists of issues and concluding observations, to consider drafting general comments and recommendations on the full enjoyment of human rights by persons with disabilities and to integrate a disability perspective into their monitoring activities. The resolution also recalls the invitation by the Ad Hoc Committee established by the General Assembly in its resolution 56/168 of 19 December 2001 to, inter alia, relevant human rights treaty bodies, within their respective mandates, with an interest in the matter, to make available to the Ad Hoc Committee suggestions and possible elements to be considered for a comprehensive and integral international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities;

(l) Resolution 2003/51 on internally displaced persons welcomes the attention paid by relevant treaty bodies, inter alia, to issues of internal displacement, and calls upon them to continue to seek information on situations which have already created or could create internal displacement and to include relevant information and recommendations thereon in their reports and make them available to the Representative of the Secretary-General on internally displaced persons;

(m) Resolution 2003/56 on human rights and indigenous issues requests the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people in carrying out his mandate to request, receive and exchange information on violations of the human rights of indigenous people from, inter alia, treaty bodies;

(n) Resolution 2003/63 on promotion of a democratic and equitable international order requests treaty bodies, inter alia, to pay due attention, within their respective mandates, to this resolution and to make contributions towards its implementation;

(o) Resolution 2003/68 on protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism requests the treaty bodies, inter alia, to consider, within their mandates, the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the context of measures to combat terrorism;

(p) Resolution 2003/70 on the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education requests the treaty bodies, when examining the reports of States parties, to place emphasis on the obligations of States parties in the area of human rights education and to reflect that emphasis in their concluding observations.

D. Reform proposals for treaty bodies

12. As stated in the report of the Secretariat on ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women submitted to the Committee at its twenty-eighth session, the report of the Secretary-General submitted to the General Assembly at its fifty-seventh session, entitled "Strengthening of the United Nations: an agenda for further change" (A/57/387), addressed, inter alia, the human rights treaty bodies and suggested that committees should craft a more coordinated approach to their activities and standardize their varied reporting requirements, and that each State should be allowed to produce a single report summarizing its adherence to the full range of international human rights treaties to which it is a party. The report stated that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights would consult with treaty bodies on new, streamlined reporting procedures and submit his recommendations to the Secretary- General by September 2003.

13. The General Assembly, in its resolution 57/300 of 20 December 2002 on this matter, encouraged States parties to the human rights treaties and the respective treaty bodies to review the reporting procedures of treaty bodies with a view to developing a more coordinated approach and to streamlining the reporting requirements under the treaties. The Assembly requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to support this exercise, including through submission of recommendations, as appropriate.

14. In March 2003, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women submitted comments on the Secretary-General's proposals to the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Other treaty bodies have also submitted comments on the proposals to the High Commissioner.

15. From 5 to 7 May 2003, a brainstorming meeting on treaty body reform was held in Malbun, Liechtenstein, organized jointly by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Government of Liechtenstein. The meeting was attended by treaty body members and by representatives of States, United Nations entities, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and non-governmental organizations, as well as of one national institution. The meeting worked in a brainstorming mode, in order to facilitate an open and informal discussion. It was agreed that participants should not speak in their official capacities and that statements made at the meeting would not be attributed. Two members of the Committee, Hanna Beate Schöpp-Schilling and Victoria Popescu Sandru, attended this meeting.

16. The meeting focused on eight themes: harmonization of reporting guidelines; a single report; an expanded core document; focused periodic reports; thematic or modular reporting; periodicity; capacity-building; and miscellaneous. The report of the meeting is available to the Committee. It includes points of agreement and other points/comments under each theme. The report will be brought to the attention of the second inter-committee meeting of members of the human rights treaty bodies, which will take place in Geneva from 18 to 20 June 2003, and the fifteenth meeting of chairpersons of the human rights treaty bodies, which will meet in Geneva from 23 to 27 June 2003.

III. Reports to be considered by the Committee at future sessions

17. At its twenty-eighth session, the Committee drew up the list of States parties whose reports would be considered at future sessions. All those States parties nominated by the Committee for consideration of their reports at its twenty-ninth session will be able to present their reports at that session. The Committee proposed the following list of reports to be considered at its thirtieth session: the combined fourth, fifth and sixth periodic reports of Belarus; the combined initial, second and third periodic reports of Bhutan; the combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of Ethiopia; the fifth periodic report of Germany; the combined initial and second periodic reports of Kuwait; the second periodic report of Kyrgyzstan; the combined second and third periodic reports of Nepal; and the combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of Nigeria. Those States parties invited to present periodic reports at the thirtieth session have confirmed that they will be able to present their reports at that session.

18. In proposing the list of reports to be considered at future sessions, the Committee's attention is drawn to annex II below, which contains a list of States parties whose reports have been submitted but not yet considered, including the combined initial, second and third periodic reports of Angola; the second periodic report of Algeria; the fifth periodic report of Bangladesh; the combined initial and second periodic reports of Benin; the initial report of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; the fifth periodic report of the Dominican Republic; the combined second and third periodic reports of Equatorial Guinea; the combined initial, second and third periodic reports of Gambia; the fifth periodic reports of Germany and Guatemala; the third periodic report of Israel; the combined initial, second, third, fourth and fifth periodic reports of the Lao People's Democratic Republic; the second periodic report of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; the combined initial, second and third periodic reports of Malta; and the fifth periodic report of Spain.

IV. Efforts to encourage universal ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, ratification of the Optional Protocol and acceptance of the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention

19. The Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women and the Director of the Division for the Advancement of Women have continued their efforts to encourage universal ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, acceptance of the Optional Protocol and the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention and the fulfilment of reporting obligations. The Special Adviser addressed these issues in her statement to the 108th Conference of the Inter- Parliamentary Union in Santiago, Chile in April 2003 at the launch of the handbook for parliamentarians on the Convention and the Optional Protocol, which was prepared by the Division, in collaboration with the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The handbook aims at familiarizing parliamentarians with all aspects of the Convention and the Optional Protocol, and what they could do to enhance compliance with the Convention and use of the Optional Protocol.

20. At the informal meeting of the Committee with States that are not yet party to the Convention held on 28 January 2003, the Special Adviser and the Director of the Division provided information on technical assistance available through the Division to States wishing to become a party to the Convention and to States parties with respect to implementation of the Convention, particularly fulfilment of the reporting obligation set out in article 18 of the Convention. Since that meeting, Afghanistan ratified and the Syrian Arab Republic and Timor-Leste acceded to the Convention, and Sweden ratified and Timor-Leste acceded to the Optional Protocol. The Director also provided information on this issue in her statement to the Commission on the Status of Women at its forty-seventh session, in March 2003.

21. The Acting Chief of the Women's Rights Section participated in a training seminar for non-governmental organizations, lawyers and women's rights activists on the Optional Protocol, organized by the German Institute for Human Rights in Berlin in March 2003. In April 2003, the Division provided technical input to a regional training workshop in Samoa on reporting under the Convention in which nine countries participated and in May 2003 the Division participated in a workshop in Honduras on reporting under international human rights treaties. The Division is planning to convene a training workshop for States parties in the African region preceded by a judicial colloquium on the domestic application of the Convention to be held in Arusha in September 2003. The Division is preparing a comprehensive training manual on the Convention and the Optional Protocol.

22. During the Second Forum for Parliamentarians from Asia and Africa on Human Security and Gender: The Role of the Legislature, organized by the Division and the United Nations Development Programme in Bangkok from 6 to 8 December 2002, members of Parliament from 20 Asian and African countries exchanged views, experiences and lessons learned, and elaborated recommendations for action on using the United Nations Millennium Declaration and Millennium Development Goals to promote gender equality; and on using the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol to realize women's human rights and human security.

Notes

1/ Article 2 reads as follows:

"1. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

"2. Where not already provided for by existing legislative or other measures, each State party to the present Covenant undertakes to take the necessary steps, in accordance with its constitutional processes and with the provisions of the present Covenant, to adopt such legislative or other measures as may be necessary to give effect to the rights recognized in the present Covenant.

"3. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes:

"(a) To ensure that any person whose rights or freedoms as herein recognized are violated shall have an effective remedy, notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity;

"(b) To ensure that any person claiming such a remedy shall have his right thereto determined by competent judicial, administrative or legislative authorities, or by any other competent authority provided for by the legal system of the State, and to develop the possibilities of judicial remedy;

"(c) To ensure that the competent authorities shall enforce such remedies when granted."

2/ E/C.12/2002/11.

3/ At the ninth meeting of States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, held on 10 February 2003, 13 members of the Committee were elected, increasing the membership from 10 to 18 experts, in accordance with the amendment to article 43 of the Convention which entered into force on 18 November 2002.

Annex I

States parties whose reports are five years or more overdue as at 1 May 2003

Annex II

States parties whose reports have been submitted but not yet considered by the Committee as at 1 May 2003

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a/ Report to be considered by the Committee at its thirtieth session, to be held in New York, January 2004.

b/ Report has been translated, reproduced and made available in all official languages.

Annex III

States parties that have signed, ratified or acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention

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a/ Accession.

b/ For the Kingdom in Europe, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.

c/ With a declaration to the effect that "consistent with the constitutional status of Tokelau and taking into account its commitment to the development of self-government through an act of self-determination under the Charter of the United Nations, this ratification shall not extend to Tokelau unless and until a Declaration to this effect is lodged by the Government of New Zealand with the depositary on the basis of appropriate consultation with that territory".

Annex IV

States parties that have deposited with the Secretary-General instruments of acceptance of the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

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a/ For the Kingdom in Europe, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.

b/ For the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, the British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Annex V

States that have not ratified or acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women as at 1 May 2003

Africa

Sao Tome and Principe

Somalia

Sudan

Swaziland

Asia and the Pacific

Brunei Darussalam

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Kiribati

Marshall Islands

Micronesia (Federated States of)

Nauru

Oman

Palau

Qatar

Tonga

United Arab Emirates

Western European and other States

Holy See

Monaco

San Marino

United States of America