WUNRN
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 8,
2013 (IPS) - The
Now
a coalition of more than 100 non-governmental organisations (NGOs), human
rights groups and women’s organisations is renewing a longstanding demand for
The reason for the renewed
demand? A record number of 20 women senators, including existing and
newly-elected, who took the oath of office last week.
So far, 187 out of 194
countries have ratified CEDAW, but the non-ratifiers include
·
Women Demand Equality in
Papua New Guinea
·
Family Planning Falters
Despite Treaty Commitments
·
Islamists Stall Gender
Equality Bill
June Zeitlin, director of the
CEDAW Education Project at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights,
told IPS, “The (current) 113th Congress has the highest number of women the
U.S. Senate has ever achieved.”
Asked how confident she was of
a possible ratification, she said women in the U.S. Senate have often come
together as a bipartisan group to advance women’s issues, including in relation
to violence against women.
“We believe this is an
unprecedented opportunity to move forward on CEDAW and issues of women’s human
rights,” Zeitlin added.
A renewed campaign seeking
ratification of the treaty is being spearheaded by the Leadership Conference on
Civil and Human Rights and GlobalSolutions.org.
In a letter to senators last
week, the coalition said the record number of women senators will fuel momentum
for ratification of the U.N. treaty which declares that women’s rights are
human rights.
The landmark international
agreement, which affirms principles of fundamental human rights and equality
for women around the world, has the strong support of President Barack Obama.
U.N. Assistant
Secretary-General Lakshmi Puri, deputy executive director of U.N. Women, told
IPS that the
“U.N. Women looks forward to
continuing its strong partnership with the
As part of its mandate, Puri
pointed out, U.N. Women promotes and supports the implementation and reporting
on CEDAW, often described as an international bill of rights for women.
“The convention and its
monitoring committee have played a vital role in the quest for the elimination
of discrimination against women and the achievement of gender equality,” she
added.
U.N. Women hopes that more
countries will join the convention to get closer to the goal of universal
ratification and accelerate efforts to ensure the convention’s full
implementation, Puri added.
The U.N. General Assembly
adopted CEDAW back in 1979. The treaty consists of a preamble and 30 articles,
which according to the United Nations, “defines what constitutes discrimination
against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.”
And countries that have
ratified CEDAW are legally bound to put its provisions into practice.
In 1982, the General Assembly
also established a U.N. committee, composed of 23 experts on women’s issues
worldwide, to monitor progress in the implementation of the treaty and review
national reports.
In its letter, the NGO
coalition said that while in previous sessions of the U.S. Congress, the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee has held hearings on the treaty and has favourably
reported it out of committee with bipartisan support, CEDAW has never been
brought to the Senate floor for a vote.
The coalition said it seeks to
make ratification of CEDAW a priority for the United States Senate in the 113th
session of Congress.
“The record breaking number of
women who will serve in the 113th Congress lends significant momentum for the
The letter said 20 female
senators will either return to or take office in the Senate – “a truly historic
accomplishment”.
It says the treaty is also a
practical blueprint for each country to achieve progress for women and girls.
CEDAW is already making a
difference for women and girls worldwide, specifically by strengthening civil
society’s efforts to persuade governments to respect women’s human rights and
adopt policies to reduce sex trafficking and domestic violence; provide access
to education and vocational training; ensure the right to vote; end forced and
child marriages; secure inheritance rights; and ensure the right to work and
own a business without discrimination.
The letter also said
ratification of CEDAW would strengthen the
“It is essential that the
The
The approval of the treaty
requires two-thirds of the vote in the Senate: 67 out of 100 senators in a
legislative body which is still predominantly male. The Senate approves or
rejects a resolution of ratification.
According to Senate archives,
the U.S. Senate has approved more than 1,500 treaties and rejected only 21 over
the last 200 years.