UN Women’s Rights Committee Publishes Findings On Belarus, Belize, Congo, DRC, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Nepal & SL

GENEVA (24 February 2025) - The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) today issued its findings on Belarus, Belize, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo*, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Nepal, and Sri Lanka after reviewing these eight States parties during its latest session.

The findings contain positive aspects of each country’s implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Convention) and the Committee’s main concerns and recommendations. Some of the key issues include:

Belarus
The Committee expressed its deep concern over the shrinking civic space in Belarus and the State party’s active role in suppressing human rights advocacy, citing the Group of Independent Experts on the Situation of Human Rights in Belarus’ report about severe reprisals against women human rights defenders, surveillance, forced exile, and gender-based violence. The Committee urged Belarus to ensure that women human rights defenders, whether within the country or in exile, can freely express their opinions and engage in human rights advocacy without facing harassment, politically motivated prosecutions, or arbitrary detention. Additionally, it recommended repealing the laws that unduly restrict their activities.

Regarding women in detention, the Committee was gravely concerned about inhumane conditions, including overcrowding, poor hygiene, lack of medical care, and punitive measures such as solitary confinement, public humiliation, and incited violence among detainees. It also noted the State party’s failure to investigate reported abuses adequately. It urged Belarus to align detention conditions with international standards. Furthermore, it called for prompt, effective, and transparent investigations into all reported deaths of women in detention since May 2020.

Belize
The Committee was concerned about the lack of comprehensive legislation to address intersecting forms of discrimination against women. It asked Belize to amend its Constitution to explicitly prohibit discrimination on grounds of gender and ethnicity. It also called for repealing all sections of the Immigration Act that discriminate against women in prostitution, women with disabilities and LBTI women, and conducting a comprehensive legislative review to remove any discriminatory provisions and language.

The Committee also raised concerns about the delay in implementing the 2015 judgment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the lack of meaningful participation of Mayan women and girls in related processes, and the authorisation of oil drilling, logging, and energy concessions on Mayan lands. It called on the State party to ensure that the domestic implementation of the CCJ ruling upholds the constitutional rights of Mayan women and girls, including their right to free, prior, and informed consent in all matters related to land use. It also called for the official recognition of the Maya people as holding collective customary land rights, and the granting of reparations for violations of the human rights of Mayan women and girls.

Congo
The Committee was concerned about the fact that only 40% of girls attend secondary school, and the retention rates are even lower in rural areas, among Indigenous girls and girls with disabilities. It also underscored the lack of separate toilets in primary schools for girls and the segregation of Indigenous girls and girls with disabilities in special schools. The Committee called upon Congo to strengthen the national education action plan with adequate resources, promoting the value of girls’ education through public awareness campaigns, increasing support for girls in STEM through mentoring and workshops, and ensuring the inclusion of Indigenous girls and girls with disabilities in mainstream education by improving school infrastructure and other resources.

The Committee remained concerned about poverty, food insecurity, and limited access to adequate water, particularly for Indigenous women and girls. It was also concerned about early pregnancies due to limited access to contraception, high HIV/AIDS mortality rates among women, and risks of childbearing at an early age and clandestine abortions. It urged Congo to legalise abortion in cases of rape, incest, severe fetal impairment, and threats to a woman’s health or life, and decriminalise it in all other cases. It called for awareness campaigns on early pregnancies, HIV, and other diseases. Additionally, it recommended strengthening sexual and reproductive health services, particularly for Indigenous and rural women and girls.

Democratic Republic of the Congo*
The Committee was gravely concerned about the widespread conflict-related sexual violence, with 94 percent of victims being women and girls. It underlined that such violence was often used as a weapon of war, rooted in patriarchy and gender stereotypes, to punish rival groups and instil fear in civilians. The Committee urged the State party to adopt a comprehensive strategy to eliminate sexual violence, allocating sufficient funding, including by raising the tax on mining revenues, and strengthening the national zero-tolerance policy. It also recommended implementing awareness campaigns and integrating gender equality education into school curricula to eradicate patriarchal norms, misogyny, and militarised masculinity.

The Committee remained concerned about the exclusion of women from peace efforts, including in the Nairobi/Luanda peace process, despite their crucial role in advocating for peace, disarmament and reconciliation, as well as the disproportionate impact of armed conflict and gender-based violence on them. It asked the State party to work with international partners to prevent and punish conflict-related sexual violence, implement a ceasefire, and ensure gender-responsive peace. The Committee also called for women’s equal leadership in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and post-conflict reconstruction, ensuring their equal participation in decision-making and security sector reforms.

The Committee was gravely concerned about the massive displacement of millions of civilians, particularly women and children. It was also alarmed at the overcrowding and disastrous conditions in camps for internally displaced persons, which have been further exacerbated by ongoing M23 offensives, forcing many women and girls into secondary displacement. It also noted the severe lack of adequate water, food, and basic services, forcing many displaced women and girls into sexual exploitation, including “survival sex”. The Committee urged the State party to strengthen humanitarian aid, improve food and water distribution, restore electricity, and enhance cooperation with aid organizations. It also called for urgent measures to prevent “survival sex” through better protection, increased gender-responsive police patrols, and ensuring safe access to food, water and essential services. The Committee for the first time also made recommendations to the international community in concluding observations, including supporting a peaceful resolution of the conflict, ensuring accountability for conflict-related sexual violence and providing financial and technical support to protect women and girls from conflict-related sexual violence.

Liechtenstein

The Committee remained concerned about the criminalisation of abortion and of provision of abortion in the State party, which increases the likelihood of unsafe abortions, and compels women and girls to seek abortion services abroad, imposing health risks and an economic burden. It urged the State party to legalise abortion in cases of rape, incest, threats to the life or health of the pregnant women, and severe foetal impairment and decriminalize it in all other cases both for the pregnant woman who undergoes the procedure and the health-care providers who perform it.

The Committee was concerned that women continue to be underrepresented in both the Parliament and municipal councils, as well as in management positions in the private sector, despite positive trends observed in the State party. It urged the State party to introduce mandatory gender quotas for political parties for the nomination of equal numbers of women and men candidates for elections to the Parliament and municipal councils, and for the appointment of women to the Government, the civil service, and the foreign service. It also asked the State party to increase the representation of women in management positions in the private sector.

Luxembourg
The Committee was concerned that the Luxembourg retains the distinction between “legitimate children” and “natural children”, entrenching inequality before the law and in society. It urged the State party to immediately adopt legislation to eliminate any legal or administrative distinction based on birth status.

The Committee took note of a recently approved draft law abolishing the issuance of “virginity certificates”, the practice of hymenoplasty, and the three-day mandatory reflection period for abortion. However, it remained concerned that non-emergent medical treatment continued to be performed in the State to “sexually normalize” intersex individuals without their free and informed consent. It called on Luxembourg to explicitly prohibit non-consensual sex-reassignment surgery on intersex persons. It also called for the development and implementation of a rights-based healthcare protocol for intersex children, requiring free and informed consent before undergoing medically irreversible procedures.

Nepal
The Committee remained concerned that, despite the explicit criminalisation of harmful practices such as Chhaupadi (menstrual segregation of women and girls), dowry, witchcraft allegations, caste-based discrimination, and child marriage, these violations of women's human rights persisted in many communities. It urged Nepal to effectively enforce national legislation prohibiting these harmful practices. It also recommended strengthening public awareness and education programmes on the harmful effects of such practices, specifically targeting customary and religious leaders and regions where these violations remained prevalent.

The Committee was concerned that the amended Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act (2071) allowed 75% sentence reductions for perpetrators of rape and sexual violence and imposed a statute of limitations on such crimes. It also noted that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) had lacked leadership since 2014, preventing them from fulfilling their mandate. Additionally, it highlighted the lack of reparations for women and girls victims of the armed conflict. It called for amending the Act to remove sentencing reductions and repeal the statute of limitations. It also recommended appointing independent members to the TRC and CIEDP, and ensuring full reparations for women and girls who are victims of armed conflicts.

Sri Lanka
The Committee was concerned about the high prevalence of sexual violence and other forms of gender-based violence, with at least one in five women experiencing physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner, and the disproportionately low prosecution and conviction rates. It also noted with concern that marital rape and intimate partner violence are not specifically criminalized. The Committee called on Sri Lanka to intensify public awareness campaigns on the criminal nature of all forms of gender-based violence against women, including sexual violence. It also asked the State party to amend the Penal Code to explicitly criminalize marital rape in all circumstances. It further recommended strengthening the capacity of law enforcement and judicial authorities to effectively investigate and prosecute cases of gender-based violence against women.

The Committee was deeply concerned about the increasing restrictions on non-governmental organisations, including women’s organisations, and women human rights defenders. It also expressed concern about funding restrictions and bureaucratic obstacles that disproportionately hinder the work of women’s rights organisations, particularly those operating in conflict-affected areas. It urged Sri Lanka to eliminate funding restrictions and bureaucratic obstacles that disproportionately affect women’s rights organisations, particularly in conflict-affected areas, by ensuring unimpeded access to financial resources and streamlining administrative procedures. It further asked the State party to remove the requirement of Ministry of Defence clearance and the respective directive mandating compulsory registration of non-governmental organisations, to ensure that registration procedures are transparent, non-discriminatory, and free from governmental interference.

During the session, the Committee also hosted a half-day of general discussion on gender stereotypes to stimulate debate and seek inputs in preparation of its draft general recommendation on the topic.

For the first time, the Committee will hold a Pacific Technical Cooperation Session from 7-11 April in Suva, Fiji, where it will have exchanges with Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu on their recent periodic reports and promote implementation and ratification of the CEDAW Convention in the Pacific region.

The above findings, officially named Concluding Observations, are now available on the session page.

*Exceptional review of the DRC, under article 18 (1) (b) of the CEDAW Convention, specifically on conflict-related sexual violence in its Eastern provinces.

© Scoop Media