I. A. 1NTRODUC'I'10N States parties to the Convention 1. On 12 August 1983, the closing date of the second session of the Committee on the Ellminatlon of Discrimination agains~ Women, there were 50 states partles to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which was aaopted by the General Assembly of the United ~ations in resolution 34/180 of 18 December 1979 and opened for signature, ratiflcation and accession in New York on 1 March 1980. The Convention entered into force on 3 September 1981, in accordance with the provisions of its article 27. A list of States parties to the Convention and a list of reports submitted by states parties under article 18 of the Ccnvention are contained in annexes I and 11 to the present report. B. Sessions of the Committee 2. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination again ':: Women held its second sessicn from 1 August to 12 August 1983 at United Nati~ns He~dquarters, New York; the Committee held 17 (lOth to 26th; meetings. 3. The second session of the Committee was opened by the Chairperson, Ms. L. 1der (Mongolia), who welcomed the members of the Committee and stated that 51 Member States had ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. She explained that, during the course of its p~csent dellberatlons, the Committee would also have to elaborate and approve general gUidelines for the form and content of reports to be submitted by States parties to the Conventlon. 4. The Representative of the Secretary-Gener~l stated that progress on the ratlficatlon and acceSSlon to the Convention showea the importance that Governments attributed to it, which was due in no small part to efforts undertaken by women's groups and organizations at the national and international levels. The support received had a wide geographical basis, since out of the 51 States which had ratlfied or acceded to the Convention, 7 were African: 7 Asian, 10 Eastern European, 19 Latin American and 8 Western European and other states. 5. She drew the attention of the members of the Committee to the report of the Commission on the Status of Women on the work of its first session as the preparatory body for the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women (A/CONF.116/PC/9 and Corr.l and Add.l). The Convention required a follow-up in regard to its implementation and she pointed out that, under paragraph 80 of the report, it had been suggested that the procedures for monitoring its implementation by the Committe~ €stablished for that purpose might be one means of reviewh.g and appraising progress at the national level. 6. The Committee agr.eed, on the proposal of the representative of the SecretaryGeneral, to hold the third session of the Committee in New York from 26 MaLch to 6 April 1984, while the second meeting of States parties to the Convention would be convened on 9 April 1984. The fourth sessiOn of the Committee would be held at Vienna in the beglnning of March 1985. The Committee also agreed to hold its sessions in New York when states parties met for the election of half of the members of the Committee every second year, and at Vienna in those years when no meeting of states parties wad foreseen. -1-