Participating in ICESCR and CEDAW Reporting Processes: Guidelines for Writing on Women's Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Shadow/Alternative Reports
This guide has been jointly prepared by IWRAW Asia Pacific and ESCR‐Net , based on IWRAW Asia Pacific's guidelines for preparing an alternative/shadow report to the CEDAW Committee.
This document is a practical guide for NGOs reporting on women's economic social and cultural rights within the reporting processes for the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
The main motivation of this guide is to encourage the participation of NGOs in the treaty body reporting process and use it as another tool to advance women's human rights and in particular, women's economic, social and cultural rights, at the national level. It also aims to bring about the greater recognition, protection and promotion of women's economic, social and cultural rights through the treaty body system at the international level.
The treaty reporting process is about holding states accountable to their obligations under a treaty and NGOs have a role to play in participating and monitoring a treaty and NGOs have a role to play in participating in and monitoring that process. NGO shadow reporting within the CEDAW and the ICESCR country review processes can be strategically utilized to increase awareness and integration of all women's human rights and improve state accountability.
Different treaties have developed in recognition of the need for a specific focus on particular human rights issues or the rights of particular groups of people. Having distinct treaties and reporting processes for economic, social and cultural rights and women's rights has enabled States and treaty bodies to focus on these specific areas of human rights. However, it has also meant that the issues can sometimes be looked at in isolation from each other.
Women from around the world are increasingly recognizing how essential economic, social and cultural rights are to achieving gender equality and the full realization of women's human rights. Throughout the world, women make significant contributions to the economy and labour market through their paid and unpaid work in the public and private spheres. However, globally, women represent approximately 70% of the global poor and 60% of the working poor, and disproportionately suffer when economic,
social and cultural rights are not fulfilled. The feminization of poverty has reinforced women's political, economic and social inequality in all regions. In today's economy, gender inequality remains a significant issue as evidenced by the increasing poverty and economic exploitation of women and their concentration in the informal labor sector. Trends towards the implementation of neo‐liberal economic policies (including privatization and deregulation) as well as the current global economic crisis has made
the need for strategies to address the roots of women's poverty even more critical. As States recede from providing for social needs, the burden falls on women because of socialized gender roles to ensure adequate food, education and healthcare for their
families.
As a result of this situation, there is a pressing need to improve understanding, recognition and implementation of women's economic, social and cultural rights as integral to and indivisible from civil and political rights. Furthermore, it is crucial that
women are able to access justice and bring international visibility to these issues as a means to enforce women's human rights both domestically and internationally.
NGO shadow reporting within the CEDAW and the ICESCR country review processes can be strategically utilized to increase awareness on the rights and obligations contained in the treaties, promote integration of all women's human rights and improve state accountability for fulfilling its obligations under the treaties.
Both the CEDAW and ESCR Committees have recognized the need for a greater integration of women's rights and economic social and cultural rights in their processes. Equally, the shadow reporting for CEDAW and ICESCR to date have contained limited analysis of the integration of women's rights with economic, social and cultural rights.
The aim of this guide is to provide assistance for individuals and organisations who are working within the shadow reporting processes of CEDAW and ICESCR to incorporate information on women's rights related dimensions of economic, social and cultural
rights in the shadow reports for both processes. The guide provides clarity on how NGOs should package information to ensure a more effective impact on the review process and in a way that is useful for the CEDAW and ESCR Committee. It also contained
information about how to most effectively use the review process and the outcomes of the review (the recommendations contained in the Concluding Observations) to effect change nationally.
These guidelines for reporting on women's economic, social and cultural rights to the CEDAW and ESCR Committees are organized into five parts:
- State Party reporting processes for CEDAW and ICESCR.
- Processes for preparing and submitting a shadow or alternative report to the
CEDAW and ESCR Committees - Guidelines for writing a shadow or alternative report for CEDAW and ICESCR.
- NGO Interventions during and after the CEDAW and ESCR Committee sessions:
how and when to lobby - Resources
Supplementary to these guidelines, information on reporting on women's economic, social and cultural rights through the CEDAW and ESCR Committee processes are also contained in:
- ESCR‐Net Working Paper, Promoting and Defending Women's Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Utilizing CEDAW and CESCR
- IWRAW‐Asia Pacific and ESCR‐Net, Claiming Women's Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: A Guide to Advocacy and Litigation Using the Optional Protocol and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the
Optional Protocol and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - IWRAW Asia Pacific Participation in the CEDAW reporting process: Process and guidelines for writing a shadow/alternative report
- IWRAW Asia Pacific NGO Interventions during and after the CEDAW Session: How and when to lobby