Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

A/RES/62/218View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 63a Advancement of women, published in 2008.

What other versions does this mandate have?

23 versions · 1980–2016

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/70/131

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2016	A/RES/70/131	Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women	125	85%Compare
2014	A/RES/68/138	Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women	131	85%Compare
2012	A/RES/66/131	Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women	138	8%Compare
2010	A/RES/64/138	Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women	1,610	68%Compare
2008	A/RES/62/218	Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women	1,665	84%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

10 reports · 2001–2017

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2017	A/72/93	Status of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/70/131
2015	A/70/124	Status of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/68/138
2013	A/68/121	Status of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/66/131
2011	A/66/99	Status of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/64/138
2009	A/64/342	Status of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/62/218

What’s in this document?

28 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on the status of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;¹⁴

¹⁴A/62/290.

Also welcomes the growing number of States parties to the Convention,4 which now stands at one hundred and eighty-five, while expressing disappointment that universal ratification of the Convention was not achieved by 2000, and urges all States that have not yet ratified or acceded to the Convention to do so;

Further welcomes the growing number of States parties to the Optional Protocol to the Convention,5 which now stands at ninety, and urges other States parties to the Convention to consider signing and ratifying or acceding to the Optional Protocol;

Urges States parties to comply fully with their obligations under the Convention and the Optional Protocol thereto and to take into consideration the concluding comments as well as the general recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women;

Encourages all relevant entities of the United Nations system, within their mandates, as well as Governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, in particular women’s organizations, as appropriate, to strengthen assistance to States parties, upon their request, in implementing the Convention;

Notes that some States parties have modified their reservations, expresses satisfaction that some reservations have been withdrawn, and urges States parties to limit the extent of any reservations that they lodge to the Convention, to formulate any such reservations as precisely and as narrowly as possible, to ensure that no reservations are incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention, to review their reservations regularly with a view to withdrawing them and to withdraw reservations that are contrary to the object and purpose of the Convention;

Welcomes the adoption by the Committee of revised reporting guidelines,¹⁵ and urges States parties to adhere to the revised guidelines, in particular with regard to the content and length of reports;

¹⁵Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/57/38), part two, annex.

Recalls the great number of overdue reports, in particular initial reports, and urges States parties to the Convention to make every possible effort to submit their reports on the implementation of the Convention in a timely manner, in accordance with article 18 thereof;

Also recalls its resolution 50/202 of 22 December 1995, in which it took note with approval of the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention, which has yet to enter into force;

Strongly urges States parties to the Convention to take appropriate measures so that acceptance of the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention by a two-thirds majority of States parties can be reached as soon as possible and the amendment can enter into force;

Expresses its appreciation for the efforts made by the Committee to improve the efficiency of its working methods, inter alia, pertaining to its meetings in parallel chambers, following its fifth informal meeting, held in Berlin from 2 to 4 May 2006,¹⁶ and invites the Committee to consider further improvements to its working methods, especially with the aim of achieving timely and effective consideration of reports submitted by States parties;

¹⁶Ibid., Sixty-first Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/61/38), part two, chap. VI.

Notes decision 39/I of the Committee,¹⁷ in which it requested the General Assembly to authorize an extension of its meeting time;

¹⁷Ibid., Sixty-second Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/62/38), part three, chap. I.

Also notes that a backlog of reports of thirty-four States parties to be considered by the Committee persists;

Decides to authorize the Committee to hold three annual sessions of three weeks each, with a one-week pre-sessional working group for each session, for an interim period effective from January 2010, pending the entry into force of the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention, and to authorize three annual sessions of the Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol to the Convention;

Also decides to authorize the Committee to meet on an exceptional and temporary basis in the biennium 2008–2009 in a total of five sessions, of which three would occur in parallel chambers, taking due account of equitable geographical distribution, for the purpose of considering reports of States parties submitted under article 18 of the Convention; and further decides that two of the five sessions shall be held at United Nations Headquarters in New York;

Urges the Committee to evaluate progress, and decides to assess the situation with regard to the location of the sessions of the Committee after two years, also taking into account the wider context of treaty body reform;

Encourages the Secretariat to extend further technical assistance to States parties, upon their request, to strengthen their capacity in the preparation of reports, in particular initial reports, and invites Governments to contribute to those efforts;

Invites States parties to make use of the technical assistance provided by the Secretariat to facilitate the preparation of reports, in particular initial reports;

Encourages the continued participation of members of the Committee in inter-committee meetings and meetings of persons chairing the human rights treaty bodies, including those on methods of work relating to the State reporting system;

Encourages the Committee, within its mandate, to continue to contribute to the efforts to strengthen cooperation and coordination between the treaty bodies;

Requests the Secretary-General, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 54/4 of 6 October 1999, to provide the resources, including staff and facilities, necessary for the effective functioning of the Committee within its full mandate, taking into account in particular the entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the Convention;

Urges Governments, organizations and bodies of the United Nations system and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to disseminate the Convention and the Optional Protocol thereto;

Encourages States parties to disseminate the concluding comments adopted in relation to the consideration of their reports, as well as the general recommendations of the Committee;

Encourages all relevant entities of the United Nations system to continue to build women’s knowledge and understanding of and capacity to utilize human rights instruments, in particular the Convention and the Optional Protocol thereto;

Urges the specialized agencies, at the invitation of the Committee, to submit reports on the implementation of the Convention in areas falling within the scope of their activities;

Welcomes the contribution of non-governmental organizations to the work of the Committee;

Invites the Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to address the General Assembly at its sixty-third and sixty-fourth sessions under the item on the advancement of women;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session a report on the status of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the implementation of the present resolution.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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