Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

49th session (11 - 29 July 2011) New York

Plenary Session will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Conference Room 3, located on the first floor of the North Lawn Building.

All observers wishing to attend the above session must be duly registered.

Representatives of non-governmental organizations wishing to attend the session should register online and follow the instructions for registration and for obtaining a ground pass: Click here.

All others should fill-out the Application for Ground Pass (http://goo.gl/I6396), sign and date it, and send it by e-mail to the Secretary of CEDAW at cedaw@ohchr.org. This form must include the full title of the national human rights institution, university or other affiliate (Section 3 next to “Name of Company”) as well as the corresponding address and telephone number, the name of the representative (as the name appears on the national passport) and other information requested in Section 1. To receive the ground pass, all applicants are required to bring the signed original of the Application for Ground Pass, a valid national passport or government issued photo ID, and appear in person at United Nations Pass and Identification Unit, located at 801 United Nations Plaza at the corner of 1st Avenue and East 45th Street. The office hours are 9.00 am to 4.30 pm, Monday through Friday. Please note that applicants must bring their passports (or government issued photo ID) every time they wish to enter UN premises. The forty-ninth session of CEDAW will take place at UNHQ in New York in conference room 3 in the North Lawn Building.

All requests for registration should reach OHCHR two weeks in advance of the session at the latest, i.e., by 27 June 2011. Representatives who submit forms that are illegible, incomplete or after the deadline may not be accredited. Please note that OHCHR will not provide letters of invitation to observers to attend CEDAW sessions for the purposes of obtaining visas. In addition, OHCHR is unable to assist with travel and/or accommodation costs relating thereto.

The Committee, in reviewing reports submitted by States parties, accepts submissions by non-governmental organizations on the implementation of the Convention by reporting States. Organizations that wish to submit information to the Committee may do so by submitting such submissions by e-mail to the Secretary of the Committee at cedaw@ohchr.org in Word format indicating whether or not the materials may be published on the CEDAW website for public information purposes and also in hard copy to:

Gaynel Curry (Ms.)
Gender and Women's Rights Advisor
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
New York Office
Room DC1 - 0511
United Nations, New York 10017, USA

Telephone: 212 963 5931
Fax: 212 963 4097

Representatives of non-governmental organizations may also provide information orally on the States parties under consideration directly to the Committee at informal meetings scheduled for this purpose on 11 and 18 July 2011. Non-governmental organizations wishing to make oral interventions at these meetings must contact IWRAW-AP at iwraw-ap@iwraw-ap.org or iwraw-ap@yahoo.com, or the Secretary of CEDAW.

In addition, the text of the oral intervention must be provided to the Secretariat in advance of the meetings for interpretation purposes. In total, participants making oral interventions must bring with them 35 copies of their statements for distribution to the Committee experts and interpreters.

The Committee will hold a half-day general discussion and exchange of views on women in armed conflict and post conflict situations in an open meeting during its 49th session. The objective of this discussion is to gather input from various stakeholders for the purpose of elaborating a general recommendation by the Committee on the subject. The specialized agencies and other U.N. bodies, as well as non-governmental organizations, are encouraged to participate in the discussion and to prepare informal background papers as appropriate. More detailed information will be posted shortly.

General documentation:

Statements:

Please note that E l F l S l A l C l R refer to the availability of documents in the official United Nations languages, which are English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Russian.

Report of the pre-session working group for the 48th session : CEDAW/PSWG/2010/49 - A C E F R S