UPDATE ON THE COMMITTEE ON THE CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (CEDAW)

July 22, 2003 – (IWTC WOMEN‚S GLOBALNET #231) CEDAW held its 29th Session at the UN Headquarters, New York from 30 June-18 July 2003. The Committee considered reports from the following 8 countries: Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, and Slovenia.

In addition to the official country reports, CEDAW experts receive shadow and/or alternative reports from representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the reporting countries who are also able to brief the Committee‚s pre-session working group as well as the plenary meetings. In this current session, shadow reports have been submitted by NGOs of all eight countries to the CEDAW Secretariat for circulation among experts.

The shadow report system within the larger CEDAW review process is important for several reasons. It establishes a formal role for NGOs within the CEDAW process and it allows CEDAW experts to see the issues through multiple lenses. IWTC is discussing with other international groups how to develop more fully the linkages between CEDAW and the UN Security Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Human Security. Such an opportunity may exist in the 30th CEDAW session, tentatively scheduled for January 2004, where, among the 8 reporting countries (Belarus, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Germany, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal and Nigeria), Ethiopia, Nepal and Nigeria are countries in which women have experienced the impact of armed conflict.

For NGOs from reporting countries, technical support is available on the “how-to’s” of the shadow report system through several institutions including York University International Women’s Rights Project (http://www.yorku.ca/iwrp) and International Women’s Rights Action Watch (http://www.iwraw.org)

The following countries have signed and ratified the CEDAW convention in 2003: Afganistan - 5th March 2003, Syrian Arab Republic - 28th March 2003, Timor-Leste - 16th April 2003. In addition, one more country Sao Tome and Principe ratified the convention on June 3, 2003, bringing the total number of ratifications to 174 countries out of a total of 191 countries in the United Nations.

For more information see: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw.htm

For an in-depth analysis of the impact of CEDAW: "The First CEDAW Impact Study Final Report" by Marilou Mcphedran, Susan Bazilli, Moana Erickson and Andrew Bynes. This pilot study by the International Women's Rights Project (IWRP) at York University concluded that, although CEDAW is underutilized, there is a growing awareness among women's groups who participated in the study of how they can use the convention to pressure their governments to abide by international treaty commitments. Countries include Germany, Japan, Nepal, South Africa and Turkey. (2000. 232 pages. US$25.00)

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