The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women began its twenty-sixth session today at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The committee monitors the realization of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). To date, 168 countries, not including the U.S., have ratified CEDAW and are legally bound to implement its directives. Each country must also submit a report to the committee on their progress in implementing CEDAW. At this session, the committee will review the reports of Fiji, Estonia, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Iceland, Sri Lanka, Portugal, and the Russian Federation.
Passed by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 18, 1979, CEDAW is the first treaty to address women’s rights within political, cultural, economic, social, and family life. This convention, which guarantees women equal rights to work, pay, benefits and safe working conditions free from sexual harassment, also prohibits discrimination against women in political activities and requires a minimum age for marriage. The United States remains the only industrialized democracy in the world that has not signed onto the treaty.
TAKE ACTION! Urge the U.S. government to ratify CEDAW.