COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN

17th Meeting of States parties (New York, 26 June 2012): Election of the members of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to replace those whose terms are due to expire on 31 December 2012

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women is composed of 23 experts of high moral standing and competence in the field covered by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women1 Nominations for membership on the Committee may be made by States parties to the Convention, in accordance with article 17 of the Convention. The article states that “the experts shall be elected by State parties for a term of four years and shall serve in their personal capacity, consideration being given to equitable geographic distribution and to the representation of the different forms of civilization as well as the principal legal systems”.

The seventeenth meeting of States parties will take place in New York on 26 June 2012 with the aim of electing eleven members of the Committee, in view of the expiration of their term of office on 31 December 2012. States parties to the Convention are invited to nominate their candidates by 9 March 2012.

The nominations and biographical data form (Annex III) should be submitted to the CEDAW Secretariat, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations Office at Geneva, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland and in electronic (Word) version to BSmith@ohchr.org, copy to idelpilarsandoval@ohchr.org.

1. For the text of the Convention and the current status of participation including reservations and declarations, please refer to the United Nations Treaties Collection on the Internet at http://treaties.un.org.

Candidatures received after 9 March 2012

Access documentation relating to the seventeenth meeting of States parties ...

Results of the election of the members of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to replace those whose terms are due to expire on 31 December 2012

The seventeenth meeting of States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was held on 26 June 2012 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The purpose of the meeting was to elect individuals to fill the eleven positions on the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women which will become vacant on 31 December 2012.

At the outset of the meeting, Paulette Bethel (Bahamas) from the Latin American and Caribbean Group was elected to serve as its Chair. Yana Boiko (Ukraine) from the Group of Eastern European States, Tanisha Hewanpola (Australia) from the Group of Western European and other States and Fatima Alfeine (Comoros) from the African Group were elected Vice-Chairs.

The individuals elected to fill the eleven positions on the Committee were:

Two thirds of the States parties constitute a quorum, and the persons elected to the Committee are those nominees who obtained the largest number of votes and an absolute majority of the votes of the representatives of States parties present and voting.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women is established under article 17 of the Convention. It is composed of 23 experts who are elected by secret ballot by States parties. The Committee is tasked with the review of the reports of States parties submitted in accordance with article 18 of the Convention. The Optional Protocol to the Convention, which entered into force in December 2000, empowers the Committee to consider communications submitted by individuals or groups of individuals alleging violations of the Convention in States parties to the Convention and the Optional Protocol. The Optional Protocol also entitles the Committee of its own motion to inquire into grave or systematic violations of the Convention in those States parties where this procedure is applicable, in accordance with articles 8 and 10.

Committee members serve in their personal capacities, and not as representatives of the States parties which present their candidature.