A/C.3/33/WG.1/CRP.1
2 October 1978 

ORIGINAL: ENGLISH 

Thirty-third session 
Item 75 

UNITED NATIONS DECADE FOR WOMEN: EQUALITY, DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE 

Draft Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

Working paper prepared by the Secretary-General

CONTENTS

I. Introduction

II. Historical development of the draft Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women 

I. Introduction 

This working paper contains the historical development of the draft Convention. It should be considered in conjunction with A/C.3/33/WG.1/CRP.1Add.1 and 2. Add. 1 contains the decisions taken by the Working Group of the Whole on the drafting of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women at the thirty-second session of the General Assembly and the proposals it transmitted to the Third Committee. Add.2 amalgamates in chart form the text of the draft Convention, as well as all the amendments revisions and new paragraphs submitted by Governments contained in the report of the Secretary-General (A/32/218, annex 1 and Add.1 and 2), in the Conference Room Papers and in the report of the Working Group of the Whole on the Drafting of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (A/C.3/32/L.59), which are before the Working Group of the Whole at the thirty-third session of the General Assembly. These charts have been prepared with the aim of facilitating the work of the representatives to the Working Group. 

II. Historical development of the draft Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women 

Former United Nations efforts for the advancement of women have been consolidated on Conventions dealing with specific rights for women such as the Convention on the Political Rights of Women (1952), the Convention on the Nationality of Married Women (1957), the Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages (1962), and the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (1950), among others. In 1967 the Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was adopted unanimously by the General Assembly, after four years of debate and detailed drafting work in the Commission on the Status of Women and in the General Assembly. The Convention is based on the Declaration and the process of drafting it began early in 1972 when, in its resolution 5 (XXIV), the Commission on the Status of Women invited the Secretary-General to call upon the States Members of the United Nations to transmit their views or proposals concerning the nature and content of a new instrument or instruments of international law to eliminate discrimination against women, and to prepare a working paper taking into account the replies of Governments. The Commission further decided, in order to facilitate this work, to establish a working group which was to meet five days before the twenty-fifth session of the Commission and "begin work on the preparation of a new draft instrument or instruments in the light of Governments' replies and of the Secretary-General's report". 

A report was prepared by the Secretariat on the basis of 28 replies received from Governments (E/CN.6/573). The working group held meetings from 7 to 11 January and on 18 January 1974 and produced a report on the preparation of a new instrument or instruments of international law to eliminate discrimination against women (E/CN.6/574). 

At its twenty-fifth session in 1974 the Commission on the Status of Women considered the report of the working group, decided to transmit it to Governments, specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations for their comments and requested the Secretary-General to prepare a report for its twenty-sixth session. The report was prepared (E/CN.6/591) on the basis of replies received from 40 Governments, 4 specialized agencies and 10 non-governmental organizations.

In its resolution 3521 (XXX) of 15 December 1975, the General Assembly requested the Commission on the Status of Women to complete, in 1976, the elaboration of the draft Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The Commission completed the draft Convention at its resumed twenty-sixth session in December 1976. It was submitted to the Economic and Social Council at its sixty-second session which, at its 2058th plenary meeting on 12 May 1977, adopted resolution 2058 (LXII). This resolution recalls General Assembly resolution 31/136 of 16 December 1976, in which the Assembly, inter alia, approved the programme for the Untied Nations Decade for Women, which calls for the adoption of such a Convention by the Assembly and its entry into force in the first half of the Decade 1976 to 1980. Economic and Social Council resolution 2058 (LXII) further invites Member States and the specialized agencies to present their comments on the draft Convention and recommends that the General Assembly, at the outset of its thirty-second session, consider the draft Convention as a matter of urgency, in the light of comments received, with a view to its adoption at that session. 

As requested, the Secretary-General prepared a report analyzing the replies received from Governments and specialized agencies (A/32/2118 and Add.1 and 2) on the basis of the 26replies received from Governments and from 4 specialized agencies. This report was before the General Assembly at its thirty-second session. 

A Working Group of the Third Committee on the Drafting of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was established on 19 October 1977 oat its 23rd meeting. It held 12 meetings from 21 October to 2 December 1977 and adopted 10 preambular paragraphs, 2 preambular paragraphs which require pending decisions by the Third Committee, 8 articles and 1 article which requires further decisions by the Third Committee. The Working Group also decided to delete four paragraphs of the draft Convention, and to transmit to the Third Committee alternative texts and/or amendments submitted to it on the title of the Convention and on five paragraphs in which it could not reach a decision. 

In its resolution 32/136 of 16 December 1977, the General Assembly took note with satisfaction of the report of the Working Group of the Third Committee on the Drafting of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, recommended that a working group should be established at the beginning of the thirty-third session to continue consideration of the articles which were not completed during that session; expressed the hope that the draft Convention would be adopted during the thirty-third session of the General Assembly; and decided to include in the provisional agenda of its thirty-third session, as a matter of high priority, an item entitled "Draft Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women". 

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