Background
The Convention, adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for women.Consisting of a preamble and 30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.
The Convention defines discrimination against women as "any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political,economic, social, cultural, civil, or any other field.
The Convention is the only human rights treaty which affirms the reproductive rights of women and targets culture and tradition as influential forces shaping gender roles and family relations. It affirms women's rights to acquire, change or retain their nationality and the nationality of their children. States Parties also agree to take appropriate measures against all forms of traffic in women and explotation of women.
The Convention entered into force on 4 September 1981.
As of 2007, 185 States Parties have ratified the Convention.
During the United Nations Decade for Women, the Philippines signed the Convention on 17 July 1980 and ratified it on 19 July 1981. As a signatory to the Convention, the Philippines have been reporting regularly to the UN committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice.They are also committed to submit national reports, at least every four years, on measures they have taken to comply with their treaty obligations.
The Convention stipulated the following functions of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women:
To watch over the progress for women made in those countries that ratified the Convention; and
To monitor the implementation of national measures to fulfill these obligations.
The Philippines had two experts in the CEDAW - Ms. Teresita Quintos Deles and Chairperson Aurora Javate de Dios.
At present, DFA Undersecretary Rosario Gonzales Manalo sits as an expert in the said body.
What is the Optional Protocol?
The Optional Protocol was adopted on 6 October 1999. It is a 21-article document that calls on States Parties to recognize the competence of the CEDAW as the body that monitors their compliance with the Convention an receives and considers complaints from individuals or groups within its jurisdiction.
The Convention's Optional Protocol on the development of jurisprudence on women's human rights has two major provisions: the communications procedure and the inquiry procedure.
The communications procedure provides individuals and groups of women the right to complain straight to the CEDAW and at the same time, the inquiry procedure enable the CEDAW to conduct an inquiry into grave or systematic abuses of women's rights in member countries.