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SYRIA CEDAW ACCESSION
 
Syrian Arab Republic   28 March 2003 a/
 
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/reservations-country.htm
 
Declarations, Reservations and Objections to CEDAW
 
Syrian Arab Republic

CEDAW Reservation:

..... subject to reservations to article 2; article 9, paragraph 2, concerning the grant of a woman's nationality to her children; article 15, paragraph 4, concerning freedom of movement and of residence and domicile; article 16, paragraph 1 (c), (d), (f) and (g), concerning equal rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its dissolution with regard to guardianship, the right to choose a family name, maintenance and adoption; article 16, paragraph 2, concerning the legal effect of the betrothal and the marriage of a child, inasmuch as this provision is incompatible with the provisions of the Islamic Shariah; and article 29, paragraph 1, concerning arbitration between States in the event of a dispute.

The accession of the Syrian Arab Republic to this Convention shall in no way signify recognition of Israel or entail entry into any dealings with Israel in the context of the provisions of the Convention..

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http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/wom1630.doc.htm

Website Link gives Full Text, including Experts’ Comments and Questions.

24 May 2007

UN Economic and Social Council
WOM/1630

Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York

Committee on Elimination of

Discrimination against Women

785th & 786th Meetings (AM & PM)

ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE APPLAUDS SYRIA'S DECISION TO WITHDRAW RESERVATIONS TO WOMEN'S TREATY, URGES AMENDING DOMESTIC LAW TO REFLECT COMMITMENTS


Syria’s delegation today announced its decision to be bound by additional provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which it had formerly claimed were outside the scope of its legal obligations as a State party, including article 2 in its entirety, which condemns discrimination against women in all its forms and commits the State to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating it.


Reporting for the first time to the expert Committee that monitors implementation of the treaty, the delegation said the other reservations to be withdrawn concerned, among other things, granting children the mother’s nationality; freedom of movement and choice of residence; the same rights and responsibilities of women and men during marriage and its dissolution with regard to guardianship, kinship, maintenance and adoption; and the legal effect of the betrothal and marriage of a child, given the incompatibility with the provisions of Islamic Sharia.


A legal adviser with the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs, Mona Asa’ad, explained that, after withdrawal of the reservations, a number of laws would be approved and endorsed by the People’s Council, which would be a “breakthrough for women on more than one front”.  The head of the three-person delegation and of the Family Affairs Commission, Mouna Ghanem, explained that tremendous efforts went into the decisions in terms of advocacy, lobbying and networking, and negotiations with all the key players, including civil society organizations and, most importantly, parliamentarians, religious leaders and media personnel.


Ms. Ghanem said that the debates on withdrawing the reservations had also been accompanied by a media campaign to spread knowledge about the Convention.  The decisions had been taken against a background of cultural and traditional factors, which together preserved the deep-rooted patriarchal attitudes and “machismo” values regarding gender and human rights in both private and public domains of women’s life.  The increased influence of radical conservatism in the region had definitely slowed the pace of women’s advancement and challenged the secular systems to implement gender-sensitive strategies.


Improving the situation of women and eliminating discrimination against them, therefore, were very complicated and multidisciplinary tasks, she said.  Those tasks should not be approached -- especially in the Middle East -- in isolation of the political and socio-economic determinants that affected the future of the region.  The situation of Syria should not be isolated from the accelerating events in the surrounding region.  For example, the country was facing a huge mass of refugees -- greater than the number in all of Europe -- which put great pressure on the country’s economy and infrastructure. 


Commending the decisions, the Committee Chairperson and expert from Croatia, Dubravka Šimonović, said that withdrawal from the entire reservation on the Convention’s article 2 was extremely important, as that provision gave full guidance and served as a very important framework for all other articles.  She asked if there was a clear time frame for the withdrawal.  She also wanted to know if the Government was considering ratification of the treaty’s landmark Optional Protocol, by which individuals could bring a complaint about their Government directly to the Committee after exhausting all local remedies.


Ms. Ghanem said that the Government had decided to withdraw its reservation to article 2, agreeing that it was the most important article in terms of reflecting the spirit of the Convention.  It had been the Government’s intention to withdraw its reservation before the delegation came to New York, but the year had been very hectic with three elections under way, and the Government simply “ran out of time”.  The reservation was before the President and should be signed this year.  As for ratification of the Optional Protocol, the time was not yet ripe for that discussion, she said, adding, “when you play politics, you need to set your priorities, you need to decide”.


A number of other experts congratulated the delegation on the Government’s decision to remove some of its reservations, but stressed the importance of bringing national legislation quickly into line with those provisions.  In that connection, Israel’s expert drew attention to several discriminatory laws against women, including the one dealing with rape.  For instance, the exemption of marital rape from the Criminal Code and exemptions from punishment for rapists who married their victims only served to strengthen negative stereotypes of women.  The delegation had admitted that cultural and traditional factors worked together to perpetuate those stereotypes, but those should be changed, and the Government should put in place a mechanism or an ombudsperson, or both, for that purpose.


Joining the delegation was Samir Hassan, Dean of the Faculty of Literature at Damascus University.


The Committee will meet again on Friday, 25 May, at 10 a.m. to take up Mauritania’s initial report.


Background


The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women met today to consider Syria’s initial report (CEDAW/C/SYR/1).


Heading the delegation was Mouna Ghanem, Chairperson of the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs.  Joining her were Samir Hassan, Dean of the Faculty of Literature at Damascus University, and Mona Asa’ad, legal adviser with the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs and women’s activist.


Introduction of Report


Presenting the report, MOUNA GHANEM, Chairperson of the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs, said today’s meeting was an excellent opportunity for Syria not only to present the efforts that had been made, but also to highlight challenges to fully implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.  The Syrian Commission for Family Affairs was the responsible body for changing Syrian laws related to family issues, in order to ensure the full empowerment of all family members, especially women and children.  The Commission was also responsible for setting national policies and strategies, and monitoring implementation.


Working under the umbrella of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Commission had access to other governmental bodies, she noted.  The Commission was also responsible for cooperation with women’s non-governmental organizations.  Only through transparent and strong partnership between governmental bodies and non-governmental organizations would gender equality be realized.


Syria attributed great importance to its international commitments, she said.  The need to comply with the Women’s Convention and to put into effect the Beijing Platform for Action had led to the adoption of important measures that would contribute to fulfilling the Government’s commitment to removing all forms of discrimination against women.  Among those measures was withdrawing reservations to certain articles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.  The Commission considered withdrawing Syria’s reservation on article 2 of the Women’s Convention as an important step forward.  Much more work was needed, however, to withdraw remaining reservations and realize the spirit of the Convention in national law.


She said tremendous efforts had been invested in such decisions, particularly in terms of advocacy, negotiations and lobbying with all key players.  All stakeholders had been included, most importantly parliamentarians, religious leaders and media personnel.  The debate on withdrawing the reservations had also been accompanied by a media campaign to disseminate knowledge about the Women’s Convention.  The report’s preparation had received the Government’s utmost attention, and had involved the formulation of a team of national experts from governmental and non-governmental organizations.


According to article 25 of Syrian Civil Law, all ratified international agreements and conventions had precedence over national law, she said.  The Commission for Family Affairs had prepared a training programme on using the Convention as a legal tool in the national courts, in cooperation with the Syrian Bar Association, the Women’s Union and representatives from non-governmental organizations and civil society.  Syria was respecting its obligations under international treaties and conventions.


Highlighting a positive development, she said violence against women was no longer considered a taboo subject in Syria.  Several recent studies had revealed the extent of the problem.  One study in particular had received international attention, and several reviews had been published about it in well-known international newspapers.  The need to eradicate violence against women had been clearly stated in the Government’s tenth 5-year plan.  The plan emphasized the importance of setting out a national plan for eradicating violence and securing appropriate shelters for women in need.  The Commission had cooperated with other governmental and civil society bodies in preparing a draft national plan for the protection of women.  Civil society had been taking a leading role in securing services for victims.


Combating gender-based violence had drawn the attention of both religious and political leaders, she added.  A nationwide media campaign had been launched, targeting the widest category of people and delivering a unified message.  Civil society had played an increasing role in the struggle against violence against women.


Among other accomplishments, she noted that a woman had, for the first time, been appointed to the position of Vice-President of State for Cultural Affairs.  The Commission had also published a study entitled “The Political Empowerment of Syrian Women”.  Women’s health had been receiving increased attention from the Government and non-governmental organizations.  Regarding the issue of reproductive health, she noted that the Government had become self-reliant regarding contraceptive procurement, after 30 years of depending on donor organizations.  The national strategy for population, prepared by the Commission, had been approved by the Government.  The Commission also worked closely with the Ministry of Education to integrate gender-sensitive concepts in the national curricula.


She said the State’s tenth 5-year plan for 2006-2010 set out specific objectives regarding legislative amendments, including amending the Personal Status Law and discriminatory articles in other laws.  The Commission had prepared amended versions of both the Personal Status Law and the Child Law.  An amendment to the law on honour killings had also been prepared and submitted to concerned parties by the Commission for review and consideration.  Steps for the preparation of the National Strategy for the Advancement of Women for 2007-2011 were being taken with the support of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).


The State Planning Commission had prepared the “National Project to Combat Poverty and Empower Women”, based on the result of a poverty demographic map of Syria, she said.  The Ministry of Agriculture had a rural poverty map, which focused on analysing the situation of rural women in Syria.  The Directorate of Women’s Empowerment at the State Planning Commission had conducted several workshops about national capacity-building.  The State’s five-year plan set out specific interventions included in the Strategy for Women’s Economic Empowerment.  She added that a partnership had been created between the Government and civil society to advance women’s issues and rights.


Turning to the issue of human trafficking, she noted the large influx of female domestic workers into Syria.  The State had taken immediate action on the issue, including the drafting of a law on human trafficking and the establishment of a committee with various Government ministries.  That work had been conducted with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).  A draft law had been prepared concerning private companies and agencies providing domestic helpers from outside Syria.


She noted that, as a result of the war in Lebanon, many refugees had entered Syria.  The increasing number of refugees and asylum-seekers was also a consequence of the negative situation in Iraq.  Syria faced a huge number of refugees, thought to be greater than the overall number of refugees in all of Europe, placing greater pressure on the economy and the country’s infrastructure.  The number of refugees and asylum-seekers was estimated at some 1.9 million or 12 per cent of Syria’s population.  The Government had taken all necessary actions in order to protect their human rights and prevent human trafficking.


Improving the situation of women and eliminating discrimination was a complicated and multidisciplined task, she said.  That task, especially in the Middle East, should not be approached in isolation of the political and socio-economic factors affecting the region.  Cultural and traditional factors worked together to preserve deeply rooted patriarchal attitudes and machismo regarding gender and human rights in both private and public life.  The increased influence of radical conservatism in the region had definitely slowed the pace of women’s advancement, presenting challenges for secular systems to implement gender-sensitive strategies.


While there was a relationship between democracy and women’s status, democratic change should be a bottom-up initiative and not imposed, she said.  Advocacy and women’s political empowerment should be coupled with capacity-building programmes to equip women with appropriate skills necessary for participation in political activity.  It was a fact that the path to complete gender equity and equality was very long.  Complying with international obligations, updating national laws and preparing an environment that accepted change were the pillars for improving the position of half of society.  Continuous cooperation with the Committee was needed in that regard.

 





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