• II 1. GENERAL GUIDELINES REGARDING THE FORM AND CONTENTS OF REPORTS llliCEIVED FROM STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 18 OF THE COl~NTION 26. The Committee considered item 5 of the agenda at its lOth, 11th, 23rd and 24th meetings, on 1 and 11 August 1983 (CEDAW/C/SR.IO, 11, 23 and 24). 27. During the general discussion, remarks were made on the nature of criter1a for and material to be included in the guidelines, Wh1Ch were distributed in draft form in document CEDAW/C/3. It was recognized that a difference existed between what was provided in the legislation in different count~ies and how that legislation was appiied or adhered to. It was essential that a Government reported not only on how the Convent1on had been implemented, but also on what obstacles were encountered 1n the actual implementation. It was stated that the Committee should also examine what crJ.teria it WOUld use in the process of evaluat.~ng the reports, since all countries did not have the same political framework. Nevertheless, it was also recognized that there should be some degree of uniformity in the preparation of the reports. 28. Several experts pointed out that guidelines should be helpful both to Governments and to the Committee and that more specific and concrete questions should be posed in order to elicit a clear answer. The process should promote a constructive dialogue and it should also embody principles already conta1ned in the preamble of the Convention, such as disarmament, the fight against colonialism and neo-colonialism, apartheid, the struggle towards a new international economic order and the eradication of racism. The periodicity of the reports, which according to the Convention should be quadrennial, was an appropriate one since in many instances reforms, either from a legal aspect or from a practical aspect, took longer than two years to implement. ,. 29. It was felt that a general overview of the country to include the political, social and economic conditions should also be requested. It was debated whether the length of the initial reports should be limited to 40 pages, but it was the opinion of several experts that at least the preliminary reports should not be restricted in their length. Another matter which had not been given enough attention was the role of the family and parents and the infrastructure prov1ded by a particular society with regard to the biological role of women. 30. There was also agreement that the guidelines should be div1aed into two or more parts covering different sectors of women's involvement in the development of the country and that they should concentrate on practical steps taken towards the implementation of the Convention. 31. At its 23rd and 24th meetings, the Committee considered the draft gUidelines proposed by the informal working group (CEDAW/C/3/Rev.2). 32. In her introductory statement, the Chairperson of the Group expressed her thanks to the members of the Group for their hard work and their spirit of co-operation and compromise. -6-