Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

53rd session (1 - 19 October 2012)

The Plenary Session will take place at the Palais des Nations in Conference Room XVI.

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 other observers should fill-out the Conference Registration Form in full (http://goo.gl/261iF) 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 (under "Delegation/Participant of Country, Organisation or Agency"),  the name of the country issuing the respective passport or identity document along with the number and date of validity; the office phone number and address of the institution, university or other affiliate as the case may be, as well as the e-mail number; the home phone number, address and e-mail in the case of a private individual; as well as the address where the applicant will be staying in Geneva. 

To receive the ground pass, all applicants are required to bring the signed original of the Conference Registration Form, a valid national passport or government issued photo ID, and appear in person at Palais des Nations, Security Entrance, Pregny Gate, 8 - 14 Avenue de la Paix, 1211 Geneva 10.  The office hours are 8.00 am to 5:00 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.

All requests for registration should reach OHCHR two weeks in advance of the session at the latest, i.e., by 15 September 2012.  Applicants who submit forms that  are illegible, incomplete or after the deadline may not be registered. 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 and national human rights institutions on the implementation of the Convention by reporting States. Organizations that wish to submit information to the Committee may do so by submitting such information 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:

CEDAW Secretariat
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Palais Wilson
52, rue des Paquis
CH-1201 Geneva
Switzerland

Representatives of non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions may also provide information orally on the States parties under consideration directly to the Committee at informal meetings scheduled for this purpose. 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. Participants making oral interventions must bring with them 35 copies of their statements for distribution to the Committee experts and interpreters.

For more information in this regard, please refer to the below notes on participation by non-governmental organizations and national human rights institutions.  

Information:

For additional information in relation to the above, please contact the CEDAW Secretariat at cedaw@ohchr.org.

Accessibility to CEDAW documentation:

The CEDAW secretariat will provide documentation in accessible format for person with disabilities upon request.

General documentation:

Statements:

Consideration of the implementation of the Convention in the absence of a report

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

Report of the Pre-session Working Group for the 53rd session - CEDAW/C/PSWG/53/1 - A C E F R S