For 30
years the Committee on the Elimination
of Discrimination against Women, comprised of 23 experts, has reviewed reports
in consultation with governments and civil society to improve the lives of
women and girls.  As Silvia Pimentel
states, “Thanks to the work of the Committee and other stakeholders, not least
the States parties themselves as well as non governmental organizations,
progress has been achieved in many countries.
Improvements in laws, policies and programmes have transformed the lives
of many women and girls throughout the world.”

In this reporting period,
July/August 2012 in New York City,
the CEDAW committee reviewed the reports of seven countries, six of which have
Soroptimist International members. These
are Indonesia, Bulgaria, Jamaica,
Mexico, New Zealand and Samoa.  Below is a brief summary of the reports and
findings for each Soroptimist country.

 

Reporting for Jamaica was Ms. Barbara Evelyn Bailey,
a former Soroptimist and CEDAW expert.  Women hold 56% of the Permanent Secretaries in
the government and there are 25 women Senators in the lower house.  The government acknowledges a high level of
violence against women and is requesting a visit from the Special Rapporteur on
Violence against Women visit. 

Ms. Linda Amalia Sari, Minister
of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection of Indonesia presented the report as head of her state
delegation of 27 persons. A number of
domestic laws have passed to safeguard women’s rights since
their last report in 2007. These new laws protect victims of trafficking,
racial and ethnic discrimination and guarantee access to basic health care and the government is considering a bill on Gender
Equality. Indonesia is the current chair of
the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) committee on women. The CEDAW experts expressed concern with the
lack of concrete changes since the last report regarding the man as “head of
household”, allowing child marriage and polygamy and the archaic practice of
stoning and and caning.  Also, the government  directive that “medicalised” the practice of
FGM (female genital mutilation) was considered disappointing by the experts and
they emphasized that FGM could not be
accepted as a “traditional” practice but should be criminalised. CEDAW 
will not accept any traditional
practice which violates the human rights
of women and girls.

Ms. Gidlow,
Associate Minister for Women,  and
Ambassador Elisais presented the report for Samoa. The government stated that Samoa
has made significant efforts to bring CEDAW into the laws and policy
framework and protect women’s rights. Ten per cent of the Parliament members are
women. When independence was  given to Samoa
50 years ago, the constitution required families to protect women, however, it
also prevented women from inheriting land or rising in social status outside
the system where the male member dominates all social life. NGOs are committed to the implementation of
the CEDAW and the CRC (Convention on Civil Rights), however this will be
difficult as long as the present Matai/Chiefly System (male dominated)  is part of the constitution and prevents human rights for women and girls.

Governments and NGOs have
established strong implementation of CEDAW in New Zealand.  Education is a high priority and by 2016, it is
planned that 98% of all children will complete school.  Health issues have also been addressed by
cancer screenings and a network of maternity clinics.  Violence against Women is a top
priority.  By most
standards, however, New
Zealand is very supportive of women’s
rights. 

In nearly 18 different NGO reports
on Mexico,
the serious problems of violence  and
crime were repeated.  Many women have
disappeared, been kidnapped or killed as
well as raped as they are sent into domestic work or sex work with no
access to the law.  It has been estimated
by one NGO report that Mexico
is the worst offender of human rights in all of Latin
America and the second worst in the world.  The government reports that they are trying
solve many problems but that the different levels of federal and independent
legal systems conflict and are totally dysfunctional.  In addition, women have little knowledge of
their legal rights.  Unfortunately,
although Mexico
has signed CEDAW, the implementation has not been carried out.

The state report for Bulgaria indicated that CEDAW was translated and available to all ministries of the
government and was also available to NGOs to follow up on implementation.  Ambassador Tafrov gave the state report and
cited a special criminal court that is charged with combating trafficking and
crimes against women.  There appears to
be extensive participation of women in political life with 22% women in
parliament, and gender mainstreaming in all areas of government.  The NGO report however, cites discrimination
of the Roma in Bulgaria,
especially Roma women, who are generally responsible for home and raising
income for the family.  Roma women suffer
from general discrimination in housing and health and   the Roma children suffer serious
disadvantages in education.

In addition to the country reviews,
a statement of CEDAW  was announced  for a gender perspective to be included in the
Arms Trade Treaty.  The Committee urges
that language be introduced to prevent gender-based violence against women,
including rape and other forms of sexual violence through the control of arms
and restrictions on international transfers. 
The Committee urges that the primary purpose of the ATT is the
prevention of human suffering especially among women and children.  Actions must focus on prevention of conflict
and all forms of violence which includes the regulation of the arms trade.

Above
are just a few achievements of CEDAW over the last 30 years. For more
information please click here.