‘The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as the international bill of rights for women. Consisting of a preamble and 30 articles’, the ‘Convention is a roadmap for countries for the creation of what is termed substantive equality - not just equality in law and policy, but equality in all matters public and private so that every woman and girl has opportunity to enjoy their rights’ (Shapiro n.d.).

The presentation will highlight the different mechanisms of CEDAW which promote the state’s role and accountability in fulfilling its obligation to the Convention.  It will particularly focus on the constructive dialogue procedure where state parties present on ‘factors and difficulties in implementing each aspect of their commitment to end gender discrimination and establish substantive equality’ (Ibid.). The Committee provides Concluding Observations (CoB) following the constructive dialogue focusing on ‘particular issues of concern, suggestions and recommendations to advance implementation of CEDAW commitments’ (Ibid.).

‘NGO advocacy at the national level using the Convention have aided’ (Ibid.) in promoting the human rights of women and countering VAW. The paper will cite examples of human rights advocates in some countries of South Asia who have used the CoBs as an effective tool for bringing about legal and policy changes. The paper will also provide recommendations on how women’s rights activists can use CEDAW to strengthen their advocacy on the ground to ‘end gender-based discrimination and the realisation of gender equality’ (Ibid.). 

References

BASW n.d. ‘British Association of Social Workers’, <https://www.basw.co.uk/>, accessed 7 November 2017.

Shapiro, J. n.d. ‘CEDAW as a Tool for Promoting Substantive Gender Equality’, CEDAW.org,

<http://www.cedaw.org.tw/en/upload/media/Capacity%20Building/1-1The%20Mechanism%20of%20CEDAW%20Committee.pdf>, accessed 7 November 2017.