Source: WUNRN List

The CEDAW Convention provides a positive legal framework for women's rights but it will not automatically confer rights on women. What it does is that it legitimizes women's claims for rights and women can be transformed from being passive beneficiaries to active claimants. It creates the space for women's agency.

The CEDAW Convention is largely dependent on the political will of governments. This political will can be created through a strong and highly conscious constituency, not only among women and women's groups but within government bureaucracy as well. The urgent need is to raise awareness and develop skills at various levels in relation to the CEDAW Convention among women, government functionaries, lawyers and members of the judicial system. At the ground level, advocacy for the application of the norms of the CEDAW Convention has to be linked to the international mandate of equality and non-discrimination.

CLICK FIRST ON WEBSITE LINK: http://www.iwraw-ap.org/cedaw/using-cedaw/for-ngos/ - AND THEN CLICK ON ITEMS BELOW OF CHOICE.

What NGOs Can Do

By Working with Governments on the Implementation of CEDAW

By Writing a Shadow or Alternative Report

By Being Involved in the Formulation of General Recommendations

By Voting for the Composition of the CEDAW Committee