A/RES/62/218 GA

United Nations A/RES/62/218 General Assembly Distr.: General 12 February 2008 Sixty-second session Agenda item 63 (a) 07-47685 Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 22 December 2007 [on the report of the Third Committee (A/62/433 (Part II))] 62/218. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women The General Assembly, Recalling its resolution 60/230 of 23 December 2005 and its previous resolutions on the elimination of discrimination against women, Bearing in mind that one of the purposes of the United Nations, as stated in Articles 1 and 55 of the Charter, is to promote universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction of any kind, including distinction as to sex, Reiterating the need to intensify efforts to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women throughout the world, Affirming that women and men should participate equally in social, economic and political development, should contribute equally to such development and should share equally in improved conditions of life, Recalling the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights on 25 June 1993, 0F1 in which the Conference reaffirmed that the human rights of women and the girl child were an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights, Acknowledging the need for a comprehensive and integrated approach to the promotion and protection of the human rights of women, which includes the integration of the human rights of women into the mainstream of United Nations activities system-wide, Reaffirming the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 1F2 and the outcome documents of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first _______________ 1 A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III. 2 Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4–15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annexes I and II. A/RES/62/218 2 century”, 2F 3 in particular those paragraphs concerning the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women 3F 4 and the Optional Protocol thereto, 4F5 Welcoming the declaration of the Commission on the Status of Women on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women,5F6 in which the Commission recognized that the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the fulfilment of the obligations under the Convention are mutually reinforcing in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women, Recalling that, in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, 6F7 Heads of State and Government resolved to implement the Convention, and recalling also that the 2005 World Summit Outcome7F8 reaffirmed that gender equality and the promotion and protection of the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all are essential to advance development and peace and security, Recognizing that the equal enjoyment by women of all human rights and fundamental freedoms will promote the realization of the rights of the child, bearing in mind the special needs of girls, and acknowledging the mutual reinforcement of the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child8F9 and the Optional Protocols thereto, 9F10 Noting that on 23 July 2007, at its 792nd meeting, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of its work, Bearing in mind the recommendation of the Committee that national reports should contain information on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, in accordance with paragraph 323 of the Platform, Having considered the reports of the Committee on its thirty-fourth, thirty- fifth and thirty-sixth10F11 and thirty-seventh, thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth1F12 sessions, Expressing concern at the great number of reports that are overdue (two hundred and fifteen), in particular initial reports, which constitutes an obstacle to the full implementation of the Convention, 1. Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on the status of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; 12F13 _______________ 3 Resolution S-23/2, annex, and resolution S-23/3, annex. 4 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1249, No. 20378. 5 Ibid., vol. 2131, No. 20378. 6 See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2005, Supplement No. 7 and corrigendum (E/2005/27 and Corr.1), chap. I, sect. A; see also Economic and Social Council decision 2005/232. 7 See resolution 55/2. 8 See resolution 60/1. 9 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531. 10 Ibid., vols. 2171 and 2173, No. 27531. 11 Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-first Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/61/38). 12 Ibid., Sixty-second Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/62/38). 13 A/62/290. A/RES/62/218 3 2. 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; 3. 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; 4. 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; 5. 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; 6. 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; 7. Welcomes the adoption by the Committee of revised reporting guidelines, 13F 14 and urges States parties to adhere to the revised guidelines, in particular with regard to the content and length of reports; 8. 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; 9. 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; 10. 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; 11. 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, 14F15 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; _______________ 14 Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/57/38), part two, annex. 15 Ibid., Sixty-first Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/61/38), part two, chap. VI. A/RES/62/218 4 12. Notes decision 39/I of the Committee, 15F16 in which it requested the General Assembly to authorize an extension of its meeting time; 13. Also notes that a backlog of reports of thirty-four States parties to be considered by the Committee persists; 14. 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; 15. 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; 16. 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; 17. 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; 18. Invites States parties to make use of the technical assistance provided by the Secretariat to facilitate the preparation of reports, in particular initial reports; 19. 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; 20. Encourages the Committee, within its mandate, to continue to contribute to the efforts to strengthen cooperation and coordination between the treaty bodies; 21. 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; 22. 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; 23. 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; 24. 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; _______________ 16 Ibid., Sixty-second Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/62/38), part three, chap. I. A/RES/62/218 5 25. 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; 26. Welcomes the contribution of non-governmental organizations to the work of the Committee; 27. 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; 28. 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. 79th plenary meeting 22 December 2007

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