CEDAW Links & Resources

LINKS:

Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights in Geneva: The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) works to offer the best expertise and support to the different human rights monitoring mechanisms in the United Nations system : UN Charter-based bodies, including the Human Rights Council, and bodies created under the international human rights treaties and made up of independent experts mandated to monitor State parties’ compliance with their treaty obligations. Most of these bodies receive secretariat support from the Human Rights Council and Treaties Division of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). As of 1 January 2008, responsibility for servicing the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has been transferred from the Division for Advancement of Women (DAW) to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva (OHCHR).

Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women:  OSAGI‘s main objective is to promote and strengthen the effective implementation of the Millennium Declaration, the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women (FWCW) and the Outcome Document of the special session of the General Assembly on Beijing+5. The Special Adviser advises the Secretary-General on integrating gender issues into the policy of the United Nations, drawing attention to issues of particular concern to women globally.

Inter-Agency network on Women and Gender equality: IANWGE is a network of Gender Focal Points in United Nations offices, specialized agencies, funds and programmes.

Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for the Advancement of Women: (DAW) DAW advocates for the improvement of the status of women and the achievement of their equality with men. It substantively services a functional Commission of ECOSOC, the Commission on the Status of Women, and a treaty body, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. DAW is responsible for preparing reports to the CSW, ECOSOC and the GA on gender mainstreaming and on follow up to the Fourth World Conference on Women.

RESOURCES:

“CEDAW: Designed to be used”, by Jane Esuantsiwa Goldsmith-27 January 2010.

CEDAW is not just a wish list from which politicians in the UK can ‘pick-n-mix’ when drawing up their shopping lists of “things to do about women”. Jane Esuantsiwa Goldsmith argues that in the run up to the general election it is an instrument we can use to call our politicians to account.

CEDAW… sounds like a piece of apparatus you might find in a children’s playground! I’ll agree the acronym is not exactly catchy, it’s a marketing challenge; most people in the UK haven’t heard of it, even in the human rights field. But that doesn’t excuse UK politicians from embracing the principles of CEDAW and recognising it as the foremost human rights instrument for women in the world. To read the full article, click here.

• A CD-Rom issued by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women provides easy access to 25 years of work of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The CD-ROM provides the full text of all concluding comments issued by the Committee since its first session, organized alphabetically by country and in chronological order. To view the sections and documents contained on this CD-Rom, click here.