22/2/2019 – 28/02/2019 Geneva – During the 72nd session of the UN Committee for Elimination of Discrimination against Woman, the Forth Periodical Review of the Republic of Serbia on implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Woman was discussed (28/2/2019). On the same occasion, an informal meeting of the Committee members and NGO representatives from Serbia, Great Britain and Botswana was held (25/2/2019). The recorded session is available here.
The session in Geneva was attended by a coalition of non-governmental organizations from Serbia – Autonomous Women’s Center, ASTRA, Women in Black, and by representatives of the organization Equal Rights, who spoke in front of the Committee members (25/02/2019). The non-governmental organizations’ representatives had an informal meeting (27/03/2019) with the Committee members, where they debated and responded to questions of the Committee members on the current issues related to the position of women in the Republic of Serbia.
This year the Committee dedicated a half-day (22/02/2019) to the issue of trafficking in women and girls in the context of global migrations. ASTRA’s Director attended the discussion on the migrations and the risks they have for women, but also on the position of sex workers within this context. There was a great interest of the Committee members, international non-governmental organizations, and UN agencies. A large number of women’s organizations from all around the world spoke in front of the Committee related to these issues.
ASTRA’s Director, Marija Anđelković, spoke at an accompanying event (28/03/2019) on the topic “Respecting the Rights of Children Victims of Human Trafficking in Southeast Europe”, and the Autonomous Women’s Center representative, Tanja Ignjatović, spoke on the topic “Why and How to Include the Topic of Gender-Based Violence in the High Schools Activities”. Both these events were organized as an initiative of NAWO.
You can download the text of the recommendation herehttps://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CEDAW%2fC%2fSRB%2fCO%2f4&Lang=en
Summary records of the 72. Sessions, 1676 sessions can be downloaded here https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CEDAW%2fC%2fSR.1659&Lang=en
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CEDAW%2fC%2fSR.1660&Lang=en