What
is the Optional Protocol to the CEDAW Convention (OP-CEDAW)?
It is a human
rights treaty that complements the CEDAW Convention.
The human
rights guarantees established by the CEDAW
Convention are far-reaching. This treaty seeks to:
-
Eliminate
discrimination against women in the exercise of their economic,
social and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights
-
Eliminate
discrimination against women in public and private or family
life; and
-
Sanction
discrimination perpetrated by both government officials and
non-governmental individuals, groups or enterprises.
However, the
gap between the promise of the CEDAW Convention and the reality
of women's lives remains significant. Despite the challenges ahead,
the OP-CEDAW goes a long way towards bridging this gap.
The OP-CEDAW
creates access to justice for women at the international level.
In itself, this treaty does not create new substantive rights.
What it does is allow women who have been denied access to their
rights as enshrined in the CEDAW Convention at the national level
to have their claims reviewed by a committee
of independent experts that monitors compliance with the CEDAW
Convention.
The OP-CEDAW constitutes a separate treaty and must be independently ratified or acceded to by governments that are already CEDAW Convention States parties. As of
23 October 2006, there are 83 OP-CEDAW States parties . This means that out of the 185 States parties to the CEDAW Convention, 102 are not bound by the OP-CEDAW.
It is a human
rights treaty that establishes two additional procedures aimed
at addressing violations of women's rights.
The OP-CEDAW
provides a mechanism through which the rights contained in the
CEDAW Convention can be interpreted and applied. It establishes:
-
A
Communications Procedure through which the CEDAW Committee
can review complaints to decide if rights guaranteed by the
CEDAW Convention have been violated and identify remedies for
victims; and
-
An
Inquiry Procedure through which the CEDAW Committee can
launch an inquiry into grave or systematic violations on its
own initiative.
Both the communications
and inquiry procedures allow the CEDAW Committee to issue its
views and recommendations for addressing women's human rights
violations in particular contexts/situations as means to further
promote the implementation of the CEDAW Convention at the national
level. However, it is important to note that from the moment the
CEDAW Committee receives a communication or initiates an inquiry,
it works within a set of rigid Rules of Procedure
.
| Important
facts about the OP-CEDAW
- The
OP-CEDAW does not create new substantive rights. It creates
procedures for addressing and redressing violations of
rights established in the CEDAW Convention. The CEDAW
Convention and the OP-CEDAW act as a pair.
- The
OP-CEDAW is a separate treaty. Only States parties to
the CEDAW Convention can become States parties to the
OP-CEDAW. A State has to ratify or acceed to the OP-CEDAW
in order to become bound by it.
- The
OP-CEDAW is an optional undertaking. States parties to
the CEDAW Convention are not obliged to ratify or acceed
to the OP-CEDAW. They can, however, be encouraged to do
so by civil society or NGO campaigns for ratification.
- The
Communications Procedure and Inquiry Procedure are not
mutually exclusive. Nothing prevents the submission of
an individual communication based on the same circumstances
that have triggered an inquiry.
|
This
page was last updated on December 4, 2006
“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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