UN Women Takes Action Worldwide

Globally

UN Women works across all regions to support the implementation of women’s human rights standards, in particular the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). This has included sub-regional programming to support country-level implementation of the Convention, as well as technical assistance to governments, women’s NGOs and UN country teams to engage in the CEDAW reporting process.

Africa

UN Women worked with women across the region to ensure that the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, ratified in 2005, reflected CEDAW’s standards. UN Women also supported the International Association of Women Judges to provide training for judges and work toward the domestication of CEDAW.

In Sierra Leone, UN Women worked with partners to bring the country’s laws in line with the Convention, resulting in the passing of three bills on women’s rights in 2007, including legislation on domestic violence, marriage and inheritance. Following CEDAW workshops in Cameroon, participating lawyers are now citing the Convention in court.

Arab States

After supporting women’s organizations in successfully advocating for significant reforms of the Family Code in Morocco, UN Women continues to provide assistance to strengthen the capacity of the family courts to ensure that full understanding and application of the Code will realize women’s human rights and help combat gender-based violence.

When an Egyptian woman faces gender-based discrimination, be it sexual harassment in the workplace or violence at home, she can now bring her complaint to the National Women’s Complaints Office. There, a network of pro bono lawyers, trained by UN Women on women’s human rights, offers assistance in preparing and filing her case.

Asia and the Pacific

UN Women has been carrying out a CEDAW programme in Southeast Asia since 2004, facilitating the implementation of the Convention to advance women’s rights. The CEDAW Southeast Asia Programme (CEDAW SEAP) has focused on seven countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, The Philippines, Thailand, Viet Nam and Timor-Leste. For instance, judicial staff at Thailand’s Thonburi Criminal Court was trained in partnership with the National Human Rights Commission. The training has led to an increased commitment to enforce the Domestic Violence Act in the court and the adoption of gender-sensitive procedural guidelines for the judiciary. Similar initiatives in other programme countries have likewise resulted in an increase in judicial decisions that pay attention to women’s rights.

In Viet Nam, the Convention’s principles were mainstreamed into a Gender Equality Law in 2006. UN Women supported key partners in the women’s movement to ensure that the 2007 Thai constitution included gender equality obligations in line with CEDAW.

Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS

UN Women has worked with partners towards gender-sensitizing national policies in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, resulting in the inclusion of women’s rights priorities in national development strategy papers in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova. Extensive work is also being done in the region to secure women’s right to land.

In Kyrgyzstan, UN Women supports legal advisory centres in all seven provinces, where local organizations have provided assistance and legal representation to thousands of women. In a two-pronged approach, UN Women also provides training for traditional courts on taking women’s rights into account when resolving property and inheritance disputes.

Latin America and the Caribbean

In Mexico, UN Women has initiated a process for promoting legal reform according to CEDAW standards. With technical assistance from UN Women, legislation was passed in 2007 on women’s right to a life free from violence. The process of legal harmonization initiated in Mexico is intended to be replicated in other countries in Central America. UN Women has also supported the calculation and publication of the Latin American Index of Fulfilled Commitment, a study of the implementation of national commitments to gender equality in 18 countries of the region, which gives women’s groups a baseline for advocacy.

When the Government of Haiti started to prepare the submission of its first report to the CEDAW Committee, a quarter-century after signing the Convention, UNFEM provided the Ministry of Gender with technical assistance. Based on lessons learned from other countries, UN Women organized a CEDAW Mock Session with the Ministry of Gender delegation, to prepare it for presenting its report to the CEDAW Committee, resulting in improved understanding of the Convention and a greater sense of national ownership.