The fourteenth meeting of States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was held on 23 June 2006 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The main purpose of the meeting was to elect individuals to fill the twelve positions on the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women which will become vacant on 31 December 2006.
To preside over the fourteenth Meeting of States Parties, the Committee elected Andreas Mavroyiannis ( Cyprus) as Chairperson, as well as the following three Vice-Chairpersons: Meshak Kitchen ( Zimbabwe), from the group of African States; Birute Abraitiene ( Lithuania), from the group of Eastern European States; and Sean McDonald ( Ireland), from the group of Western European and other States.
The individuals elected to fill the twelve positions on the Committee were:
Ferdous Ara Begum (Bangladesh)
Meriem Belmihoub-Zerdani (Algeria)
Saisuree Chutikul (Thailand)
Dorcas Ama Frema Coker-Appiah (Ghana)
Cornelis Flinterman (Netherlands)
Naela Gabr Mohamed Gabre Ali (Egypt)
Ruth Halperin-Kaddari (Israel)
Violeta Neubauer (Slovenia)
Pramila Patten (Mauritius)
Fumiko Saiga (Japan)
Hazel Gumede Shelton (South Africa)
Dubravka Šimonović ( Croatia)
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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.
Until 2005, the Committee met twice a year, in January and in July, for three weeks each session. In addition, the Committee's Working Group on Communications under the Optional Protocol meets prior to each session, for three to five days. The Committee's pre-session working group meets for five days immediately after each session to prepare lists of issues and questions pertaining to reports to be considered at its following session. The General Assembly is currently finalizing action on the Committee’s request to extend its meeting time as of 2006.
Committee members serve in their personal capacities, and not as representatives of the States parties which present their candidature.
The following documents were issued for the fourteenth meeting of States parties:
- CEDAW/SP/2006/1: Provisional agenda [ A C E F R S]
- CEDAW/SP/2006/2: Declarations, reservations, objections and notifications of withdrawal of reservations relating to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women [ A C E F R S]
- CEDAW/SP/2006/3: List of Candidates (Addenda, as necessary) [ A C E F R S]
- List of candidates updated as of 13 June 2006
- CEDAW/SP/2006/3/Add.1: Election, in accordance with article 17, paragraphs 4 and 5, of the Convention, of twelve members of the Committee, to replace those whose terms are due to expire on 31 December 2006 [ E ]
- CEDAW/SP/2006/3/Add.2: Election, in accordance with article 17, paragraphs 4 and 5, of the Convention, of twelve members of the Committee, to replace those whose terms are due to expire on 31 December 2006 [ E ]
- CEDAW/SP/2006/4: Report of the meeting of States parties [ A C E F R S]
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