Postcards from the 32nd CEDAW session in New York

Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 10:17 AM
Subject: [pacwin] Postcard#1 from New York City: Global to Local

Greetings from New York City on the eve of the commencement of the 32nd CEDAW session which will get underway tommorrow moring, 10 January 2005 at 10am.
I arrived in NYC on the 5 January with some NGOs from the 8 Countries scheduled to report before the Committee at its upcomming session. The 8 countries are as follows: Allegria, Crotia,Gabon,Italy, Lao,Paraguay, Turkey and Samoa. Samoa will be the 2nd Pacific Island Country to report.

Noting the important role that NGOs play in the reporting process, as well as implementation and monitoring of the Convention, the International Women's Rights Action Watch (IWRAW) Asia Pacific, organised a 9 day training on the Convention for the NGOs who will be presenting their shadow/alternative reports at the session.
The training is being funded by UNIFEM and supported by UNFPA.
While IWRAW AP is the main facilitator at the training, there is a strong UN support for NGOs through this training (which has a 13 year history), UNIFEM, UNFPA and UNDAW (UN Division on the Advancement of Women) have all facilitated sessions because of the benefits that NGOs have played in assisting the Committee in its delebrations.
There are 20 participants at this training including NGOs from Samoa.

On Monday the 10 January, the Committee will enter into informal dialogue with NGOs from Allgeria, Gabon, Lao and Paraguay. On the 17 January, the Committee will meet with the NGOs from Crotia, Italy, Turkey and Samoa.

On the eve of the 32nd Session, there is a certainly a buss in the NGO camp, as they prepare their reports, their statements and their presentations. On Friday, 7 January 2004, they all received their UN pass before the monday rush as it is anticipated that hundreds will line the UN ID Unit for their pass into the 32nd Session.

The weather in New York has been good - whilst it's quite cold, we have not had snow and we hope that it will stay that way until the 32nd session is over.

Till tommorrow - when I will send you an update of the opening of the 32nd CEDAW session, Regards from NYC.

Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 3:00 AM
Subject: [pacwin] Postcard#2: CEDAW 32nd Session Begins

This morning, the 32nd session of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women got underway in New York at 10am.
The opening session was chaired by the Division on the Advancement of Women and the Office of the Secretary General before the eleection of office bearers. New members and re-elected members of the Committee also took their oaths. This included 3 experts from the Asia Pacific Region which included Anamah Tah(Singapore), Hiesoo Shin(re-elected- Korea) and Mary Shanthi Dairiam. In total, the number of experts from the Asia Pacific region stands at 6 out of the 23 experts.

Nominations of the position of the Chair of the Committee, 3 Vice-Chairs and 1 Rapportuer also took place in the morning session. The meeting heard that as per the rules of the committee and in the spirit of rotation, the next Chair was to selected from the Asia Pacific Region. After deliberations, the experts from the Region selected Ms. Rosaria Manalo of Phillipines to be the Chair of the Committee.

After lunch, the Committee held informal discussions with NGOs from Allegeria, Paraguay and Gabon, and from other International NGOs such as Amesty International and Friends of the World Committee(an international NGO advocating the rights and freedoms of female prisioners). The Committee were then given an opportunity to clarify some issues from the NGO report.

At a close session, the Committee also heard from the UN agencies. I was fortunate to be part of the meeting which included, UNICEF, UNDP, UNESCO, WHO and International Fund for Agricultural Development.

The meeting proper will get underway tommorrow morning when the Governemnt of Allegeria will present its report.

In conclusion, one thing that I found quite interesting was the presence of the Holy See (Vatican) at the meeting and like the UN agencies, has a special sitting in the room.

Well till my next postcard from NYC, regards to all.

Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 11:54 AM
Subject: [pacwin] Postcard#3: Algeria Reports

The Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women commenced its meeting this morning with the consideration of the Report of the Pre-Session Working Group and the Report of the Government of Algeria.

In considering the first item on the Agenda, the meeting heard from the 5 member of the pre-sesion working group who were appointed at the last session to consider reports of Goverments reporting at the present session. The 5 member experts are appointed by region and include: Ms. Coker-Appeah (Africa), Ms. Gaspard(Western Europe), Ms. Martinez( Latin America & Carribean), Ms. Popesu (East Europe) and Ms. Heisoo Shin (Asia). The Pre-Session committee briefed the experts that out of the 8 countries reporting, 6 were presenting follow up reports while 2 were presenting their initial reports.
Furthermore, while the Pre-sesison committee kept within the 30 question rule sent to the Governments scheduled to report, it diverted from this practice for Samoa & Lao where the Government was asked more than 30 follow up questions. The reasoning given was to enable the Experts to adequately cover issues raised in these reports.

The Committee then proceeded to consider the Report of Algeria. For the benefit of those that know little about Algeria, these are some facts: Algeria ratified the Convention on the 22 January 1996 and submitted its initial report in 19992. Formerly a French Colony, it gained its independance in 1962. The area - 2380,000km2m, population is 31.4 million, income per capita US$1639, external debt US$22,571 billion, unemployment rate 28.9%, official language is arabic, Islam is the official religion, motality rate is 117 maternal deaths per 100,000 births.

The Algerian report was presented by its Permanenet Representative to the UN with a group of Government delegation consisting of women. Since this is Algeria's second report, the Committee consider the Report in 4 parts.

This procedure will be quite different for those countries submiting their Initial Report. Questions by the Committee centered around the following issues:

1. Noting that there is NO ministers accompanying the delegaion, how do they intend to implement some of the Committees recommendations upon their report, noting that the nature of implementation is often political
2. Relationship between the law and Islam and its impact on women
3. The impact of trade liberalization on women - noting the huge external debt by Algeria
4. Family Code and its impact on women - noting the influence of Islam on the enjoyment of the rights of women and also on divorce where apparently, a father would still have guardianship over his daughter. This questioned the right under artile 16
5.Rural Women and their benefits
6.Employment & Education - that while there is good education figures, is does not transend into the employment field. Special questions were asked in relation to the number of women heading foreign missions and whether there were any special temporary measures adopted
7. The roles of NGOs in the writing of the Governments Report
8.Violence against women in soceity and steps taken by Government to address these isssue

These are just some of the issues raised by the Committee at today's meeting. It was interesting to note that while the Government was reporting on CEDAW, it chose a man to present its report, although it had highly intellegent women in its delegation. At the conclusion of the meeting, the Committee again met in closed doors to consider the day's proceedings.

Tommorrow, the Committee will again meet in closed doors and will resume on Thursday when it will consider the Report on the Government of Gabon. As of today, I have not seen any NGO representative from Gabon so it will be interesting to observe the types of questions that the Committee will ask Government in light of this absence.

From NYC to all of you, goodbye for now until thrusday when I will send you postcard #4.

Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 10:36 AM
Subject: [pacwin] Postcard#4: Gabon Reports to the CEDAW Committee

The Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women remused its meeting today with the consideration of the Second,Third & Fourth Report of the Government of Gabon.

Gabon ratified the Convention on the 22 July 1982 and submitted its Initial Report on the 14 June 1988 which was considered by the Committee in Feburary 1989. Gabon is located on the Gulf of Guinea, in Africa, between Cameron,Equatorial Guinea, and the Republic of Congo. It population is estimated at 1200,000 of which women are said to account for 52%. It's total surface area is said to be about 267,667km2.

The Report by the Government of Gabon was presented by its Minister for Women's Affairs and throughout the meeting, it was obvious that the Committee were pleased with this representation because it showed the political will of the Government to serioualy achieving gender equality for its women.

As stated in my last postcard, since the meeting started, there is an obvious absence of NGOs from Gabon and in light of this, it was interesting to observe how the committee would formulate its questions to Government.

These are some issues that the Committee highlighted in its constructive dialogue with the Government of Gabon:-

1. On Institutional mechanisms, the Committee sort clarification on the frameworks and operation of the Ministry of Women, its relationships with other ministries, it's relationship with the Council of Ministers, judicary and political frameworks.
2. On the judicary, the Committee asked the Government to clarify whether there had been any training of the judicary, of judges, lawyers, legal practioners on the Convention. Related to this, the Committee also asked Government to clarify steps taken in providing legal literacy for the public
3. On marriage and family, the Committee asked many question so the dowry system. Government in its written and verbal report had stated that the dowry system did not mean much - it's just a cultural practise. This obviously ruffled the Committee who pointed out that the dowry system symbolises the commodification of women and is discriminatory. Related to this, the Committee also asked the Governemnt whether it had carried the Research recommended by the UN Committee on the Convention on the Rights of the Child to assess the impact that polygamy has on children.
4. On widows and ophans - the Committee asked Government to clarify its intention on whether it would introduce legislative or policy measures to safeguard their rights
5. On domestic violence, the Committee sort clarification from Government on legislative measures and possiable time frames
6.The committee also sort the same clarification for indegenous groups and trafficking.
7.On Rural women, Govenrment was asked on development programmes to assist rural women, access to safe drinking water and whether there were any Temporary Special Measures for accelerating the development of rural women
8.On Employment, the Committee refered to the Human Development Report and sort clarification on the participation on women in employment and also on the trade union movement
9.Women in Education, the Committee highlighted the low rate of women in high school (about 2%) and it linked this to the legal marriage age of 15 for girls and 18 for boys. The committee strongly expressed it's concern that whilst Government was providing nursery's for girls to lure them to continue their education, the legal age of marriage is just too young to be sexually active. Government was asked to change it's legal marriage age for girls.
10.On HIV/AIDS, the Committee expressed great concern that whilst further clarification was sort from the Government of Gabon in its follow up question, their response was not adequate. The Committee requested that Government include a section on HIV/AIDS with the relevant data in its next report.

THis is just a samply of the types of issues that the Committee ask Governments reporting at it's 32nd session. Perhaps the thing to note is the continual highlighting of Violence Against Women, as well as issues surrounding rural women and also issues touching upon HIV/AIDS. Also, in the absence of NGO report, the committee relies on reports by UN agencies, by other Committees and by International and Regional Organizations, as we saw today in which the members illustrated that they are well read and well informed to be called CEDAW experts.

Tommorrow, the Committee will commence in considering the Report of the Goverment of Paraguay.
From the UN HQ in NYC - till tommorrow, regards to all.

Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2005 11:07 AM
Subject: [pacwin] Postcard#5: UNCEDAW considers Reports from Paraguay

This morning, the UNCEDAW, entered into constructive dialogue with the Government of Paraguay in considering its combined third, fourth periodic report and fifth periodic report (2 actual reports. This is the last country to meet with the Committee this week. On Monday, the Committee will meet in an informal session with the NGOs from Turkey, Lao, Samoa, Crotia & Italy, following which it will enter into constructive dialogue with the Governments of Crotia, Lao, Turkey. It will consider the Reports from the Government of Samoa & Italy on the following week.

The Minister for Women's affairs lead the delegation from Paraguay to present its reports and enter into constructive dialogue. Again, commendations were echoed throughout the room for the Government's delegation because it showed the political commitment for the advancement of the women in Paraguay.

Paraguay is situated in Central South America, northeast of Argentina. It has a land boundary of atleat 3920km. It's population is about 6,191,368 of which 49% are women. Infant imortality rate is about 26.67 deaths to 1000 live births. At least 90% of the population are catholics. Atleast 36% of the population live below the poverty line. Inflation is said to grow by 14.2 per annum and unemployment rates at 18%. Main sources of export are soyabean, edible oils, meat, leather. Their external debts stands at 2.96 billion. Spanish is the official language of communication.

In the Constructive Dialogue between the Committee and the Government of Paraguay, the following questions or issues were raised:-

1. Legal systems - whilst the report states that women are afforded legal protection under the law, the actual states of women in society shows that women still face discrimination. The committee pointed out that substantive equality had not been achieved evident in the consideration of other parts of the reports. How would Governments consider a comprehensive approach in addressing this issue?
2.Violence Against Women - Committee members pointed out the need for legislative reforms. In particular, a committee member shared the experience of Korea whereby legislative reforms included addressing the behaviours of the perperators of this type of violence. In doing so, when a man is sentenced, he would be told to attend lectures or workshops by the Domestic Violence Centres, as well as doing community work. Furthermore, training of the police, the judicary, the doctors and nurses were all part of these reforms and in enacting this legislation, all the policeman were asked to sit examinations on this particular laws. (This gives us something to really think about)
3.Trafficking of women and the girl child. This seems to be a huge problem in Paraguay, espercially when atleast 36% of the population live below the poverty line. The Committee wanted to know Government's response to this issue. Did they have any treaties with the Governments of countries whose nations were perpurating this type of acts? How were they addressing the issue of poverty? What was the penalty for those caught in traffic sydicates.
4. In its combined 3rd & 4th periodic report, the Government of Paraguay hired an international consultant to write the report. The committee wanted to know the reasons for this. Did this mean that there were no able woman/women in paraguay to undertake this task?
5.On abortion, atleast 400 women died annual from illegal abortion. The Committee sort clarifications on Government's intention. Government responded that putting it into prospective, with a 6 billion population, 400 women is just a small percentage. This really ruffled the committee who pointed out issues surrounding reproductive rights and issues. Further, the committee also pointed out that perhaps if the Government of Paraguay had a seperation between the roles of State and Religion (the profane and circular), it would be able to addequately address this issue.
6. On HIV/AIDS, while the current figures in paraguay is quite small(said to be less than 400), the Committee expressed concern that with poverty and trafficking,Paraguay stand in risk of the HIV/AIDS crisis which is fast becomming the face of women. Does Government intend to address this issue and what plans are underway in regards to this.
7.Translations of CEDAW in the local vernacular, particularly for rural ethnic women. Government was asked to clarify whether it would be translating the convention in the local vernaculars.
8.Food Security - the Governments report stated that there was a problem with soil continimation. The Committee wanted to know whether Government intended to do something about this because it has an impact on food security, as well as the livelihood of women
9. Domestic work - the committee raised questions on the rights of domestic workers and asked Government to clarify whether it had any programmes or laws to safeguard the rights of domestic workers which is predominately women.
10. Education - The committee sort clarification on why the Government had made primary education compulsory, yet also required that parents pay for their children. This, they said, promoted trafficking, prostitutions and other social issues. Did Government have any intentions of addressing this issue. A seperate issue was also raised in relation to education reforms for the ethnic communities.

At the conclusion of the week, and of today's session, the UNCEDAW has at the 32nd CEDAW session considered the periodic reports of 3 countries: Algeria, Gabon, & Paraguay. It will resume its session on Monday.

Before I leave you, thanks to all who have been sending me notes to say that they are enjoying following the CEDAW sessions. For those who had special messages for CEDAW committee members, I have passed on your greetings to Shanthi and Anamah Tah who were delighted to receive your greetings.

So till next week, when we will again send you an update from the corridoors of the UNHQ at the 32nd CEDAW session, regards to all.

Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 10:37 AM
Subject: [pacwin] Postcard#6: CEDAW Committee Meets with NGOs-Session#2

Good afternoon again from the corridoors of UNHQ in New York where we have just come out of an informal meeting between the CEDAW Experts and members of NGOs from Crotia, Italy, Lao, Samoa & Turkey. In opening the session this afternoon, the CEDAW Committee thanked the NGOs, especially national NGOs, who travelled so far to dialogue with them in written and oral form. This, they said, had assisted them in considering Governments report.

There were 3 NGOs from Crotia who spoke on the following issues:-

1. Gender mainstreaming - the lack of political will to implement
2. Gender based violence - not defined in the law and lack of statistics for proper analysis
3. Education - on the content of educational materials, as well as statistics of girls/women in education
4. Employment - the decrease of women's employment and economic participation
5. Reproductive Rights - that contraceptions were only available through prescriptions and while abortion was legal, this was not the case in practise
6. On the rights and freedoms of an ethnic minority known as Roma women - their rights to legal status, the racial abuse they faced, no protection from the law and that when they complianed to the Police, they were often asked to pay for this service - their compliants to be investigated. Furthermore, that women in Crotia from the Roma community were often refused medical treatment because of their lack of legal status.

The meeting then heard from 1 NGO from Italy on sex workers and human trafficking of women and girls. In particluar, the meeting heard that most women were smuggled from Africa and Eastern Europe. The NGO strongly opposed the commercialization of women's bodies and called for the end of trafficking and prostitution on women and girls. Incidentally, the NGO was represented by a Sister Bonerfa.

The Samoan NGOs were next on the agenda. They were presented by 3 NGOs: Samoan Disability Association (Donna Lene), PPSEWA (Dr. Vio) and Samoan Graduate Women's Association(Maiava).They spoke on the lack of substative equality and equity in legislative frameworks, the need for a national policy for women, from which the CEDAW National plan Action can derive its standing, Violence Against Women, Temprorary Special Measures, the lack of opportunities for the disabilities, Health related policies and rural women.

Following Samoa was Turkey who had the biggest NGO representation in the meeting with atleast 17 women but only 2 spoke. Their issues were on the drafting of their penal code which did not criminalise honor killings but customary killing and issues surrounding the reduction in sentencing. Customary killing is when the family endorse the murder by electing a member of the family to defend its honor. A customary killing is part of an honor killing but the latter, is more general and includes individually motivated killing). The NGOs wanted the penal code to include honor killngs. The Turkish NGOs also spoke on women in employment whereby the only programmes that Government sort to remedy the lack of women's participation in employment is through skills training. The NGOs pointed out that Government obviously thought that women lack the skills instead of addressing the traditional roles that women play which hinder their participation in employment. Further, on Education for girls, the NGOs wanted policies and prorgammes that would accelerate women's participation in education.

The NGOs from Lao spoke after Turkey. There were 2 NGOs who spoke on the lack of implementation of the Convention since it's ratification by Lao. The NGOs also highlighted the displacement of rural communities from high mountains to settle in lower plains and the problems this had caused to land distributions, trafficking, health issues (HIV/AIDS and STIs) as well as to poverty.

At the end of the dialogue, the Committee asked for further clarification for the NGOs that presented. The Committee sort clarification on the following issues:-

1. Turkey - The Experts sort further clarification on the reform on the penal code and customary/honor killings. The Experts also wanted to know whether women's rights had changed since the ratification of the optional protocol
2. Crotia - Most of the questions posed were on Roma women because of the special nature of this ethnic group who are spread in all of the European countries from Ireland to Crotia. Also the Experts sort clarification on whether the women saw any changes since the ratificaiton of the optional protocol
3. Lao - the Experts wanted to know whether the displacement of the highlanders were a result of the Governments policy to eradicate the production of Opium.
4. Samoa - the Experts wanted clarification on the 'Matai' system and its role in hindering the increase in women's representation in politics.
5. Italy - whether prostitution was legal.

That concluded our meeting this afternoon. The committee are now meeting in closed session and will resume tommorrow morning with the consideration of the Report of the Government of Crotia.

That's all from our end. Till tommorrow when we again send you and update of the 32nd CEDAW session at the UNHQ in NYC, regards to all.

Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2005 11:32 AM
Subject: [pacwin] Postcard#7:Crotia Reports

This morning, 18 January 2005, the CEDAW Committee entered into dialogue with the Republic of Crotia. Crotia is situated in southern eastern Europe, between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia. In 1991, Crotia declared its independence from Yugoslavia but it took more than four years of bitter fighting before the occupying serb armies were cleared from Crotian Land. The population is estimated at 4,469,869, the total land is estimated at 56,542 sq km, the population growth is -0.02%, GDP rate is 4.3%,external debt is estimated at US$23.63 billion. Their main exports are transport equipment, textiles, chemicals, food equipments and fuel. Crotia is a predominately catholic country with many ethnic groups: Croates 86%, Bosniq -0.5%, Slovene -0.4%, Czech 0.2%, Roma )0.2%, Albinian - 0.1%, Montenegrin -0.1 and others-o.4%.

Crotia ratified CEDAW on the 8 October 1991 and became a signatory to the Optional Protocol on the 5 June 2000 which was ratified onn the 27 January 2001. The Committee considered Crotia's Initial Report in February 1995. This morning, the Committee set to consider Crotias second and third combined periodic report.

Given that less than 10 years ago, Crotia was a war-torn nation, the Committee this morning, commended the Government of Crotia for the progress in implementing the Convention. In particular, Government was commended on bringing about a structure for formal equality through extensive legislative reforms. Further these were some of the concerns or issues that the Committee raised:-

1. In light of legal reforms that are now in place in Crotia, did Government have any specific cases to show the implementation of the Convention? Related to this, the Committee also sort clarification on whether Government had trained the Judiciary, the Police, the Parliamentarians on the Convention?
2. Also on the legal framework, the Committee wanted to know the legal status of ethnic minorites, espercially the Roma population? This was an issue that the NGOs yesterday highlighted to the committee - that there were blatant racism towards ethnic minorities.
3. The relationship between the Gender Division and other Government Machinery, noting that previously, the Deputy PM headed this division which intergrated women's issues into the mainstream and kept it as a matter of priority. The committee, also noted with concern that the Division, which is now autonamous has only 3 staff.
4. The issue of domestic violence was raised again and the Committee sort clarification from Government on its programmes. The Committee noted the work undertaken by NGOs and wanted to know did Government provide technical assistance and if so, how was this decided? On shelter homes, the committee wanted clarification on access by ethnic minorities, esperically for Romanee women.
5.Women's representation in Parliament, the Committee commended the Government for the outstanding work that it had done in this area, noting that when it submited its intial report, there were only 5.7% of women participating whereas now there are 25% of women participating. The Committee wanted to know Governments plans of maintaining the status quo and further, how many of these were from Roma ethnic minorities.
6.The Committee took note of the possiability of Crotia becoming a member of the EU and in light of this, the Committee asked the Government to take note of the EU Directives on Equality as a Regional mechanism in the implementation of the Convention.
7. On Education, the Committee sort clarification on gender training modules implemented at the University level and also gender modules developed for teacher trainees.
8. On Labour Market, the Committee noted with some concern that while women were well qualified, most women were unemployed or found difficulties in finding employment. The Committee wanted to know Governments response.Related to this, the Committee also sort clarification on the issue surrounding equal pay for work of equal value - in light of Crotia's ratification of ILO convention relating to this particular issue. The committee sort clarification as to whether Employers received training on this? what compliant mechanisms were in place? are there any cases reported by women? what strategies did Government take in educating the public about this issue? Is there Legal Aid to help women in employment cases?
9. Family Law - Crotia passed legislations in 2003 with amendements in 2004. The committee heard that under the proposed legislation, a mistress is also entitled to a share of matrimonial property. The Committee sort clarification on how Government reconciles the rights of a mistress to that of a legal wife.
10. HIV/AIDS - the Committee noted that Crotia has the lowest rate of infection in Europe and commended the Government for its National programmes. However, the Committee wanted to know the challenges faced by the Government and how does Government intergrate ethnic minorities in these programmes.

In light of some of the issues raised by the Committee, it was obvious that the questions posed were derived from the issues that were raised by the NGOs in yesterday sessions - particularly the Roma ethnic minority. However, the Committee also considered ILO reports, reports by other UN and International Agencies.

In conclusion, Crotia has demonstrated that from a war-torn country, much can be achieved in advancing the status of women in soceity and in the rebuilding process, we must ensure that women's needs are intergrated at all levels.

The Committee are now meeting in closed session and will resume tommorrow morning to consider the Report of the Lao. Till then, regards from NYC.

Sent: Friday, January 21, 2005 11:29 AM
Subject: [pacwin] Postcard#8: Turkey Reports to UNCEDAW

Greetings to everyone! The Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women has just completed its constructive dialogue with the Government of Turkey who presented is combined fourth and fifth periodic report. Turkey is situated in southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia, between Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece and Syria. The population is estimated at 68,893,918 which consist of atleast 40 ethnic groups of which 80% are turkish, 20 % are kurdish. The population is said to grow at the rate of 1.13% per annum. The official language is Turkish and atleast 99.8% of the population are muslims. The GDP purchasing power is estimated at US$458.2 billion and the growth per capita is estimated at 5.8%. In 2001, it was estimated that atleast 18% of the population lived below the poverty line.

The Turkish report was presented to the Government by the Minister of Women, together with a high-level delegation consisting of 1 judge, the Minister for Education, the Minister for Labour and their PRUN, with other technical experts.

In considering the Report of the Government of Turkey, the following issues were raised by the Committee.

1. Virginal & Genital Exaimination : The offical report contained a paragraphy stating that one of the contraversial issues in the past decade in Turkey was women's chasitity whereby women or young girls are examined to prove her chasitity. This practise had caused so much contraversy that in 1999, a statute was issued banning bodily examination of women against their consent or in a manner that would hurt or torment them except in rape cases, for minors or for prostitution. The Committee expressed their disgust at the States response to this issue, stating that the law, as is presently drafted, still provided for virginity testing of women. With the same token, the Committee wanted to know if there was any equivalent virginity testing for men. Throughtout the period of constructive dialogue, questions posed continued to relate to this matter.
2. Any issue which really got the committee going, was the banning of headscafs in education for women. The Committee wanted to know the justifications for this, Government's plans for the women who refuse to take off their headscafs and as a resulted, opted out of the education system and employment opportunties, the numbers of women who were affected by this law.
3.Violence Against Women - Government had reported that it had built public safe-houses but it has de-centralised these safe-houses and given the respondsiablity to municiple councils to run. The Committee wanted to know how would Government monitor these safe-houses, what training did Government provide to municiple councils or those that are now in charge of these safe houses. Related to VAW - the committee also wanted to know the number of women who benefited from these safe-houses. Did the Police and the Judicary receive any training?
4.Women from Ethnic groups - Government has stated in its report that Turkey is not a soceity divised by ethnicity and there was no data available on ethnic women. The Committee wanted to know the reasons why this was the case stating that they were aware that the Kuddish women are are minority. In these regards, what were Governments plans in including these women, as well as women with disability and other marginalised women into mainstream development so that no groups feel that they are left out.
5. On the role of the Media in addressing gender stero-types, the Committee wanted to know the role that Government is playing to educate the media. Are there any specific programmes?
6. Public Life - the Committee noted that low participation of women in public life. Towards this end, the Committee wanted to know Governments intention, will it be bringing in temprory special measures to accelerate women's participation in public life.
7.On Education, the Committee aginst sort clarification on how Government intends to address women who were banned from receiving an education because of their religious beliefs to wear headscarfs. Furthermore, the Committee also wanted to know whether Government had any specific programmes/measures to address girls who fell pregnant, and/or were forced to marry, and now wanted to return to complete their education.
8. On Employment - the Committee noted the low level of participation of women in trade unions. They sought clarification on how Government plans to address this issue.
9. On health - Governments report contained a statement that it was mandatory for prostitutes to be tested every 2 weeks for STIs and HIV. The Committee pointed out tha it was discriminatory. Why isn't the man or client being tested? Again the Committee expressed its concern for the commidification of women's bodies.
10. On Economic Reforms, espercially in light of the fact that Turkey is now aspiring to be a member of the EU and as such, since it last reported, Government has certainly carried out legal reforms to faciliate its membership, has Government explained this to the women? Related to this, was the question on whether Turkey was complying with EU Human Rights standard with the banning of headscarfs.

That concludes todays proceedings of constructive dialogue between the Committee and the Government of Turkey. Towards the end of the dialogue, the PRUN became a bit upset that questions by the committee kept rotating around issues surrounding one ethnic group but nevertheless, the Committee continued to press on with their questions.

Tommorrow is a public holiday in NYC and when we return on Monday, the Committee will enter into constructive dialogue with the Government of Samoa.

Till Monday, when we finally get to Samoa, from all of us here in NYC, regards to all.

Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2005 4:06 AM
Subject: [pacwin] Postcard#9: Samoa Reports to UNCEDAW

Greetings again from the Frozen Big Apple where we are still recovering from a blizzard which left us with plenty of snow. This morning, the UNCEDAW reconvened and entered into constructive dialogue with the Government of Samoa. As mentioned in my earlier postcards, Samoa is the second Pacific Island Country to Report to the UNCEDAW.

Leading the Government Delegation, Luagalau Foisaga Eteuati-Shon presented the Report of the Government of Samoa, together with her delegation, who looked very beautiful in their 'puletasi's' and flowers in their hair. They got special commendation from the UNCEAW Vice-Chair for having flowers in their hair in the midst of winter and the cold.

In entering into constructive dialogue with the Government, the following issues were raised by the committee:-

1. Noting that the Legal System in Samoa is rooted in English Law and that International Instruments are not automatically absorbed into domestic legistlation, does Government intend to pass a transformative law to allow for the full implementation of the Convention. Further, would an individual woman have more rights under the Samoan Constitution or under the Convention and how would Government seek to resolve this? What would the legal redress be for women whose rights are violated under the Convention? Could Government give some concrete examples? Noting the that Samoan Constitution defines the 'Rights" of its citizens, does the Constitution have a definition for the term " Discrimination"?.

2. Noting that the Samoan Consititution does not accord special measures to a particular group, would this pose a problem in the application of Temporary Special Measures (TSM) as defined in Article 4(1). Further, in the Government's report, there is mention of 'affirmative action'. The Committee asked Government whether it understood that affirmative action is not TSMs and recommended that Government consider its Recommendation 25 which defines what is TSM and what is not.

3. On Policy and institutional arrangements. The Committee sort clarification on the relationship between the National Policy and the CEDAW Plan of Action. Do they relate? On the National Policy for Women, which Government intends to seek cabinet approval, the Committee asked on whether there is content clarity to put in place a normative framework that sets the standards on direct and indirect discrimination. Furthermore, would Government issue a directive that all Ministries have to comply with mainstreaming? Would this compel them to do so?

4. Women's Participation in Politic & Public Life. The Committee pointed out that whilst the Government has stated in its report that in Samoa there is Universal Sufferage since 1991, the term 'universal sufferage' means that women have the right to vote and the right to be voted for. Would the Matai System hinder women's particition to their rights to be voted. Is Government willing to change their Electrol Act to see more participation of women?Further the Committee wanted to know whether a Village Mayor was appointed or elected?. Can a women become a village mayor? The Committee also sort clarification about the village community where the Governments report states that there is a women's committee and a village committee compraising of men and women who are Matai holders. Government had stated that the women's committee comprised of all the women in the village and deliberated on women's issues. The Village Committee comprised of Matai Holders and deliberated on issues regarding village matters including development issues. The Committee wanted to know whether it would be better to have just one committee where women could freely join to decide issues on development.

5. On Employment, the Committee sort clarification on Governments Strategy for Development and its aim on strengthening the role of Women. The Committee wanted to know what is the role of women in the Strategy for Development. Since Government had stated in their Report that Samoa enjoys good economic growth, what are the indicators that these growth had an impact on women.What are the frameworks to assess impact? Will the framework of the Convention be used? On Public Sector Reforms, the Committee wanted to know whether Government would intergrate the Convention in these reforms and in all sectors? Does Government have any strategy to address issues surrounding transnational companies who work out of developing countries and exploit women by paying them low wages etc? Does Government have a strategy to address pay inequalities such as equal pay for both men and women for their work, or equal pay for work of equal value? What mechanisms are in place to address equal access to training, re- training and placements of women in the workforce? Has the draft OHS bill, as stated in Governments Report, been enacted? What ILO Conventions has the Government Ratified and whether Government has ratified the Convention on maternity protection? On Governments Corporate Plan, how active is the Ministry of Women in mainstreaming the Convention? In the Governments Report, it states that laws on maternity protection only pertain to Civil Servants, what actions is Government taking to ensure that there is uniformed employment practice in the private sector?

6. On Health, the Committee sort clarification on data given by Government because it appeared contradictory that while women have a longer expectancy then men, the data shows that women's population in the whole is lower. To this issue, Government replied that in Samoan, they are still trying to find the formular to make more female children so as to increase the female population but as clarifed by the Committee, data trends, as contained in the report does not show real trends of population growth. Further the Committee pointed out that while there were high literacy rates, and high fertility rates, the contraceptive rates are quite low, espercially for teenages where figures indicate high pregnancy rates? What is the hinderance to women's access to contraceptive services. On Disabilites, are there any TSMs to accelerate their inclusion in segments of soceity? On abortion, would Government allow for legislative change so that women can have access to these services. Is pre and post-natal free of charge? When pregnant women arrive at the clinic where they are tested for HIV/AIDS, is this done volunatarily?

7. Rural women, noting that atleast 78% of women live in rural areas, does Government intend to translate and disseminate the Convention in the local language? How many women in rural areas are involved in agricultural production? Governments Report had stated that todate, it has appointed 127 Liasion Officers and in light of this, the Committee sort clarification on whether these officers were appointed or elected, and if a woman felt her rights were violated, would she approach the Liasion Officer or would she approach the Village Mayor?

8. Domestic Violence - The Committee wanted to know whether there were any legal frameworks in place, any policy regarding this issue? What training has Government carried out with the Police and with the Judicary and Prosecutors? Whether Governemnt does seek legal assistance from Australia and New Zealand - in relation to Domestic Violence legislations and training? In the Government's Report, there is a statement made that NGOs use a human rights approach while Government uses a family & social approach - are there two approaches and whether Government understands CEDAW advocates a rights based approach? Further, for women in villages, are there systems in place or refuge homes that women can go to?

9. Family and Marriage Life - The Committee sort clarification on the legal marriage age for men and women and age of consent and the age when women can freely enter into marriage. Furthermore, the committee also sort clarification on the fault-based divorce laws and 3 year waiting period. The Committee pointed out that for a woman who is a victim of domestic violence, must she wait for 3 years, endure the suffering before she can get a divorce?

10. Role of the Church - since Samoan is a predominately Christian Country, whether Government has made any attempts in dialoging with the churches to discuss the implementation of the Convention.

In summary, these were the main issues that were raised in the meeting between the Government of Samoan and the UNCEDAW. There were other issues that the Committee raised such as the reason for the delay of the Report noting the Government has stated that it is the first Pacific Island Country to ratify the Convention. The Committee also pointed out that the Report seems quite contradictory in that it paints a rosy picture and to this, they wanted to know what is the real status/story???.

Government in their opening statement and in their response have committed to legal reforms in the area of family law, domestic violence and sexual harrasement, as well as reviewing all legislations to ensure CEDAW compliance. Further, Government stated that for Disablities, a taskforce will be established to be chaired by the Prime Minister. Government also stated that while they has been progress, there still a lot of work to be done.

In conclusion, Government thanked the UNCEDAW for the constructive dialogue and the only way to change the status of women in Samoa is to take one step at a time. Government looks forward to returning in 4 years time to present their next report. Government also acknowledged the NGO delegation before their presentation and in their closing remarks, and thanked them for the work done in advancing the status of women.

So that concluded the constructive dialogue between the Government of Samoa and the UNCEDAW. Tommorrow morning, the Government Delegation and NGO Delegation head back to Samoa while we stay on to consider the last report for the Committee, which is the consideration of Italy's Report. So till next time, when I send yout the last postcard from NYC, Regards to all.

Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 5:45 AM
Subject: [pacwin] Postcard#10: Farewell From NYC

Well all good things must now come to and end, with Italy being the last Country to enter into constructive dialogue with the UNCEAW this morning, Tuesday 25 January 20005. In so doing, it also concluded the 32nd Session of the Committee.

The Committee set to consider Italy's combined fourth and fifth reports on the Convention and it's optional protocol. The report was introduced by the Counsellor to the Minister for Equal Opportunities, Mr. Mario Serio. This is a summary of the issues that were raised by the Committee:-

1. In light of the increasing migrants in Italy, what is their legal status. The Report, the experts pointed out, put ethnic women in their ethnic enclaves. Further, there is definately a double standards for women in relation to Ilalian women and migrants. Prositution is legal if carried out in their homes but illegal if on the streets. Migrants don't have homes. So why the discrimination based on race in terms of prostitution laws?

2. On the participation of women in political and public life, whilst there are legislative reforms for gender equality, What plans does Government have in ensuring that more women become active?

3. Whilst there are Consititutional amendments towards the principles of equality, does Government intend to introduce Temporary Special Measures to accelerate the status of women in Parliament, in the judicary and in senior levels of Governments

4. What was the role of NGO in the compliation of Governments Report?

5.Since it has been 8 years since Italy reported, why did it take so long? The Report did not comply with the Committees drafting guidelines.

6. On the national women's machinery, what powers does the Ministry of Equal Opportunites have within government? What is their budget? How capable are they in implementing gender mainstreaming?

7. Did Government understand what is formal and substantive equality?

These are some of the issues that the Committee noted in its constructive dialogue with the Government of Italy. As you will note, the issues raised by the Committee for Italy, a developed counrty, is similar to issues raised for Lao and Samoa, which in a way implements a universal standards by which Governments could work towards in advancing the status of women. Throughout the session, we have seen similar issues surrounding women's participation in political and public life, HIV&AIDS, Violence against women, migrant works, health issues raised by the Committee to all of the countries that have reported before it. Women's struggle for equality is a univeral stuggle and I hope that we will continue to support and encourage each other in this struggle.

From my observation of the Committee, I just wanted to conclude by saying that the 23 experts are really passionate about advancing the status of women. While there are many who come from the academia, as well as the legal profession, perhaps the highlight for me was seeing Shanthi take her oath as a Committee member. Shanthi, for those of you who have not worked with her, has been working on CEDAW for the last 15 years and has been dubbed the worlds expert on the Convention.But interestly, Shanthi is not from the legal profession, which goes to show that you don't have to be a lawyer to know about CEDAW.

Finally, This will also bring to a close our series of postcards from New York. But before I leave you, I would like to share with you that apart from the UNCEDAW sessions, on Monday, the Office of the Secretary General in a historial move remembered the victims of the holocast which took place some 69 years ago. Further, Monday also saw the commencement of the finalization of a Convention for Disable People. So these are some things that we could look forward to in the future.

From NYC to all of you, thanks so much for following the developments at the 32nd CEDAW Session. Till we meet. Regards to all.