Geneva, 2 November, 2026.- The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) today issued its findings on Angola, Cabo Verde, the Cook Islands, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Paraguay, the Republic of Moldova, and Togo 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:
Angola
The Committee expressed concern about the high incidence of adolescent pregnancy, at 27.1% among women and girls aged 15 to 19 and 42.5% in rural areas. It called upon Angola to adopt an adequately resourced national strategy to prevent adolescent pregnancy, including through comprehensive, age-appropriate sexuality education, access to confidential adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services and voluntary contraception, as well as stronger measures to eliminate sexual violence and child marriage.
The Committee highlighted the significant barriers women face in accessing economic and financial resources, including low-interest loans, credit and digital technologies. It recommended that Angola expand its Informal Economy Conversion Programme, promote women’s entrepreneurship and facilitate access to low-interest loans without collateral and mortgages. It also called for investment in digital infrastructure, Internet and mobile phone access to bridge the digital divide, particularly for rural women.
Cabo Verde
The Committee was concerned about the sharp decline in women’s representation in the national Government, from 53.3% in 2010 to just 16.7% in the 2026 cabinet, despite progress towards gender parity in the National Assembly and municipal assemblies. It also raised concern about harassment, intimidation and online gender-based violence against women in political life. The Committee recommended that Cabo Verde amend its Parity Law to achieve equal representation of women and men in executive appointments, including in the national cabinet and senior public service posts. It also called upon the State Party to amend the Gender-Based Violence Law to explicitly criminalise political violence and harassment against women, including in digital spaces.
The Committee noted with concern that the Civil Code’s recognition of de facto unions after three years of cohabitation may legitimise unions initiated when one party was a minor. It also highlighted that most de facto unions remain unrecognised, leaving women legally and economically vulnerable upon separation or widowhood. The Committee called on the State Party to amend the Civil Code to prevent the retroactive recognition of unions initiated when one party was a minor, extend formal recognition procedures to all islands, and protect women’s rights to property, maintenance and housing in unrecognised unions.
Cook Islands
The Committee underscored the disproportionate adverse impact of climate change on women in the Cook Islands, particularly Pa Enua women, affecting their livelihoods, cultural heritage and economic security. It also highlighted women’s underrepresentation in decision-making on climate change, disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation, as well as the absence of a national action plan on women, peace and security. The Committee recommended that the Cook Islands ensure women’s equal and meaningful participation in these decision-making processes, protect their livelihoods and cultural heritage, and adopt a national action plan on women, peace and security that integrates gender perspectives into climate, disaster risk reduction and national security policies.
The Committee raised concern about disparities in support services for survivors of gender-based violence, particularly in the Pa Enua, and the continued use of informal and family-based dispute resolution mechanisms, which may undermine survivors’ access to justice. It also highlighted the rise in technology-facilitated violence against women, despite the adoption of new cybercrime legislation in 2026. The Committee called on the Cook Islands to strengthen survivor-centred support services, ensure that cases of gender-based violence are effectively investigated and prosecuted through formal justice mechanisms, and implement measures to prevent and address online violence, including cyberbullying, deepfakes and other emerging forms of technology-facilitated abuse.
Kazakhstan
While noting the criminalisation of forced marriage and the removal of the provision exempting perpetrators from criminal liability for abduction in cases where the victim has been voluntarily released, the Committee expressed concern about the absence of a specific criminal offence of domestic violence that reflects patterns of abuse and coercive control in intimate and family relationships. It recommended that Kazakhstan specifically criminalise domestic violence and introduce a definition that captures the violence in intimate and family relationships.
While welcoming the measures to promote women’s employment, the Committee remained concerned about the limited use of parental leave by men, which perpetuates the unequal distribution of care responsibilities and gender disparities in employment. It recommended that Kazakhstan adopt a comprehensive national care strategy and invest in affordable, accessible and quality childcare and other care services to reduce and redistribute unpaid care and domestic work and facilitate women’s full and equal participation in the labour market.
Kenya
The Committee expressed concern about the high prevalence of gender-based violence against women and girls in Kenya, including femicide, intimate partner violence and sexual violence. It noted that femicide is not defined as a specific offence and that marital rape is exempted from punishment under the Sexual Offences Act. It recommended that Kenya criminalise femicide as a specific offence and establish a femicide watch. It also called for a time-bound and adequately funded action plan to implement the recommendations of the Presidential Technical Working Group on Gender-Based Violence, including femicide, and asked Kenya to expedite the adoption of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill to explicitly criminalise marital rape.
The Committee expressed concern that laws and provisions declared unconstitutional or discriminatory by the courts remain in force, and that customary, religious and statutory laws coexist, are often inconsistent with one another, and discriminate against women. It also raised concern about inconsistent penalties for the same offences across different laws, including child and forced marriage and related sexual offences. The Committee recommended that Kenya repeal or amend without delay all provisions declared unconstitutional or discriminatory by the courts, ensure that customary, religious and statutory laws comply with the Convention, and harmonise penalties for the same offences to ensure consistency and proportionality.
Paraguay
The Committee expressed concern that Paraguay’s replacement of the terms “gender equality” and “gender perspective” with “equality between man and woman” could undermine efforts to address deeply rooted discrimination against women, including gender stereotypes and structural inequalities. It also raised concerns that the Education on Affectivity and Sexuality in Schools (EASE) materials reinforce gender stereotypes and fail to adequately address consent, bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights. The Committee recommended that Paraguay ensure its domestic laws are interpreted in line with the Convention, adopt gender-responsive frameworks to combat discrimination, and review the relevant resolutions and withdraw the EASE materials in question to ensure that sexuality education is comprehensive, age-appropriate, scientifically accurate and gender-responsive.
The Committee raised concern about the persistence of criadazgo, a practice in which girls are placed in other households, often under the pretext of gaining access to education, but are instead subjected to unpaid domestic and care work, exploitation and violence, and deprived of educational opportunities. It also highlighted inadequate protection for affected girls and a lack of comprehensive studies and information on the practice. The Committee called on the State Party to conduct a nationwide study on the prevalence and root causes of criadazgo, strengthen social protection for affected girls, and establish mechanisms to identify and protect them, monitor their school attendance, and ensure their reintegration into education and social protection programmes.
Republic of Moldova
While noting the establishment of eleven hospital-based units providing services to survivors of gender-based violence, the Committee remained concerned that restrictions introduced in 2025 on medical abortion services provided through telemedicine may disproportionately affect rural women, women with disabilities, women with limited financial means and survivors of gender-based violence. It recommended that Moldova review these restrictions and ensure access to safe medical abortion through telemedicine, particularly for women facing geographical, financial or disability-related barriers and survivors of gender-based violence.
The Committee voiced its concern about the lack of information on the effective implementation of the revised regulatory framework governing the Governmental Commission for Equality between Women and Men, including whether it has sufficient resources to coordinate and monitor gender equality policies at the national and local levels. It recommended that Moldova ensure the effective implementation of the relevant Government Decision, provide the Commission and its secretariat with adequate human, technical and financial resources, and systematically follow up on reports submitted by public authorities to address gaps in implementation.
Togo
The Committee was concerned about reports of shrinking civic space in Togo, including the suppression of peaceful protests, arbitrary detention, and abuse and torture of women exercising their freedom of expression, during peaceful protests and online. It also highlighted reports concerning the arrest in September 2025 and continued detention of a former female minister, reportedly in connection with her political activities. The Committee called on Togo to create an enabling environment for women human rights defenders and activists to carry out their work freely and exercise their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, both offline and online.
The Committee raised concern about low enrolment and completion rates among girls in secondary and higher education, including universities and vocational training. It also highlighted barriers to girls’ education, including gender stereotypes, disproportionate domestic responsibilities, lack of birth registration, unsafe journeys to school, education-related costs and displacement caused by insecurity in northern Togo. The Committee recommended that Togo remove barriers preventing girls without birth certificates from enrolling in schools, improve safety in and around schools, support low-income families with education costs, ensure access to education for displaced and refugee girls affected by armed conflicts in the Sahel region, and to enhance data collection to accurately assess the situation of women and girls in all areas of the Convention.
The above findings, known as Concluding Observations, are now available on the Committee’s session page.