United Nations CEDAW Program
© Moira Richards
The United Nations Secretariat consists of the people who do the work of the UN, and it is headed by the Secretary-General. This secretariat is divided into various departments, one of which is the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) - a part of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
DAW policy is grounded in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and its follow-ups, and also in the CEDAW Convention. DAW must work to help women the world over, to achieve equal status with men. It assists the CSW and the CEDAW Committee with their work.
CEDAW was adopted by the United Nations in 1979. Its full name is The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and it is basically an international bill of rights for women that member countries of the UN are encouraged to sign.
The Convention defines what discrimination against women is, and it addresses in detail, many of the ways that it is practiced. It also lays down an agenda that countries can follow to make sure that this kind of discrimination is stopped.
When a country signs the CEDAW Convention, it becomes legally bound to put all its provisions into practice: - it must make sure that discriminatory practices are stopped - it must abolish all discriminatory laws - it must ensure that women have equal access to, and opportunities in, all aspects of political life, business, education. Every signatory country must submit regular reports about what it is doing to comply with its obligations.
As of May 2001 there were 168 countries that had signed the CEDAW Convention. The Beijing Platform for Action is a plan that was drafted in 1995 to remedy the abuse of women and to also remove obstacles to women's equal participation in all spheres of life. It is founded on the conviction that women should share with men, equal power in the home and in the public sphere, as well as equal responsibility in the home and in public arenas.
This Platform for Action entrenches firmly the human rights of women, it accepts that men and women need to work together to achieve equality for women, it realises that full human rights are more difficult to achieve for some women than for others - because of cultural and economic factors.
DAW policy is grounded in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and its follow-ups, and also in the CEDAW Convention. DAW must work to help women the world over, to achieve equal status with men. It assists the CSW and the CEDAW Committee with their work.
CEDAW was adopted by the United Nations in 1979. Its full name is The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and it is basically an international bill of rights for women that member countries of the UN are encouraged to sign.
The Convention defines what discrimination against women is, and it addresses in detail, many of the ways that it is practiced. It also lays down an agenda that countries can follow to make sure that this kind of discrimination is stopped.
When a country signs the CEDAW Convention, it becomes legally bound to put all its provisions into practice: - it must make sure that discriminatory practices are stopped - it must abolish all discriminatory laws - it must ensure that women have equal access to, and opportunities in, all aspects of political life, business, education. Every signatory country must submit regular reports about what it is doing to comply with its obligations.
As of May 2001 there were 168 countries that had signed the CEDAW Convention. The Beijing Platform for Action is a plan that was drafted in 1995 to remedy the abuse of women and to also remove obstacles to women's equal participation in all spheres of life. It is founded on the conviction that women should share with men, equal power in the home and in the public sphere, as well as equal responsibility in the home and in public arenas.
This Platform for Action entrenches firmly the human rights of women, it accepts that men and women need to work together to achieve equality for women, it realises that full human rights are more difficult to achieve for some women than for others - because of cultural and economic factors.
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The copyright of the article United Nations CEDAW Program in Abuse Against Women is owned by Moira Richards. Permission to republish United Nations CEDAW Program in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
