What
You Can Do If You Are A Parliamentarian
As legislators,
overseers of government action, political leaders and representatives
of the people, parliamentarians have a role to play to ensure
ratification or accession of the Optional Protocol to the CEDAW
Convention (OP-CEDAW).
1. Ratification
of the OP-CEDAW
If your State
has not yet taken any steps to ratify or accede to the OP-CEDAW,
even though it may have signed it, you can consider:
-
Determining
whether the government intends to initiate action to become
party to this treaty, and, if not, to inquire as to why;
-
Taking
action, including in the form of an oral or a written question,
to ascertain whether the government has already initiated action
with a view to ratification or accession, or is intending to
do so;
-
Submitting
a private member's bill on the matter;
-
Encouraging
a parliamentary debate on the OP-CEDAW; and
-
Mobilising
public opinion.
2. The
"Opt-Out" Clause
As previously
indicated, according to article 17 of the OP-CEDAW, no reservations
can be entered. However, this protocol entitles States parties
to "opt-out" (article 10) of the Inquiry Procedure on
ratification or accession.
Pre-ratification:
If your government has sent your Parliament a request for ratification
or accession of the OP-CEDAW subject to a declaration to "opt-out"
of the Inquiry Procedure, you can:
-
Request
for detailed information on the reasons;
-
Initiate
a parliamentary debate on the question;
-
Mobilise
public opinion to encourage your government to reconsider;
-
Propose
ratification or accession without "opting-out" of
the procedure.
Post ratification:
If your State "opted-out" of the Inquiry Procedure at
the time of ratifying or acceding to the OP-CEDAW, you can:
-
Inquire
about the continued validity of this position;
-
Use
parliamentary procedures to challenge it;
-
Use
parliamentary procedures to encourage the government to reconsider
its position.
3. Public
awareness about the OP-CEDAW
Public awareness
about the OP-CEDAW is crucial to secure full implementation of
the CEDAW Convention. As a parliamentarian you should ensure that
information on the OP-CEDAW is widely publicised by:
-
Ensuring
that the text of the OP-CEDAW is translated into national language(s)
and widely distributed;
-
Encouraging
parliamentary debate on the matter;
-
Organising
campaigns to mobilise public opinion on the OP-CEDAW or taking
part in public debates about this treaty, on television, radio
or in meetings;
-
Writing
articles for newspapers, magazines and other print media on
the OP-CEDAW;
-
Liaising
with NGOs working on human rights, particularly women's rights;
-
Organising/contributing
to workshops or information seminars on the OP-CEDAW for MPs,
members of government and civil society;
-
Using
International Women's Day, 8 March, to focus attention on the
CEDAW Convention and the OP-CEDAW.
Source: Confronting Discrimination: The Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and its Optional
Protocol. A Handbook for Parliamentarians (UN, 2003) pp 84-85.
This
page was last updated on November 1, 2003
“IWRAW
Asia Pacific is an independent, non-profit, NGO in Special consultative
status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.”
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