| United Nations | CEDAW/C/1994/1 |
Committee on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women
Distr. GENERAL
9 November 1993
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN
Thirteenth session
New York, 17 January-4 February 1994
PROVISIONAL AGENDA
1. Adoption of the agenda and organization of work.
2. Report of the chairperson on the activities undertaken
between the twelfth and the thirteenth sessions of the
Committee.
3. Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under
article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women.
4. Implementation of article 21 of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
5. Ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee on
the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
6. Contributions of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women to international conferences.
7. Provisional agenda for the fourteenth session.
8. Adoption of the report of the Committee on the Elimination
of Discrimination against Women on its thirteenth session.
ANNOTATIONS
Item 1
Rule 7 of the rules of procedure of the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women 1/ provides that the
agenda shall be adopted by the
Committee at the beginning of its meetings. Rule 5 provides that
the provisional agenda for each session shall be prepared by the
Secretary-General in consultation with the Chairperson, in
conformity with the relevant provisions of articles 17-22 of the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (General Assembly resolution 34/180, annex), giving
priority to any item the inclusion of which was decided at a
previous session of the Committee.
At its twelfth session, the Committee approved the
provisional agenda for its thirteenth session. 2/
The Committee has, since its sixth session, set up two
standing working groups: working group I, to consider and
suggest ways and means of expediting the work of the Committee;
and working group II, to consider ways and means of implementing
article 21 of the Convention. At its seventh session, the
Committee decided to keep the membership of the working groups
flexible. 3/ At its eleventh session, the Committee decided that
the working groups should be open only to members of the
Committee, in accordance with past practice. Specialized
agencies and other bodies that could make substantive
contributions to items under consideration by a working
group could be invited by the working group to contribute to its
deliberations. 4/ The working groups will meet during the
session.
Documentation
Provisional agenda and annotations (CEDAW/C/1994/1)
Item 2
The Committee, at its twelfth session, decided to include an
item to permit the Chairperson to brief the Committee on
activities and events that had a bearing on the Committee's work.
Members requested to be informed about the results of
investigations of alleged human rights violations in the
territory of the former Yugoslavia, especially violations of
human rights referring to women. On behalf of the Committee, the
Chairperson attended the thirty-seventh session of the Commission
on the Status of Women, the fourth session of the Preparatory
Committee of the World Conference on Human Rights, the World
Conference on Human Rights and the meetings of chairpersons of
the human rights treaty bodies held during the Preparatory
Committee and the World Conference on Human Rights.
Item 3
Article 18 of the Convention provides that States parties
shall undertake to submit to the Secretary-General, for
consideration by the Committee, a report on the legislative,
judicial, administrative or other measures which they have
adopted to give effect to the provisions of the Convention and on
progress made in this respect. Reports are to be submitted
within one year after the entry into force for the State
concerned and thereafter at least every four years and further
whenever the Committee so requests.
At its twelfth session, the Committee decided to consider at
its thirteenth session a total of six initial reports, six second
periodic reports and two third periodic reports, based on the
criteria of order of receipt, geographical representation at a
given session, and interest expressed by Governments. The
reserve list of countries that were to present reports, in the
event that any of those selected decided not to present their
reports, should consist of all other States parties whose reports
were pending, in order of their receipt. 5/ The Committee
decided to set 1 September 1993 as the formal deadline by which a
State party that had been selected by the Committee to present
its report at the thirteenth session should give its agreement in
writing, preferably by fax. Any additional written information
to be given to the Committee should also be provided not later
than 1 September 1993. 6/
The Committee also decided that States parties should be
offered the opportunity to provide a revised or new report in
place of the report(s) already submitted, if the national
situation had changed sufficiently to warrant the substitution.
If a substitution were made, the Committee would only review the
revised or new report and would disregard the report indicated by
the State party to be outdated. 7/
At its thirteenth session, the Committee will have before it
reports submitted by 13 States parties, based on consultations by
the Secretary-General with the States parties concerned. The
reports are as follows: for Australia, the second periodic
report (CEDAW/C/AUL/2); for Barbados, the second and third
periodic reports combined* (CEDAW/C/BAR/2-3); for Colombia, the
second and third periodic reports combined
(CEDAW/C/COL/2-3/Rev.1); for Ecuador, the second periodic report
(CEDAW/C/13/Add.31) and third periodic report (CEDAW/C/ECU/3);
for Guatemala, the initial and second periodic reports combined
(CEDAW/C/GUA/1-2); for Guyana, the initial report
(CEDAW/C/5/Add.63); for Japan, the second periodic report
(CEDAW/C/JPN/2) and the third periodic report (CEDAW/C/JPN/3);
for the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, the initial report
(CEDAW/C/LIB/1/Add.1); for Madagascar, the initial report
(CEDAW/C/5/Add.65/Rev.2); for the Netherlands, the initial report
(CEDAW/C/NET/1 and Add.1-3); for New Zealand, the second periodic
report (CEDAW/C/NZE/2 and Add.1); for Senegal, the second
periodic report (CEDAW/C/SEN/2); and for Zambia, the initial and
second periodic reports combined (CEDAW/C/ZAM/1-2).
________________________
* At its tenth session, the Committee decided that, if
States parties whose reports were overdue by the conclusion of
that session so wished, they could each submit a combined report
to the Committee and that such reports should be numbered by the
Secretariat in a way that facilitated their identification
(Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-sixth Session,
Supplement No. 38 (A/46/38), para. 370).
________________________
A tentative timetable listing the time at which each report
of a State party is scheduled for consideration by the Committee
is annexed to the present document.
Rule 49 of the rules of procedure provides that
representatives of States parties shall be present at meetings of
the Committee when the State's report is being examined and shall
participate in discussions and answer questions concerning the
report. The Secretary-General has informed the States parties
concerned of the tentative dates on which their reports are
scheduled for consideration by the Committee at its thirteenth
session.
Rule 47 of the rules of procedure provides that at each
session the Secretary-General shall notify the Committee on the
non-receipt of any report required from a State party under
article 18 of the Convention. The Secretary-General also
provides the Committee with a list of reports submitted by States
parties to the Convention that have not yet been considered by
the Committee. The Committee at its thirteenth session will have
before it the report of the Secretary-General on the status of
submission of reports by States parties under article 18 of the
Convention (CEDAW/C/1994/2).
The Committee decided that a pre-session working group
should be convened before each session to prepare issues and
questions relating to second and subsequent periodic reports for
transmission to the representatives of States parties before the
meetings at which their reports were scheduled to be discussed.
The pre-session working group for the thirteenth session is
scheduled to meet in New York from 10 to 14 January 1994.
In the light of its previous work on violence against women,
reflected in its general recommendation 19 and in accordance with
article 18 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, the Committee decided to request
the States of the territory of the former Yugoslavia to submit a
report on an exceptional basis in respect to the situation of
women now coming under their jurisdiction. 8/ The Committee will
have before it the reports of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Documentation
Report of the Secretary-General on the status of submission
of reports by States parties under article 18 of the
Convention (CEDAW/C/1994/2)
Second periodic report of Australia (CEDAW/C/AUL/2)
Combined second and third periodic reports of Barbados
(CEDAW/C/BAR/2-3)
Combined second and third periodic reports of Colombia
(CEDAW/C/COL/2-3/Rev.1)
Second periodic report of Ecuador (CEDAW/C/13/Add.31)
Third periodic report of Ecuador (CEDAW/C/ECU/3)
Combined initial and second periodic reports of Guatemala
(CEDAW/C/GUA/1-2)
Initial report of Guyana (CEDAW/C/5/Add.63)
Second periodic report of Japan (CEDAW/C/JPN/2)
Third periodic report of Japan (CEDAW/C/JPN/3)
Initial report of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
(CEDAW/C/LIB/1/Add.1)
Initial report of Madagascar (CEDAW/C/5/Add.65/Rev.2)
Initial report of the Netherlands (CEDAW/C/NET/1 and
Add.1-3)
Second periodic report of New Zealand (CEDAW/C/NZE/2 and
Add.1)
Second periodic report of Senegal (CEDAW/C/SEN/2)
Combined initial and second periodic reports of Zambia
(CEDAW/C/ZAM/1-2)
Reports of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia
Item 4
Article 21 of the Convention provides that the Committee may
make suggestions and general recommendations based on the
examination of reports and information received from States
parties. It also provides that such suggestions and general
recommendations shall be included in the report of the Committee
together with comments, if any, from States parties. Rule 48 of
the rules of procedure provides that suggestions and general
recommendations made by the Committee based on the examination of
reports received from States parties under article 18 of the
Convention shall be communicated by the Committee, through the
Secretary-General, to the States parties for their comments.
Article 22 of the Convention provides that the specialized
agencies shall be entitled to be represented at the consideration
of the implementation of such provisions of the Convention as
fall within the scope of their activities and that the Committee
may invite the specialized agencies to submit reports on the
implementation of the Convention in areas falling within the
scope of their activities. The Committee at its thirteenth
session will have before it a note by the Secretary-General on
reports by specialized agencies on that subject (CEDAW/C/1994/3
and Add.1-4).
At its tenth session, the Committee decided to provide,
under the item of its agenda entitled "Implementation of article
21 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women", opportunities for specialists from
the specialized agencies and other bodies of the United Nations
to present to the Committee, in plenary, information related to
specific articles of the Convention or to issues being considered
for general recommendations and suggestions. 9/
At the same session, the Committee decided to select and to
review specific articles and other issues to be considered at
subsequent sessions as a long-term programme, without prejudice
to any changes that might be necessary as a result of new
developments and priorities arising from the review of the
reports of States parties. 10/
The Committee, at its tenth session, also decided that it
should prepare comments on particular articles of the Convention,
which would assist in the formulation of the Committee's
recommendations relating to those articles. 11/ At its eleventh
session, the Committee decided that all pending and newly tabled
recommendations, as well as the comments of working group II on
article 6, would be included as part of the general comments on
individual articles of the Convention. 12/
The Committee, at its tenth session 13/ and its eleventh
session, 14/ decided that it would examine at its twelfth session
articles 9, 15 and 16, i.e. articles of the Convention related to
the family in preparation for the International Year of the
Family to be observed in 1994, and at its thirteenth session
articles 7 and 8 of the Convention. At its twelfth session, the
Committee agreed to begin with the preparation of a general
recommendation on article 4 and to analyse article 2 of the
Convention, including reservations which have been made to it, at
its fourteenth session to be held in 1995. 15/ At its twelfth
session, the Committee prepared and adopted the substance of the
draft general recommendation on article 16 and related articles
of the Convention with the agreement that three specified
additions would be included in the final draft. The Committee
further decided that the draft general recommendation shall be
placed on the provisional agenda of the thirteenth session for
its final approval without further discussion. 16/ For its
analysis of articles 7 and 8, the Committee will have before it
the report of the Secretariat (CEDAW/C/1994/4).
The Committee, at its tenth session, requested the
Secretariat to prepare for each session of the Committee, for its
information, a report on the implications for its work of the
priority themes prepared, or under preparation, for the
consideration of the Commission on the Status of Women. 17/ The
Committee at its thirteenth session will have before it a report
of the Secretariat on that subject (CEDAW/C/1994/5).
Documentation
Note by the Secretary-General on reports provided by
specialized agencies of the United Nations on the
implementation of the Convention in areas falling within the
scope of their activities (CEDAW/C/1994/3).
Addenda to the note by the Secretary-General on reports
provided by specialized agencies of the United Nations on
the implementation of the Convention in areas falling within
the scope of their activities, report by the World Health
Organization (CEDAW/C/1994/3/Add.1), report by the
International Labour Organization (CEDAW/C/1994/3/Add.2),
report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (CEDAW/C/1994/3/Add.3) and report by
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(CEDAW/C/1994/3/Add.4)
Report of the Secretariat for the analysis of articles 7 and
8 of the Convention (CEDAW/C/1994/4)
Report of the Secretariat on the implications for the work
of the Committee of the priority themes of the Commission on
the Status of Women (CEDAW/C/1994/5)
Item 5
The Committee, at its twelfth session, decided that the
Secretariat should prepare every year, as a pre-session document,
a report on ways and means of improving the work of the
Committee, containing information of the Secretariat, comments
made by members to the Secretariat, or developments elsewhere in
the human rights regime. 18/ In its suggestion 4, addressed to
the World Conference on Human Rights (1993), the Committee
recommended a number of actions which are directed at improving
the effectiveness of its work. 19/ The Committee also decided to
review at its twelfth session its rules of procedure which had
been drafted in 1981 and adopted at the Committee's first
session. 20/ The Committee will have before it, at its
thirteenth session, a report of the Secretariat on ways and means
of improving the work of the Committee (CEDAW/C/1994/6).
Documentation
Report of the Secretariat on ways and means of improving the
work of the Committee (CEDAW/C/1994/6)
Item 6
The Committee's contribution to the International Year of
the Family (1994) will be its general recommendation 21
(thirteenth session) on equality in marriage and family relations
as decided at its eleventh session. 21/
With regard to the Fourth World Conference on Women, the
Committee decided at its tenth session that its contribution
should, inter alia, place emphasis on the Nairobi Forward-looking
Strategies for the Advancement of Women* and their links with the
articles of the Convention. 22/
At its twelfth session, the Committee requested the
Secretariat to provide it, for its review at its thirteenth
session, with an outline of the draft of the updated compendium**
on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women; it further requested that
the draft compendium should be presented to it at its fourteenth
session, so that its comments could be included in the final
version. 23/
The Committee will have before it, at its thirteenth
session, the requested outline (CEDAW/C/1994/7).
________________________
* Report of the World Conference to Review and Appraise
the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women:
Equality, Development and Peace, Nairobi, 15-26 July 1985 (United
Nations publication, Sales No. E.85.IV.10), chap. I, sect. A.
** The first compendium was prepared by the Secretariat
for the report of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women on the achievements of and obstacles
encountered by States parties in the implementation of the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (A/CONF.116/13).
________________________
The Committee, at its twelfth session, also decided to
prepare a special recommendation at its thirteenth session as a
contribution to the International Conference on Population and
Development (1994). The Secretariat should provide members of
the Committee with information about the preparations for that
Conference, if possible, in advance. 24/
The Committee also requested the Secretariat for information
on the preparations for the World Summit for Social Development
in order to prepare an appropriate contribution at its thirteenth
or fourteenth session. 25/
Documentation
Outline of the draft of the updated compendium on the
implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW/C/1994/7)
Item 7
At its tenth session, the Committee decided that the draft
provisional agenda for the following session of the Committee
would be approved at the end of each session. 26/ It also
decided 27/ that at each session:
(a) It would set a programme for the following two or three
sessions, which could be revised and amended at each subsequent
session;
(b) It would select one or more articles or subjects for
study;
(c) The Secretariat would prepare a background report as a
pre-session document to be considered by the Committee during its
examination of the articles or subjects concerned.
Documentation
Draft provisional agenda for the fourteenth session of the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Item 8
Under article 21 of the Convention, the Committee, shall,
through the Economic and Social Council, report annually to the
General Assembly on its activities.
Notes
1/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-eighth
Session, Supplement No. 45 (A/38/45), annex III.
2/ See "Report of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women (twelfth session)" (A/48/38),
chap. VIII, para. 650. The report will be issued subsequently as
Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-eighth Session,
Supplement No. 38 (A/48/38).
3/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-third
Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/43/38), chap. II, sect. A, para.
26.
4/ Ibid., Forty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 38
(A/47/38), chap. II, sect. I, para. 24.
5/ See "Report of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women (twelfth session) ...", para. 624.
6/ Ibid., para. 628.
7/ Ibid., para. 630.
8/ Ibid., pp. 9-10.
9/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-sixth
Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/46/38), para. 373.
10/ Ibid., para. 375.
11/ Ibid., para. 380.
12/ Ibid., Forty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 38
(A/47/38), para. 465.
13/ Ibid., Forty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 38
(A/46/38), paras. 381-382.
14/ Ibid., Forty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 38
(A/47/38), para. 466.
15/ See "Report of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women (twelfth session) ...", paras. 646
and 647.
16/ Ibid., para. 640.
17/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-sixth
Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/46/38), para. 376.
18/ "Report of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women (twelfth session) ...", para. 632.
19/ Ibid., p. 6.
20/ Ibid., para. 633.
21/ Ibid., para. 594.
22/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-sixth
Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/46/38), chap. III, sect. B,
paras. 34-38.
23/ "Report of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women (twelfth session) ...", para. 595.
24/ Ibid., para. 597.
25/ Ibid., para. 599.
26/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-sixth
Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/46/38), para. 369.
27/ Ibid., paras. 381-382.
Annex
TENTATIVE TIMETABLE FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS OF STATES
PARTIES BY THE COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION
AGAINST WOMEN AT ITS THIRTEENTH SESSION
State party Report(s) Document number Date
Netherlands Initial CEDAW/C/NET/1 Monday, 17 January
and Add.1-3 1994 (afternoon)
Thursday, 20
January 1994
(afternoon)
Guyana Initial CEDAW/C/5/Add.63 Tuesday, 18 January
1994 (morning)
Thursday, 20
January 1994
(afternoon)
Madagascar Initial CEDAW/C/5/Add.65/ Tuesday, 18 January
Rev.2 1994 (afternoon)
Friday, 21 January
1994 (morning)
Libyan Arab Initial CEDAW/C/LIB/1/ Wednesday, 19
Jamahiriya Add.1 January 1994
(morning)
Friday, 21 January
1994 (morning)
Zambia Combined CEDAW/C/ZAM/1-2 Monday, 24 January
initial 1994 (morning)
and second Wednesday, 26
periodic January 1994
(afternoon)
Guatemala Combined CEDAW/C/GUA/1-2 Monday, 24 January
initial 1994 (afternoon)
and second Wednesday, 26
periodic January 1994
(afternoon)
New Zealand Second CEDAW/C/NZE/2 Tuesday, 25 January
periodic and Add.1 1994 (morning)
Ecuador Second CEDAW/C/13/Add.31 Tuesday, 25 January
periodic and 1994 (afternoon)
and third CEDAW/C/ECU/3
periodic
together
Barbados Combined CEDAW/C/BAR/2-3 Wednesday, 26
second January 1994
and third (morning)
periodic
Senegal Second CEDAW/C/SEN/2 Thursday, 27
periodic January 1994
(morning)
Japan Second CEDAW/C/JPN/2 Thursday, 27
periodic and January 1994
and third CEDAW/C/JPN/3 (afternoon)
periodic
together
Colombia Combined CEDAW/C/COL/ Monday, 31 January
second 2-3/Rev.1 1994 (morning)
and third
periodic
Australia Second CEDAW/C/AUL/2 Monday, 31 January
periodic 1994 (afternoon)
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