Guidelines Prepared by IWRAW Asia Pacific

Based on the above, IWRAW Asia Pacific has also developed the following outline that States parties could use to write their reports to the CEDAW Committee.

The general guide is that the report must be written under each article and should surface the following. Is there:

• Equality of opportunity?
• Equality of access?
• Equality of results?

(1) Introduction: Land and its people. General socio-economic, legal, political and cultural context of the country

(2) Under each article provide the following information:

a) Identify the status of women or how the rights provided in that article are fulfilled or unfulfilled. This information should be provided on the basis of equality so statistical evidence should be provided disaggregated by sex and by rural/urban, sub-regions or categories of women (e.g. minority women, indigenous women etc.). What are the effects on women if the status is low or the rights are violated?

b) What are the contributory factors to the low status or violation of rights (if that is the case) - immediate, historical, systemic etc.?

c) What is the State actually doing to address the problem(s)? What are the gaps in State action in relation to the contributory factors identified in item (ii b)?

d) If the State is undertaking certain relevant actions, provide an analysis of existing State action with regard to:

• Effectiveness of what the State is doing - is there statistics or evidence of the scale or the way in which women benefit from these actions (law, policy programme or services)? Are the actions of the State monitored?
• If the analysis shows that the actions of the State are not effective, (indicators should be provided of the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of state action), what are the contributory factors?
  
  • Is there a policy on women that sets a common goal of equality and non-discrimination, agenda and principles for women's development nationally and across all sectors?
  • Are the actions appropriate to fulfil the policy goals of equality and non-discrimination?
  • Have the relevant actors been identified?
  • Is there an allocation of adequate resources?
  • Is there adequate data disaggregated by sex?
  • Are there laws or policies to mandate the action?
  • Are there institutional arrangements (in all relevant sectors) to facilitate the action? Include an analysis of the efficiency or effectiveness of State machinery meant to promote human rights in general and women's rights in particular (national machinery for women). How are the actions of the government being co-ordinated across all sectors?
  • Have time-frame targets been set and indicators of success identified?
  • Are relevant personnel being trained?
  • Is there a public awareness programme?
  • Is there a plan for support services if needed?
  • Is there a monitoring mechanism
  
  e) What actions is the State willing to undertake to fill the gap in items (ii c) and (ii d)? Since the State will be reviewed every four years, it is advisable to set priorities for action over the next four years.

(iii) What steps has the State taken to limit the effect of the reservations or to withdraw them?

(iv) What steps has the State taken to implement the Beijing Platform for Action?

(v) Has the State involved the NGOs in planning for any of the above? Does the government report mention specific commitments and institutional arrangements for implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action that includes accountability to NGOs?

(vi) The CEDAW Committee has produced General Recommendation 19 to establish the obligations of the State in relation to violence against women under relevant articles of the CEDAW Convention. This General Recommendation shows how the issue of violence against women is crosscutting and needs to be addressed under several articles. The report must therefore follow the guidance provided under this General Recommendation and report on the incidence and forms of violence against women, what the State has been doing to address this problem and with what levels of success.

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This page was last updated on July 25, 2003

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