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The Administration of the OP-CEDAW

With the adoption of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW (OP-CEDAW) in December 2000, the CEDAW Committee has the power to receive complaints by women or on behalf of groups of women, through the Communications Procedure. The OP-CEDAW also gives the CEDAW Committee the power to launch an inquiry into grave and systematic violations of women's human rights on its own initiative.

The administration of the Communications Procedure and the Inquiry Procedure is the responsibility of the CEDAW Committee and its Secretariat (the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, OHCHR). To carry out its quasi-judicial role in relation to the effective consideration of communications and inquiries, designated members of OHCHR and the CEDAW Committee may be assigned tasks by this expert body.

In all instances, the proper administration of the OP-CEDAW is ensured by a system of regular reporting between OHCHR and designated members of the CEDAW Committee. Moreover, the Committee has adopted a detailed set of official guidelines "Rules of Procedure" on the administration of communications and inquiries under the OP-CEDAW.