Committee
on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women
Thirtieth session
12-30 January 2004
Concluding
comments: Bhutan
1. The Committee
considered the combined initial, second, third, fourth, fifth
and sixth periodic report of Bhutan (CEDAW/C/BTN/1-3 and CEDAW/C/BTN/1-
6/Corr.1) at its 636th and 642nd meetings, held on 16 and 22 January
2004 (see CEDAW/C/SR.636 and 642).
Introduction by the State party
2. In introducing the report, the representative of Bhutan described
the country's significant progress since the inception of planned
economic development in 1961, characterized by equitable socio
-economic progress, the establishment of a democratic framework
of governance and preservation of the country's rich cultural
heritage and environment. In 1998, the legislative, executive
and judicial branches of government had been separated and executive
powers had been devolved from the King to an elected Council of
Ministers. A constitution was currently being drafted to provide
a long-term institutional framework for political, legal, social
and economic governance.
3. The representative noted that since the ratification of the
Convention in 1981, without reservations, the Government had taken
consistent steps to progressively comply with the Convention and
its reporting obligations. It had strengthened its institutional
capacity for preparation of reports, including establishment of
the Office of Legal Affairs, the International Conventions Division
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Commission
for Women and Children. A committee and a forum of gender focal
points in various ministries under the leadership of the Planning
Commission Secretariat had also been created in order to monitor
the implementation of the Convention.
4. In the preparation of the present report, the first-ever baseline
gender pilot study had been completed in 2001, and three studies,
on health, education, and water and sanitation, had also been
undertaken. Workshops and consultations had taken place involving
government focal points, representatives from United Nations agencies
and stakeholders from civil society. The Convention and the updated
summary of the report had been translated into the local languages
and disseminated to the population to raise awareness of gender
issues.
5. A number of laws had been adopted prior to and following ratification
of the Convention in 1981. The General Law of 1957 had guaranteed
women equality before the law and the Inheritance Act of 1980
had guaranteed women rights to land and property. Other laws included
the Marriage Act of 1980 and its amendment of 1996 on equality
in marriage and family life, and the Police Act of 1980 and Prison
Act of 1982 protecting the rights of women serving prison sentences.
The Rape Act of 1996 was being incorporated into the draft Penal
Code; it protected women against sexual abuse and provided for
severe financial penalties and prison sentences for offenders.
Trafficking in women was prohibited, and Bhutan had ratified,
in 2003, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC) Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in
Women and Children for Prostitution.
6. Since 1961, significant improvements had taken place in regard
to women's health, education and employment. Given the significant
growth in the number of hospitals, health units and indigenous
treatment centres providing free access to health services, maternal
mortality had been significantly reduced. Girls accounted for
47 per cent of the total enrolment as a result of the Government's
focus on promoting girls' education. Women had also overwhelmingly
benefited from non formal education programmes.
7. No formalized gender bias existed in employment, women increasingly
owned and ran businesses, and labour policies ensured equal wage
rates. Women enjoyed equal opportunities and pay in the civil
service and made up 40 per cent of participants in vocational
training institutes. There was no distinct division of labour
between women and men in most rural areas, and women and men shared
domestic and agricultural work equally.
8. Turning to women in decision-making positions, the representative
noted that women now made up 26 per cent of the civil service.
In 2003, two women had been appointed as Foreign Secretary and
Finance Secretary. Their Majesties the Queens had become very
actively engaged in international and regional forums. While women
were well represented in public village meetings, their participation
in elections for public office remained low. A total of 12 out
of 100 elected people's representatives to the National Assembly
and 1 out of the 6 Royal Councillors were women.
9. In concluding, the representative highlighted challenges to
the full achievement of the goals of the Convention. They included
the need to eradicate indirect forms of gender bias existing within
the society or emerging as a consequence of change. Despite equal
opportunities and entitlements, and equal legal status of women
and men, differences remained in women's access to education,
enterprise development and governance, also influenced by societal
perceptions that women were weaker and more vulnerable. The process
of modernization, the subsequent shifts in traditional roles and
responsibilities, changes in value systems and transformation
of family patterns also necessitated continuing change in regard
to women's rights and legal remedies. The representative assured
the Committee of Bhutan's commitment to the full implementation
of the Convention.
Concluding comments of the Committee
Introduction
10. The Committee commends the State party for ratifying the Convention
without reservations, and expresses its appreciation to the State
party for its combined initial, second, third, fourth, fifth and
sixth periodic report, while regretting the fact that the report
was long overdue and does not fully comply with the Committee's
guidelines for the preparation of initial reports.
11. The Committee congratulates the State party for its high-level
delegation headed by the Minister for Labour and Human Resources.
The Committee appreciates the frank and constructive dialogue
that took place between the delegation and the members of the
Committee.
Positive aspects
12. The Committee welcomes the significant progress achieved by
the State party from 1984 to 2000 in improving the welfare of
its people, including its women, such as a decrease in maternal
mortality from 7.7 to 2.5 per 1,000 live births.
13. The Committee welcomes the political commitment expressed
by the State party during the constructive dialogue to fully implement
the provisions of the Convention and to further improve the progress
achieved so far in some areas.
14. The Committee commends the commitment made by the State party
to make it mandatory for the recently restructured and strengthened
National Statistical Bureau as an autonomous body to collect data
disaggregated by sex.
Principal areas of concern and recommendations
15. The Committee is concerned that existing legislation does
not contain a specific definition of discrimination against women
in accordance with article 1 of the Convention, which prohibits
both direct and indirect discrimination.
16. The Committee urges the State party to take full advantage
of the ongoing process to elaborate a Constitution, to include
the principle of equality between women and men as well as a definition
of discrimination against women in the draft Constitution. The
Committee recommends that, in drafting its Constitution, the State
party also be guided by other international human rights instruments.
The Committee calls on the State party to adopt its draft Constitution
in an expeditious manner.
17. The Committee is concerned that, in the event of conflict
between international conventions to which Bhutan is a State party
and domestic legislation, domestic law may prevail.
18. The Committee recommends that the State party incorporate
in the Constitution the primacy of international conventions,
to which Bhutan is a State party, over domestic law in case of
conflict. The Committe e also recommends that the State party
under all circumstances undertake awarenessraising and sensitization
of the judiciary and other law enforcement authorities about the
Convention.
19. The Committee notes with concern the lack of specific information
concerning the mandate and the human and financial resources of
the existing national machinery for the advancement of women.
20. The Committee recommends that the State party strengthen the
existing national machinery, clarify its mandate and provide it
with adequate decision making power and human and financial resources
to work effectively for the promotion of women's human rights
at all levels, and enhance coordination among the existing mechanisms
for the advancement of women and the promotion of gender equality,
including the Planning Commission and the National Statistical
Bureau. It also urges the State party to ensure that the National
Commission for Women and Children becomes fully functional and
is guided in its work by the provisions of the Conve ntion on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and
the Convention on the Rights of the Child to ensure full promotion
and protection of the rights of women and girls.
21. The Committee expresses concern that policies and programmes
are mostly gender neutral and that they were formulated without
attention to gender perspectives and to discrimination and inequality
faced by women and girls.
22. The Committee urges the State party to mainstream gender perspectives
when formulating and implementing policies and programmes, as
well as in monitoring and assessing progress achieved. It also
urges the State party to implement policies and programmes specifically
addressed to women and girls, including the next five -year plan
for women, 2006-2010, in order to accelerate achievement of substantive
equality. It urges the State party to apply temporary special
measures according to article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention
and general recommendation 25 on temporary special measures, inter
alia, in education, employment and professional fields, in order
to accelerate the progress in achieving gender equality.
23. The Committee, while welcoming the progress in promoting women's
political participation and noting that several women hold high
ministerial posts, expresses concern at the low representation
of women in decision-making bodies in the various areas and levels
of political and public life.
24. The Committee recommends that the State party adopt temporary
special measures in accordance with article 4, paragraph 1, of
the Convention and in the light of general recommendations 23,
on women in public and political life, and 25, on temporary special
measures to increase the number of women at national and local
decision-making levels in government, governmental bodies and
public administration, provide targeted training programmes for
women, and conduct on a regular basis, awareness-raising campaigns
to encourage women to participate in decision-making positions
in public life.
25. The Committee is concerned about the lack of special policies
and programmes to promote women's equal employment opportunities
in the country. It is also concerned that the national labour
legislation currently under preparation recognizes "equal
pay for equal work", but n ot "equal pay for work of
equal value".
26. The Committee recommends that the State party implement targeted
policies and programmes, including temporary special measures
in accordance with article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention and
general recommendation 25, in order to increase the number of
women in the formal work force. It also urges the State party
to ensure that the draft Labour Act also takes into account the
right to "equal pay for work of equal value" and contains
provisions to facilitate women's access to justice in instances
of discrimination.
27. The Committee, while welcoming the preparation of the 2001
baseline gender pilot study to collect gender-disaggregated data,
and the commitment to make the collection of such data mandatory,
expresses concern about the insufficient sex disaggregated statistical
data in the report in the areas covered by the Convention.
28. The Committee recommends the systematic and comprehensive
compilation and a thorough analysis of sex-disaggregated data
on the situation of women in all areas covered by the Convention,
and specifically on the various aspects of rural women's situation.
29. While welcoming the significant progress achieved in the increase
in the enrolment rate in primary education, where girls now constitute
45 per cent of the enrolled students, the Committee is concerned
about the low participation of girls and women in secondary and
tertiary education, including in technology- and science-related
courses.
30. The Committee encourages the State party to continue its efforts
to close the gender gap in primary education and to take all necessary
measures to increase the number of women in secondary and tertiary
education in the country, including in technology- and science-related
courses, in order to ensure that girls and women are accorded
an equal opportunity to study, develop and benefit from science
and technology. It also urges the State party to ensure that women
have equal access with men to governmental loans and scholarships
for pursuing higher education abroad.
31. While acknowledging that several traditional perceptions and
practices in Bhutan favour women, including with regard to inheritance,
the Committee remains concerned that some traditions and stereotyped
views in the country may be discriminatory of women and girls,
and perpetuate sex-specific roles and responsibilities in some
spheres of life. The Committee expresses concern at the continued
existence of polygamy in Bhutan.
32. The Committee urges the State party to analyse existing traditions
and stereotyped views in order to assess their impact on gender
equality. It recommends that policies be developed and programmes
be directed at men and women to support the elimination of stereotypes
associated with traditional roles in the family, the workplace,
and society at large, and to prevent the emergence of new stereotypes
that are discriminatory against women. It also recommends that
the media be encouraged to project a positive image of women and
of the equal status and responsibilities of women and men both
in the public and private spheres. The Committee recommends action
by the State party to end the practice of polygamy, in accordance
with the Committee's general recommendation 21 on equality in
marriage and family relations.
33. Noting that the overwhelming majority of women live in rural
areas, the Committee is concerned about their situation, particularly
with regard to their access to education and vocational training.
It is particularly concerned about the continuing high rates of
illiteracy among rural women, and about their limited representation
in rural leadership positions and limited participation in agricultural
and animal husbandry training programmes.
34. The Committee urges the State party to ensure that the rights,
needs and concerns of rural women are given greater attention
and visibility, and that rural women participate fully in the
formulation and implementation of all sectoral policies and programmes.
It also recommends that the State party ensure that rural wo men
and girls have full access to education and vocational training
in the areas where they live.
35. While recognizing progress made in the area of women's health,
the Committee expresses concern about the lack of a holistic and
life -cycle approach to women's health.
36. The Committee calls upon the State party to increase women
and adolescent girls' access to affordable health-care services,
including reproductive health care, and to increase access to
affordable means of family planning for women and men. It also
calls upon the State party to step up its efforts to implement
awareness-raising campaigns targeting women and men on the importance
of family planning and related aspects of women's health and reproductive
rights.
37. The Committee is concerned that no specific legislation has
been enacted to combat domestic violence and sexual harassment
at the workplace, and that there is a lack of systematic data
collection on violence against women, in particular domestic violence.
38. The Committee urges the State party to ensure the full implementation
of all legal and other measures relating to the elimination of
violence against women, to systematically monitor the impact of
those measures and to provide women victims of violence with accessible
and effective means of protection, redress and recovery. In the
light of its general recommendation 19, the Committee requests
the State party to enact legislation on domestic violence and
sexual harassment as soon as possible. The Committee also urges
the State party: to accelerate the adoption of the draft Bhutan
Penal Code, which recognizes marital rape as a crime; to devise
a structure for systematic data collection on violence against
women, including domestic violence, disaggregated by sex; and
to step up its efforts to provide comprehensive training to the
judiciary, police, medical personnel and other relevant groups
on all forms of violence against women.
39. The Committee, while appreciating the State party's ratification
of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Convention
on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children
for Prostitution in 2003, is concerned that no information has
been provided in the report on the extent of trafficking in women
and girls, as well as on measures taken to prevent and combat
this phenomenon in the country.
40. The Committee recommends that the State party increase efforts
at crossborder and international cooperation to prevent and combat
trafficking in women and girls. It urges the State party to collect
data and to provide information on the extent of trafficking in
women and girls, as well as measures to prevent and combat trafficking,
in its next report.
41. The Committee is concerned about the practice of common-law
marriages, which allows girls to be married at 15 years of age,
while the statutory age of marriage is 18. It is also concerned
about the fact that restrictive citizenship laws might prevent
women from freely choosing a spouse.
42. The Committee urges the State party to eliminate the practice
of commonlaw marriages and ensure that marriages are contracted
under the 1980 Marriage Act, amended in 1996, which raised the
legal age for marriage to 18 years for both sexes so as to comply
with article 16 (b) of the Convention, requiring free and full
consent to enter into marriage. The Committee also urges the State
party to take all appropriate measures to end the practice of
forced marriages. The Committee recommends that the State party
amend its citizenship and nationality laws to bring them into
conformity with article 9 of the Convention.
43. The Committee is concerned about the situation of ethnic Nepalese
womenwho lost their Bhutanese citizenship following the enactment
of the 1985Citizenship Act and now live in refugee camps in Nepal.
It is also concerned aboutthe situation of girls born of Bhutanese
parents in refugee camps who can only obtain naturalization after
the age of 15 years.
44. The Committee urges the State party to step up its efforts
to conduct negotiations with the Government of Nepal, and to collaborate
with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,
in order to find a prompt, just and durable solution to the situation
of Bhutanese women and girls living in the refugee camps in Nepal,
including the possibility of their return to Bhutan for those
Bhutanese women who wish to do so.
45. The Committee urges the State party to ratify the Optional
Protocol to the Convention and to accept, as soon as possible,
the amendment to article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention, concerning
the meeting time of the Committee.
46. The Committee requests the State party to respond to the concerns
expressed in the present concluding comments in its next periodic
report, due in 2006, under article 18 of the Convention.
47. Taking account of the gender dimensions of declarations, programmes
and platforms for action adopted by relevant United Nations conferences,
summits and special sessions (such as the special session of the
General Assembly to review and appraise the implementation of
the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population
and Development (the twenty-first special session), the special
session of the General Assembly on children (the twenty-seventh
special session), the World Conference against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, and the Second
World Assembly on Ageing), the Committee requests the State party
to include information on the implementation of aspects of those
documents relating to relevant articles of the Convention in its
next periodic report.
48. The Committee requests the wide dissemination in Bhutan of
the present concluding comments in order to make the people of
Bhutan, particularly government administrators and politicians,
aware of the steps that have been taken to ensure de jure and
de facto equality for women and the future steps required in that
regard. It also requests the Government to continue to disseminate
widely, in particular to women's and human rights organizations,
the Convention and its Optional Protocol, the Committee's general
recommendations, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
and the results of the twenty-third special session of the General
Assembly, entitled "Women 2000: gender equality, development
and peace in the twenty-first century".
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