UNITED

NATIONS

Distr.

GENERAL

CEDAW/C/SR.349

3 April 1998

ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN

Seventeenth session

SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 349th MEETING

Held at Headquarters, New York,

on Wednesday, 16 July 1997, at 3 p.m.

Chairperson: Ms. KHAN

CONTENTS

CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 18 OF THE CONVENTION (continued)

Initial report of Armenia (continued)

IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 21 OF THE CONVENTION (continued)

________________________________________________________________________________

This record is subject to correction.

Corrections should be submitted in one of the working languages. They should be set forth in a memorandum and also incorporated in a copy of the record. They should be sent within one week of the date of this document to the Chief, Official Records Editing Section, Office of Conference and Support Services, room DC2-750, 2 United Nations Plaza.

Any corrections to the records of the meetings of this session will be consolidated in a single corrigendum, to be issued shortly after the end of the session.

The meeting was called to order at 3.10 p.m.

CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 18 OF THE CONVENTION (continued)

Initial report of Armenia (continued) (CEDAW/C/ARM/1 and Corr.1)

1.	At the invitation of the Chairperson, Mr. Abelian, Ms. Aghadjanian and Mr. Avakian (Armenia) took places at the Committee table.

2.	Mr. AVAKIAN (Armenia) expressed his delegation's gratitude for the sincerity underlying members' expression of concern and advice regarding the problems raised in its report. His Government would be sure to include in its future reports information based on the Committee's general recommendations.

3.	His country's initial report was incomplete. It had become an independent State only six years earlier and had not been bound by the international conventions to which the former Soviet Union - of which it had been a part - had been a party. The current Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with a staff of nearly 200, had prior to independence been a purely symbolic entity with a staff of five, and there had been no entity responsible for training foreign service personnel. The absence of reliable statistics had made comparative studies difficult. His Government attached priority to taking its place in the international community by becoming a member of various international organizations, ratifying international conventions and harmonizing its domestic legislation, in particular in the legal sphere, with international standards and conventions. International experts provided advice with respect to the elaboration of codes and legislation on matters covered by international conventions. The success of Armenia's efforts to remedy its pressing social problems, which affected women in particular, depended on its economic recovery.

4.	Turning first to general questions posed by members of the Committee, he noted that paragraph 21 of the initial report no longer applied and that the Supreme Court was not involved at all in the adoption of legislation. Laws were adopted by the National Assembly and promulgated by the President, and they entered into force on the date of publication. The Constitutional Court could express its views on draft legislation before Parliament.

5.	The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had withdrawn from the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights in order to ensure the latter's impartiality. The Centre dealt with the protection of women's rights within the broader context of the protection of human rights in general.

6.	The Constitutional Court, established in 1995, consisted of nine members, five of whom were appointed by the National Assembly, and four, by the President. The judges, who could not be removed from their posts, served until the age of 70, were independent and were subject only to the law. They could not serve in any other public capacity. The Court's mandate. which was established by law, was to ensure that decisions of the National Assembly, presidential decrees and orders, Government decisions and international treaties were consistent with the Constitution. The Court also resolved disputes relating to referendums and elections and ruled in matters relating to the removal of the President from office and his ability to discharge his functions. Cases could be brought before it by the President and at least one third of the members of the National Assembly. As to concerns that discrimination was possible under the Constitution, he said that that was a mistaken impression created by translations of the Constitution from the Armenian language.

Article 1

7.	Ms. AGHADJANIAN (Armenia) said that most of the questions raised with respect to article 1 would be covered in her delegation's replies under articles 5 and 6. As the overall economic situation in the country improved, women endeavoured to change traditional values and were paying greater attention to their role in public life without sacrificing their families. A serious shift in the national mentality was needed to help them face that challenge. Non-governmental organizations provided support for that effort.

Article 2

8.	Mr. AVAKIAN (Armenia) said that a new translation of the Convention issued in 1996 had been widely disseminated in nearly all regions of the country. The Convention was available in bookstores and was covered in the human rights curriculum in the schools. A dialogue was maintained, often by non-governmental organizations, on the Convention and on discrimination. Any individual could invoke any convention ratified by Armenia before the national courts. International conventions comprised an integral part of the legal system, were directly applicable before the relevant entities and had the primacy and force of law in the event of a contradiction with domestic law. The courts could reject domestic law to assert the primacy of the Convention.

9.	As to specific programmes to devise norms governing efforts to combat discrimination, he noted that all draft codes and laws currently under consideration contained provisions guaranteeing equal rights for women. International organizations and non-governmental organizations organized meetings on discrimination issues.

10.	Women could attend law school and become lawyers on an equal footing with men, and there currently were a number of women lawyers in his country.

11.	As to the Government's efforts to combat discrimination, the establishment of a women's advocacy department was under consideration, as was a policy document intended to ensure the de facto equality of women and their participation in the economic, political, social and cultural life of the country on an equal footing with men.

12.	The current Penal Code had been adopted during the Soviet era and had been substantially revised. A new Penal Code was expected to be adopted by the end of the year, and the adoption of a new Civil Code was expected in May 1998. Both new codes substantially altered the spirit and the letter of those in force. With regard to the questions raised concerning rape, he said that 24 cases had been brought before the courts in 1995, compared with 21 in 1994. The Penal Code provided for imprisonment in cases of rape ranging from 2 to 15 years.

13.	Although the Labour Code called for equal pay for equal work and equal opportunities for men and women to advance in their careers, in practice, men occupied higher positions at higher salaries. His country had ratified the 1951 Convention concerning Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value. The parliamentary resolution adopted on 8 July 1991 on urgent measures for the protection of women, maternity and childhood, and the strengthening of the family - which had been adopted before a clear distinction had been established between resolutions and laws - had become an integral part of his country's legislation.

14.	Ms. AGHADJANIAN (Armenia), indicating what had been done in the area of mainstreaming, said that the Government, with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), had launched the Support to Gender in Development Programme as a follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women, in order to promote mainstreaming of gender issues in the context, inter alia, of governance, development management, sustainable livelihood, legislation and access to services. As to national machinery for the promotion of women's rights, the Department for the Advancement of Women would become operational in 1998, when it would take over full responsibility for gender issues from the Ministry of Social Security.

15.	Referring to specific economic and social reforms to help women emerge from poverty, she said that special attention was paid to the participation of women in training programmes for employees of enterprises undergoing privatization. Further progress was needed in that regard. Women had the same rights as men to be involved in privatization and become shareholders.

Article 3

16.	Until the Department for the Advancement of Women became operational, the Ministry of Social Security would be the main body responsible for the implementation of the national programme of action. Non-governmental organizations disseminated information on human rights and fundamental freedoms, provided assistance to refugees and to the most vulnerable segments of the population and served as advocates for improved social and working conditions for women.

Article 4

17.	A national policy on affirmative action had not yet been developed. The benchmarks and timetable were under consideration in various ministries. Resources would be allocated bearing in mind the overall economic situation in the country and the level of existing resources.

18.	The Government recognized that it must review its policy regarding the position of women in society. Training programmes were being developed to promote the participation of women in parliamentary and local elections, bearing

in mind in particular their low representation in the recent local elections. Non-governmental organizations, in cooperation with international organizations, planned seminars to familiarize women with the functioning of political parties in developed democracies and promote their participation in elections.

Article 5

19.	Mr. AVAKIAN (Armenia) said that the current Penal Code did not cover domestic violence. The new code would cover that issue and other matters which had been considered taboo in the past.

20.	Ms. AGHADJANIAN (Armenia) said that very few victims reported domestic violence, possibly because it had not previously been an issue and also because of the absence of specially trained female personnel. Similarly, no cases of incest had been reported. Although no measures had yet been taken to combat domestic violence, the Government, in cooperation with the International Centre for Crime Prevention, would be assessing the relevant data and a new training programme for law enforcement officers included a special section on the problem.

21.	Armenian women were highly educated. However, during the years of crisis, women's priority had been the survival of their family, while men had taken any work they could find to support the family. With the improvement in the overall situation, women were returning to work and to public life. Under the previous regime, a greater number of women had occupied senior decision-making positions because of the quota system. There were currently fewer women in such positions, which reflected the world-wide situation of under-representation of women at the decision-making level.

22.	More detailed information would be given on under-age marriages in future reports as no precise statistics were currently available. However, pregnancies did have a negative impact on a woman's physical and mental health. The current Criminal Code stipulated punishment, both for forcing a woman to marry against her will and for creating obstacles to prevent a woman from marrying in accordance with her free choice.

23.	The vast majority of non-governmental organizations promoted the equality of women and men, and gender issues were high on their agendas.

Article 6

24.	Although the Criminal Code established a fine for operating a brothel, it contained no provisions regarding prostitution. In the absence of either statistics or comparative research, it was impossible to answer some of the Committee's questions. It was hoped to address the issue in future reports as a new Criminal Code was under consideration which contained provisions regarding prostitution and trafficking in women. The public had a negative attitude towards both prostitutes and their clients. Currently, if a prostitute was subject to police violence she would bring the case to court on the same basis as any other person. Some refugees were prostitutes, but again, no precise data existed.

Article 7

25.	The dramatic decrease in the number of women members of parliament was due to the elimination of quotas; under the previous regime, thirty per cent of members had to be women. However, although there was no specific policy to promote women to senior decision-making positions, women were becoming more active in politics and the number of women members of parliament should increase in coming elections.

Article 8

26.	Government officials were recruited through vacancy announcements and the same criteria applied to both women and men. Although there was no specific equal opportunities policy, 35 per cent of diplomats in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were women and also 30 per cent of those posted abroad.

Article 9

27.	Mr. AVAKIAN (Armenia), clarifying the confusion concerning the nationality of children, said that both parents could designate a child's nationality by written agreement. If they disagreed, Armenian nationality automatically was conferred on a child who otherwise would be stateless. Children were deemed nationals of Armenia if they were born there or if both their parents were permanent residents there.

Article 10

28.	Ms. AGHADJANIAN (Armenia) said that school education was mandatory and free of charge and that the drop-out rate was near zero. No reduction in the number of girls at any level of education had been observed. At the university level there were no women rectors in State universities, although 44.7 per cent of the professors were women; overall, 18 per cent of faculty deans were women. Forty-one per cent of law students and 54 per cent of social science students were women. The high number of women teachers at the primary and secondary level was a legacy of the previous regime; that stereotyping might change with the evolution of society.

29.	Women constituted 69 per cent of doctors and also the vast majority of nurses. The appointment of a female judge to the Constitutional Court had not been a political decision; she had previously been a Supreme Court judge. The improved economic situation should bring improvements in the career possibilities for professional women.

Article 11

30.	There was currently no legislative framework for the informal sector. Women did participate in trade unions, and the problem of unemployment was being resolved within the broad context of economic reform and the opening up of the market to foreign investment. The Government had developed an investment promotion and employment generation programme with special emphasis on micro- and small enterprises and the establishment of business centres at the regional and municipal levels; the programme would also benefit women entrepreneurs, internally displaced persons and refugees.

31.	Young people had gone abroad to pursue studies not available locally under the previous regime; they included studies in international law, political science and banking management.

Article 12

32.	Childcare facilities were not mandatory in the workplace; they were the responsibility of local and district authorities. The Labour Code protected the right to work of pregnant women, nursing mothers and women with children under one year of age and stipulated certain types of work they should not do, with a view to protecting their health. A woman's employer was responsible for paying maternity leave, and men, although eligible for paternity leave, rarely made use of the right.

33.	The new Constitution stated that every citizen was entitled to health protection and the Government was currently responsible for health services, although strategies for the development of private medical services were under discussion. The concept of health insurance was very new and the main concern was to guarantee access to adequate medical care for the most vulnerable population groups. The health care system was based on the principle of universal coverage and there were both central regional hospitals and rural hospitals and polyclinics for the rural population. Although 13.5 per cent of the Government's budget was allocated to health care, the actual amount involved was relatively low as the total budget was very small. No special allocation had been envisaged for the four areas of concern relating to maternal health, described in paragraph 73 of the corrigendum (CEDAW/C/ARM/1/Corr.1).

34.	Abortion was the primary means of birth control and a cause of secondary infertility. The stipulation that abortion was legally permitted only up to the fourteenth week of pregnancy was dictated by concern for the health of the woman and should not be considered restrictive. Contraceptives were free at the Centre for the Reproductive Health of Women, which also provided testing and counselling. In 1996, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Population Fund, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, launched a major three-year programme to provide testing and birth control counselling. There were no statistics on teenage pregnancies.

35.	Testing for AIDS had been available only since 1995, in which time 21 cases had been identified. Anaemia had increased between 1989 and 1993. Unfortunately, no statistics were available on a sex-disaggregated basis for individual diseases, and no research had been carried out on work-related diseases since Soviet times. There was no current research on the mental health of women.

36.	Alcoholism had never been an issue of concern to Armenian society. Drug addiction was a new phenomenon, but articles 229 and 230 of the Criminal Code provided for punishment in the case of drug-related crimes.

Article 14

37.	Mr. AVAKIAN (Armenia) said that under the Constitution and the Civil Code women and men enjoyed equal rights to bequeath or inherit property.

Article 16

38.	Under article 32 of the Constitution, women and men enjoyed equal rights during marriage and in the event of divorce. The Marriage and Family Code stipulated that either the husband or the wife could sue for divorce. A husband could not unilaterally seek a divorce while his wife was pregnant and during the first year following delivery. During the period 1989-1994, 15 per cent of Armenian marriages had ended in divorce.

39.	Ms. AGHADJANIAN (Armenia) said that Armenia had released all the prisoners of war and detainees listed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The country had received 418,000 refugees as a result of the conflict in Nagorny Karabakh. The 1995 law on citizenship granted refugees the right to obtain Armenian citizenship and, since 1994, Armenia had been implementing the PAROS humanitarian assistance programme, based on vulnerability assessment. Psychological rehabilitation centres had been established in areas with large concentrations of refugees, and health care for refugees was provided by the State health services. No data were available on cases of violence against the disabled and refugees, and it was hoped to address the issue in future reports.

40.	Ms. SHALEV welcomed the intention to establish a department for women and stressed that it would need adequate resources.

41.	Privatization of health services was not advisable inasmuch as it could increase costs and prejudice universal coverage. The report stated that land which was privatized was distributed to heads of households and that men and women had equal rights. It was unclear whether that meant that the woman in a male-headed household enjoyed 50 per cent of the right to the land. Likewise, in the case of privatized companies, it was not clear whether women had equal rights to be shareholders.

42.	She accepted that Armenian was a gender-neutral language and that the Constitution was therefore gender-neutral, but warned that problems could arise because of gender blindness. She stressed that women's rights were the key to the development of society and that gender perspectives should be integrated into all policies. In the same way, the new Centre for Development and Human Rights should emphasize women's human rights.

43.	Ms. ABAKA endorsed the previous speaker's misgivings about the privatization of health services. She commented that prohibiting pregnant women from carrying out certain functions could be construed as being overprotective and barring their access to certain employment opportunities.

44.	Ms. JAVATE DE DIOS praised the decision to establish a Department for Advancement of Women in 1998 and said that the existence of such a body to oversee the introduction and implementation of laws and projects for women was of the utmost importance. She suggested that some research was needed on domestic violence, particularly wife-beating, and incest.

45.	She was concerned about the economic impact of privatization and its effect on the integration of women into the labour market. Foreign investment was a further cause for concern inasmuch as it could promote pornography and trafficking in women; hence the Committee would appreciate further information in that regard under article 6 of the Convention in future reports. In conclusion, she noted that the report tended to stress motherhood at the expense of the father's role in parenting.

46.	Ms. LIN Shangzhen said she assumed that the reference in paragraph 18 of the corrigendum to the traditional family role of Armenian women applied not only to the most severe years of crisis but to Armenian life in general. The fact that husbands did not share family responsibilities was a major hindrance to women's participation in public life, and she requested information on how Armenian women viewed that situation.

47.	Mr. AVAKIAN (Armenia) said that the privatization of land and industry were having a positive impact on life in Armenia. The Armenian Government's decisions relating to privatization did not discriminate against women. Women had the same right as men to acquire land or commercial property. In the case of spouses, both husbands and wives enjoyed the same rights with respect to movable and immovable property during their marriage. By not making any gender distinction, the Constitution laid the groundwork for future legislative reform that guaranteed the absence of discrimination between men and women.

48.	While the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights dealt with the protection of women's rights, it did not stress them, since that was not the Centre's mandate. The establishment of a State department to deal with women's issues would more or less solve the problem. The establishment of such a department would be a new undertaking for Armenia, which would draw on the experience of other States.

49.	During the Soviet period, domestic violence, prostitution, slavery and incest had been taboo subjects and therefore were not dealt with in any legal code. The new code would address those issues. Statistics on those problems would be provided in Armenia's next report.

50.	Mr. ABELIAN (Armenia) said that Armenia's future reports would include more information and statistics. Armenia was currently experiencing the same difficulties as all other countries in transition, whose needs had been recognized by the international community only in the past year.

51.	The CHAIRPERSON congratulated Armenia on ratifying the Convention promptly, less than two years after achieving independence, without entering any reservations, and commended it for submitting its report on time. She noted with satisfaction that Armenia was undertaking major economic and political reforms focusing on the mainstreaming of the gender perspective into national development policy. She hoped that the absence of explicit reference to the gender perspective in the Armenian Constitution would be addressed in a future reform. The fact that the Convention could be invoked in district courts and the Supreme Court was appropriate, since that was a necessary means of addressing discriminatory practices.

52.	It was gratifying that the Government of Armenia had established criminal courts that provided punishment for a wide range of sexual offences against women. She expressed concern at the absence of national machinery for the advancement of women. The Armenian Government needed to take practical measures to accelerate de facto equality between men and women.

53.	The rise in the number of unemployed women in recent years was a worrisome trend, and she encouraged Armenia to repeal the law that prohibited women from working at night. She noted that not many women held positions in government or political parties, and she hoped that positive steps would be taken to address that situation. The lack of adequate family planning services and the prohibition of legal abortion were serious impediments to the full enjoyment of women's reproductive rights. Armenia should provide more information on domestic violence, rape, prostitution, trafficking in women, and statistics on women employed in the formal and informal sectors.

54.	Mr. Abelian, Ms. Aghadjanian and Mr. Avakian (Armenia) withdrew.

IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTICLE 21 OF THE CONVENTION (continued) (CEDAW/C/1997/II/3/Add.3)

55.	Ms. SIBAL (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)), introducing the report of UNESCO (CEDAW/C/1997/II/3/Add.3), said that the overall work of UNESCO regarding women, girls and gender equality was guided by five resolutions that its General Conference had adopted in 1995, immediately following the Fourth World Conference on Women. Furthermore, there were 10 special projects focusing on the five priority areas that the General Conference had chosen from the twelve critical areas of concern defined in the Beijing Platform for Action. Those special projects dealt with women's and girls' access to various levels of education; women's use and management of water; women's access to science and technology; women's use of community radio and other means of communication; women's role in creating a culture of peace and managing social transformation; and other innovative projects.

56.	Particular attention was being given to creating a UNESCO Web site on women, girls and gender equality, and a corresponding basic information kit addressed to the general public that presented the main lines of action of UNESCO in favour of women, girls and gender equality. Those endeavours would help "deghettoize" the women-girls-gender dimension of the work of UNESCO not only among the men and women of the Organization's staff but also among its partners at the country level. That approach would be tested in the preparation of two major UNESCO conferences, namely, the World Conference on Higher Education, 1998, and the World Science Conference, 1999.

57.	Two events, scheduled for late 1997 and early 1998, could have a significant impact on gender mainstreaming in the fields of competence of UNESCO. The first was the preparation of an international campaign to promote women's and girls' right to education, to be launched in 1998 as a contribution to the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The second, much smaller in scale but just as important, concerned women's unpaid work, examined in terms of the areas of competence of UNESCO. In addition, the UNESCO Women and the Culture of Peace Programme explored gender-related factors that thwarted or enhanced the transition from the current "culture of violence" to a culture of peace. The immediate objective of the Programme was to counterbalance current socialization into rigid and stereotyped gender roles by developing methods of gender-sensitive, non-violent conflict resolution through a variety of activities.

58.	Some members of the Committee had enquired about the role of men in efforts to implement the Convention at the country level, and she drew attention to an expert group meeting to be held in Oslo from 25 to 28 September 1997 on the topic of male roles and masculinities in the perspective of a culture of peace. The meeting would help broaden understanding of gender socialization in different cultural contexts and with a special focus on the socialization of boys and men. She hoped that the meeting would contribute to the holding of a world conference on men and power, which the Government of Luxembourg had proposed in the Committee a few days earlier.

59.	UNESCO had a project entitled "A lifeline for Afghan women", which had been allowed to continue by the Taliban authorities. The project used a radio soap opera and a cartoon magazine to transmit key health and education messages to women and their families, who had suffered from nearly two decades of armed conflict.

60.	The report described the efforts of UNESCO to promote the right of women and girls to education as a fundamental human right and key to development. Such efforts focused increasingly on the education of women and girls in rural communities. Bangladesh had been included, together with India, Nepal and Pakistan, in the Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All (APPEAL), which conducted studies on the situation of literacy and basic education of girls and women. Namibia would be included in a project entitled "Scientific, technical and vocational education of girls in Africa". A national survey had been undertaken in Namibia to assess the underlying reasons for girls' and women's low participation in science.

61.	The States parties reporting at the current session were all members of the International Hydrological Programme. The science sector of UNESCO under the framework of the three other intergovernmental programmes granted fellowships to young women scientists in order to facilitate their access to specific scientific fields of study, including marine science, ecology, geology and hydrology.

62.	Ms. JAVATE DE DIOS requested additional information on the international campaign to promote women's and girls' right to education as a fundamental human right. The Committee's experts were prepared to make suggestions, either individually or as a group, concerning that campaign. The Committee had not had time to discuss Luxembourg's proposal to hold a conference on men and power, and she did not have a clear understanding of what that conference would be about. She would appreciate more information on the Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All, and she enquired how the members of the Committee could become involved in the Programme.

63.	Ms. CASTILLO commended UNESCO for its efforts to promote a culture of equality for women and girls. She requested more information on UNESCO projects in Latin America, especially in the Andean countries, and on how members of the Committee could strengthen their relationship with UNESCO.

64.	Ms. BUSTELO GARCÍA DEL REAL said that the forthcoming expert group meeting on male roles and masculinities in the perspective of a culture of peace could be directly relevant to efforts to implement the Convention and requested that the conclusions of that meeting should be conveyed to the Committee. She also requested clarification regarding the relationship of women's unpaid work to the educational concerns of UNESCO and regarding the strengthening of UNESCO structures dealing with women's issues.

65.	Ms. ABAKA welcomed the approach of UNESCO to women's and girls' right to education as a fundamental human right. With regard to science education for girls, she illustrated the importance of efforts at the national level with the example of Ghana's successful "Science clinics" programme, which was currently being decentralized and was in need of funding.

66.	Ms. HARTONO asked if UNESCO had any plans or proposals for programmes to gender-sensitize boys and girls in the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, and also asked what members of the Committee could do to participate in UNESCO programmes in their countries.

67.	Ms. Yung Chung KIM requested more information about activities associated with the UNESCO "Women and the culture of peace" programme and suggested that the programme should be more broadly publicized.

68.	Ms. SIBAL (UNESCO) said that the initiative to promote the culture of peace was central to the UNESCO mission and all its areas of operation. At the next session of the General Assembly, UNESCO would present elements for a declaration on the culture of peace, many of which would relate to the empowerment of women. Details of the specific projects associated with the project would be enumerated in a plan of action, and it was intended to proclaim the year 2000 as the international year for the culture of peace if there was the necessary support for that proposal.

69.	Initiatives to promote the education of women and girls would form the core of UNESCO participation in activities marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In that regard, she said that UNESCO project funding was available for such national projects and initiatives as the "science clinics" in Ghana.

70.	Ms. CORTI, referring to the suggested world conference on men and power, said that the search for ways to share power with men might be a more interesting and useful theme for such a conference and urged that more research should be done on that question before steps were taken to organize such a conference.

71.	Ms. SIBAL (UNESCO) said that, while UNESCO was not itself in a position to organize a new world conference on the topic, she noted the suggestion with interest and reiterated the organization's willingness to undertake research on any question of interest to the Committee.

72.	The CHAIRPERSON thanked the representative of UNESCO on behalf of the Committee for her presentation and for the commitment of UNESCO to the advancement of women as reflected by its programmes in support of article 10 of the Convention. Citing the Committee's concern about stereotyped roles for men and women, which were perpetuated by gender-biased educational systems, and about women's access to education in order to attain the highest standards of physical and mental health, she urged UNESCO to continue to emphasize those issues in its forthcoming programmes. The forums on education being organized by UNESCO would contribute to the attainment of the Committee's goals, especially if they incorporated a gender perspective and dealt with problem areas. The Committee was especially interested in such issues as women's unpaid work and their access to education, as the education of women directly affected the transition from a culture of violence to a culture of peace. She expressed interest in the forthcoming expert meeting on male roles and masculinities in the perspective of a culture of peace, and requested UNESCO to consider sponsoring at least two experts from the Committee to attend that meeting. Lastly, she welcomed the intention of UNESCO to make specific proposals for increasing cooperation with the Committee.

The meeting rose at 5.55 p.m.