The 39th Session of the Committee to Eliminate Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was held from 23 July-10 August 2007 at UN headquarters in New York, US.

This session marked the occasion of the Committee’s twenty-fifth anniversary. The Committee reviewed country reports from 15 states, including Cooks Islands, Belize, Brazil, Estonia, Guinea, Honduras, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea and Singapore. Cook Islands announced its withdrawal of three reservations on recruiting women into active armed service, on maternity leave and on banning women from inheriting chiefly titles. The delegation of Jordan noted that social attitudes, unstable political conditions in the region and slow legal reform had hampered women’s progress, but some success could be observed. The Committee commended Singapore’s progress, but pressed it to withdraw reservations to the Convention, including the need to strengthen a domestic legal framework to counter discrimination. The delegation of Norway presented initiatives implemented to end violence against women, to put more women in public office and corporate boards, and to protect the rights of immigrant women and girls.
At the close of the session, Committee Chairperson Dubravka Simonovic indicated that this was the Committee’s last session in New York as part of the Division for the Advancement of Women. The Committee is moving to the Geneva-based Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Committee’s 40th Session is scheduled to meet in early 2008 to review country reports from Iceland, Lithuania, Nigeria, Slovakia, Sweden, United Kingdom, Tanzania and Yemen.
Links to further information
UN News Centre, 23 July 2007
Press Release, WOM/1652, 10 August 2007
Press Release, WOM/1651, 3 August 2007
Press Release, WOM/1649, 2 August 2007
Press Release, WOM/1648, 1 August 2007
Press Release, WOM/1647, 1 August 2007