Ministry of Women Development (MoWD) will submit its fourth report of Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to the United Nation in April this year. Abdul Majeed, Senior Secretary MoWD, told APP that the draft of CEDAW fourth periodic report will be finalised soon.
The meetings with all the stakeholders are being arranged by the ministry to prepare a thorough report addressing all the areas of women concerns. He said that ministry submitted its combined initial, second and third report in year 2005 and a committee comprising high officials of the ministry appeared before the UN CEDAW Experts Committee in May 2007.
Besides expressing a number of concerns, the committee appreciated positive steps taken to improve the situation of women in its concluding remarks.
At first, the report will be submitted to the cabinet for approval and then it will be sent to Parliament by the end of March, he informed. The convention of Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women was adopted by UN General Assembly could be described as an international bill of rights for Women.
CEDAW is one of the most highly ratified international human rights conventions, having the support of more than hundred state parties and reflects the normative standards applicable to women's human rights.
The state parties of the convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice and also committed to submit national reports, at least every four years, on measures they have taken to comply with their treaty obligations. By accepting the Convention, the states commit themselves to undertake a series of measures to abolish all discriminatory laws and incorporate the principle of equality of men and women in their legal system. The Convention is the only human rights treaty which affirms the reproductive rights of women and targets culture and tradition as influential forces shaping gender roles and family relations.