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Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW)
The Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the United
Nations General Assembly, is often described as an international
bill of rights for women. Consisting of a preamble and
30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination
against women and sets up an agenda for national action
to end such discrimination.
By accepting the Convention, States commit themselves to
undertake a series of measures to end discrimination
against women in all forms, including:
- to incorporate the principle of equality of men and women in their legal
system, abolish all discriminatory laws and adopt
appropriate ones prohibiting discrimination against
women;
- to establish tribunals and other public institutions to ensure the effective
protection of women against discrimination; and
- to ensure elimination of all
acts of discrimination against women by persons, organizations
or enterprises.
The Convention provides the basis for realizing equality
between women and men through ensuring women's equal
access to, and equal opportunities in, political and
public life -- including the right to vote and to stand
for election -- as well as education, health and employment.
States parties agree to take all appropriate measures,
including legislation and temporary special measures,
so that women can enjoy all their human rights and fundamental
freedoms.
Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention
are legally bound to put its provisions into practice.
They are also committed to submit national reports,
at least every four years, on measures they have taken
to comply with their treaty obligations.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women was established to consider the progress made
in the implementation of the Convention. Members of
the Committee are elected by States parties from among
their nationals and serve in their personal capacity,
consideration being given to equitable geographical
distribution and to the representation of the different
forms of civilization as well as the principal legal
systems. At its meetings, the Committee reviews
national reports submitted by States parties within
one year of ratification or accession, and thereafter
every four years. These reports, which cover national
action taken to improve the situation of women, are
presented to the Committee by Government representatives.
In discussions with these officials, the CEDAW experts
can comment on the report and obtain additional information.
This procedure of actual dialogue, developed by the
Committee, has proven valuable because it allows for
an exchange of views and a clearer analysis of anti-discrimination
policies in the various countries.
The Committee also makes general recommendations on
any issue affecting women to which it believes the States
parties should devote more attention. As of July 2005,
the Committee had made 25 general recommendations.
The Committee is serviced by the Division for the Advancement
of Women.
Full text of the Convention available
in:
Arabic
 , Chinese , English,
French,
Russian
, Spanish
Country reports, including an update on the status
of submission by country, can be found at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/reports.htm.
This page also provides links to the session under which
country reports were examined, where the Committee’s
concluding comments can be found, either listed separately
or in the Final Report.
Further information on the Convention, including States
parties, reservations and the Committee’s general recommendations
can be found on the CEDAW webpage at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/
Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women
On 6 October 1999, the General Assembly adopted by consensus
an Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Both the
World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna, 1993), and
the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995)
had called for the introduction of a right to petition
under the Convention.
The Optional Protocol contains two procedures. A communications
procedure allowing individual women, or groups of women,
to submit claims of violations of rights protected under
the Convention. The Optional Protocol establishes that
in order for individual communications to be considered
by the Committee, a number of criteria must be met,
including that all available domestic remedies must
have been exhausted unless the application of such remedies
is unreasonably prolonged or unlikely to bring effective
relief. The Optional Protocol also creates an inquiry
procedure enabling the Committee to initiate inquiries
into situations of grave or systematic violations of
women’s rights. In both cases, States must be party
to the Convention and the Optional Protocol. The Optional
Protocol includes an “opt-out-clause”, allowing States
upon ratification or accession to declare that they
do not accept the inquiry procedure. The Optional Protocol
explicitly provides that no reservation may be entered
to its terms. Adoption of the Optional Protocol put
the Convention on an equal footing with other international
human rights instruments that have individual complaints
procedures.
The Optional Protocol was opened for signature, ratification
and accession on 10 December 1999, and entered into
force on 22 December 2000. As of 2 November 2006, 83
States parties to the Convention had become part to
the Optional Protocol.
Full text of the Optional Protocol to
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women
(A/RES/54/4) available in:
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish, German
For more information on the Optional Protocol, including
States parties, model communications and the Committee’s
decisions/views can be found at:
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/protocol/dec-views.htm
African
Protocol on the Rights of Women
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The Protocol to the African Charter on
Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights
of Women in Africa |
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Context
The African Charter on Human and People’s
Rights is the mother treaty of the African
Women’s Rights Protocol. The Charter was
adopted on June 27,1981
and entered into force on 21st October 1986.
Although Article 18 (p.3) of the Charter
guarantees women’s rights, it was however
criticized for being inadequate in securing
women’s right in Africa. The major concern
expressed related to the lack of specific
provisions in the Charter that prohibit
harmful traditional practices which negatively
impact on the protection of the various
social and economic rights of women in Africa.
Following various advocacy efforts by
African women’s NGOs, the need for an African
women’s right Treaty gathered momentum and
led to an increasing consensus on the urgency
to address the specific concerns and needs
of African women. After a decade of concerted
effort by Civil Society Organisations,
African woman’s NGOs and the African Commission
on Human rights, the African Women’s Rights
Protocol was adopted in Maputo in July 2003
and entered into force on 25 November 2005
(http://www.uneca.org/beijingplus10/resources.htm.)
Initially, it was ratified by 15 countries,
but so far , a
total of 22 African countries have ratified
the Protocol (For list of countries, see
website: http://www.african-union.org.)
Making a difference
The adoption of the Protocol represents
a milestone in the struggle to ensure and
strengthen the rights of women in Africa.
This important instrument has reinforced
the protection of these rights under CEDAW
and other human rights conventions, as well
as international and regional declarations
and resolutions. It managed to achieve this
in three aspects:
- Firstly, Protocol addressed issues that emerged after the
adoption of CEDAW such as HIV/AIDS. It
also endeavoured
to address issues that were not full articulated
in CEDAW, such as sexual harassment at
school or at the workplace.
- Secondly, the Protocol addressed challenges that are specifically
relevant to the reality of African societies
and the lives of African women such as
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), wife
inheritance and the eviction of widows
upon their husband’s dearth.
- Thirdly, the Protocol reaffirmed and reinforced the obligation
of the State, particularly in the area
of facilitating women’s access to justice
as a right.
The African Women’s Rights Protocol made further advances
compared to the rights that have been stated
in various international conventions. Its
major achievements can be summed up as follows:
- The
Protocol is the first international convention
to explicitly articulate a women’s right
to abortion when pregnancy endangers the
life or health of the pregnant woman,
or when it results form sexual assault,
rape or incest;
- The
Protocol is the first binding instrument
to prohibit Female Genital Mutilation;
- The
Protocol goes beyond standards set by
other conventions on the issue of gender-based
violence. It also prohibits violence against
women in the private including domestic
violence and marital rape, as well as
in public spheres. It guarantees the protection
of women from both physical and verbal
abuse in an unprecedented manner;
- The
Protocol is the first women-specific convention
to specify minimum age of marriage (apart
from the Protocol, the only international
convention that established the age of
18 as the minimum age for marriage is
the African Charter on the Rights and
Welfare of the Child);
- The
Protocol is the only human rights treaty
to explicitly articulate choice for Monogamy
as the “preferred form of marriage’. It
is also the only one to assert the widow’s
right to child custody, inheritance and
the right to remarry a person of her choice.
- It
also provides for the right of women to
peace and their right to be protected
during armed conflicts.
Monitoring
The value of regional or international
instruments lies in their implementation
and regular monitoring and evaluation. According
to Article 64
of
The African
Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, State parties are requested to submit periodic reports on progress made.
As to the Protocol, State parties are entrusted
with its implementation at the national
level. According to its Article 26, they
are also requested to report periodically
on progress made and challenges encountered
in their effort, to effectively implement
the various provisions of the Protocol and
enforce women’s human rights. |
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Other
treaty bodies
Further information on legal instruments
and other relevant international standards of particular
importance to women's human rights and gender equality
can be found at: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/asp/user/list.asp?ParentID=1003
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Information
on National Machineries
Other
Intergovernmental
Processes and Treaty Bodies
Treaty Bodies