11 March 2024
Welcome to the eighth session of the course on International Human Rights. Today we are going to look at how women's rights set out in the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimiination against Women are formally addressed, by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). It is one of the largest human rights committees, with 23 members each serving a four-year term. It meets three times a year and its last session of 2022 from October 10-28 has already taken place but the session report is not yet issued, only the summary records of the last meeting.
The Convention has one of the highest ratifications of any human rights convention (other than the Rights of the Child), with 189 States Parties. The coalition of the unwilling includes Iran, Sudan, Palau (signatory), Somalia, Niue, Tonga, the Holy See and the United States (signatory). The Convention was adopted by the General Assembly in 1979 (after a movement begun at the 1975 First World Conference on Women. It entered into force in 1981. The rationale for the Convention was not that women lacked equal rights since, under the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration, they have them. The problem was that they did not enjoy their rights and enjoyment required States to take steps to ensure equality. The Convention sets out what States should do, as was known in 1979. It was not complete.
One of the issues that has become important in advancement of women is the issue of violence against women. This issue emerged slowly in international fora and, strangely, was not included in the text of the Convention. There was a subsequent process, mostly in the Commission on the Status of Women, to raise the issue. This is described in Chapter 8 of the Long March to Beijing, found in the course blackboard. The Committee adopted General Recommendation 12: Violence against women in 1989, but the text was fairly general. Following a process from 1987-1993 in the Commission on the Status of Women that led to the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women adopted by the General Assembly in 1993. Taking the draft Declaration into account in 1992, the Committee adopted its Gemeral Recommendation No. 19 on gender-based violance agaisnt women. In 2017, it updated the general recommendation by adopting No. 35 on gender-based violence against women. In addition, a Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women was appointed in 1994 and the mandate was extended by the Commission on Human Rights in 2004.
In 1999, in order to permit individuals to send communications to the Committee, an Optional Protocol to the Convention was adopted. It entered into force in 2000 and currently has 114 Parties (not including either China or the United States).
As stated on its website, The Committee is composed of 23 independent experts.
On the site, States parties were informed that the regular scheduled elections to replace those 12 members of the Committee whose terms expire on 31 December 2026 were held at a States parties meeting that took place in New York in 2023. The current membership of the Committee is:
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In geographical distribution terms this means:
The Committee normally holds three sessions a year and has the possibility of special sessions. Normally they are at either UN Headquarters in New York or the UN Office at Geneva. The Committee has a Secretariat covered by rules 21-236 of the Committee's Rules of Procedure.
Duties of the Secretary-General
V. SECRETARIAT
Rule 21
1. At the request or by decision of the Committee and approval by the General Assembly:
(a) The secretariat of the Committee and of such subsidiary bodies established by the Committee (“the Secretariat”) shall be provided by the Secretary-General;
(b) The Secretary-General shall provide the Committee with the necessary staff and facilities for the effective performance of its functions under the Convention;
(c) The Secretary-General shall be responsible for all necessary arrangements for meetings of the Committee and its subsidiary bodies.
2. The Secretary-General shall be responsible for informing the members of the Committee without delay of any questions that may be brought before it for consideration or of any other developments that may be of relevance to the Committee.
Statements
Rule 22
The Secretary-General or her or his representative shall be present at all meetings of the Committee and may make oral or written statements at such meetings or at meetings of its subsidiary bodies.
Financial implications
Rule 23
Before any proposal that involves expenditure is approved by the Committee or by any of its subsidiary bodies, the Secretary-General shall prepare and circulate to the members of the Committee or subsidiary body as early as possible, an estimate of the cost involved in the proposal. It shall be the duty of the Chairperson to draw the attention of members to this estimate and to invite discussion on it when the proposal is considered by the Committee or subsidiary body.
Like other Committees, CEDAW makes provision for information from NGOs. The list of those who have participated is shown in the website and includes:
IDA
Inter-Parliamentary Union
International Women's Rights Action Watch (Asia Pacific)
International Women's Rights Action Watch
Women's United Nations Report Network (WUNRN)
Musawah
Optional Protocol to CEDAW
ESCR-Net