The
Global Campaign on the Optional Protocol to CEDAW
Phase II
(1999-2001)
Following
our participation in the drafting and negotiation processes leading
to the adoption of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW (OP-CEDAW) in
1999, IWRAW Asia Pacific launched a global campaign called "Our
Rights Are Not Optional!" in June 2002. The campaign seeks
to develop strategies that will encourage States parties to ratify
this Optional Protocol, particularly those who have already ratified
the CEDAW Convention. It also seeks to promote and build the capacity
of women's groups to effectively use and access the OP-CEDAW.
In so doing, this will:
-
Promote
awareness of the standards set in the CEDAW Convention and other
international human rights treaties;
-
Build
the capacity of women's groups to use international human rights
instruments to strengthen legal initiatives and advocacy at
the local and national level;
-
Contribute
to the progressive interpretation of discrimination standards
at the global level; and
-
Establish
a pool of resources and experts who will provide technical assistance
and transfer relevant skills to women in every region.
Key in this
process is the creation of a network of national campaigns linked
by regional focal points and serviced by the campaign Secretariat
i.e. IWRAW Asia Pacific. An international Steering
Committee has also been set-up to give direction to this project.
Phase III
(2002-2005)
In 2003, the
Steering Committee of the global campaign for the ratification
and use of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW will meet to discuss
latest developments in this field, and plan activities accordingly.
A regional consultation for Africa is also scheduled to take place
in August of the same year. This will aim at building the capacity
of national campaign coordinators to secure ratification of the
OP-CEDAW in their respective countries, and enhance their activism
around using this treaty.
This
page was last updated on July 25, 2003
IWRAW
Asia Pacific is an independent, non-profit, NGO in Special consultative
status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
©IWRAW Asia Pacific
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