WUNRN
Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women - CEDAW
CEDAW Committee - http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/index.htm
Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women - General Recommendations
The Committee also makes recommendations on any issue affecting women to which it believes the States parties should devote more attention. __________________________________________________________
CEDAW Signatures, Accession, Succession & Ratification by Member States + Reservations - http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-2&chapter=4&lang=en
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ARTICLES OF CONVENTION AS CORE
PRINCIPLES REGARDING RESERVATIONS TO CEDAW:
"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 an
international bill of rights for women."
"Although
the Convention does not prohibit the entering of reservations, those which
challenge the central principles of the Convention are contrary to the
provisions of the Convention and to general international law."
"Articles
2 and 16 are considered by the Committee to be core provisions of the
Convention. Although some States parties have withdrawn reservations to those
articles, the Committee is particularly concerned at the number and extent of
reservations entered to those articles."
Policy Measures (Article 2)
Marriage and Family Life (Article 16)
"A large number of States
parties have entered Reservations to Article 16, which guarantees equality
between women and men in marriage and family life, either in part or in its entirety....Reservations
to Article 16 have attracted the particular concern of the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women which, in General Recommendation
21, relating to equality in marriage and family relations, expressed alarm at the
number and scope of Reservations to Article 16, particularly in those cases
where the State party had also entered Reservations with respect to Article 2.
The Committee has urged States parties to discourage any notions of inequality
between women and men which are affirmed by law, or by religious or private law
or custom, and has encouraged them to progress towards a stage where
Reservations to Article 16 could be removed."