Other initiatives on the OP-CEDAW

Some examples of efforts by NGOs and institutions from around the globe on the OP-CEDAW are:

• An African NGO called Rainbow, has prepared a brochure on CEDAW and HIV/AIDS and included recommendations on the potential uses of the OP-CEDAW in advocacy;
  
  
• In Australia, South Africa and other countries, local women’s groups have engaged in postcard campaigns on the ratification of the OP-CEDAW;
  
  
• In Eastern Europe, women’s groups have successfully lobbied for the ratification of the OP-CEDAW and now are exploring strategies for the effective use of the OP-CEDAW procedures;
  
  
• The Inter-American Institute on Human Rights has developed resources on the OP-CEDAW and recently coordinated an e-mail exchange with NGOs from Latin America and the Caribbean on lessons learnt from the OP-CEDAW ratification process;
  
  
• The Inter-Parliamentary Union and the UN Division for the Advancement of Women worked jointly to prepare Confronting Discrimination: A Handbook for Parliamentarians on the CEDAW Convention and its Optional Protocol (2003);
  
  
• Equality Now! organised a consultation on potential communications and inquiries under the OP-CEDAW and has continued to carry out efforts in this regard;
  
  
• WEDO in collaboration with the NYU International Human Rights Clinic carried out some research in ways to use the communications procedure to promote quotas for women in decision making;
  
  
• In addition, Minority Rights Group, INTERIGHTS and the Centre of Reproductive Rights are encouraging their partners to use the OP-CEDAW.

For online resources related to the OP-CEDAW, click here.