INFORMATION SEMINAR "IMPLEMENTING THE CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN : THE ROLE OF PARLIAMENTS AND THEIR MEMBERS" Geneva, 20 October 2005
	Organised jointly by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women.

	The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is the most comprehensive international legal instrument addressing women's rights. It brings together in a single binding document provisions requiring the elimination of discrimination on the basis of sex, and in so doing is key to the promotion of gender equality. The implementation of the Convention is monitored by a United Nations treaty body, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which examines reports from States parties and issues concluding observations and recommendations for follow-up action. The seminar, which took place at the IPU Headquarters on Thursday, 20 October 2005, was organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in cooperation with the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (UNDAW). It primarily targeted members of parliaments of those States parties to the Convention whose reports were considered by the CEDAW Committee at its 32nd and 33rd sessions, held respectively in January and July 2005, and those whose reports would be reviewed in January 2006. Its aim was to identify opportunities for strengthening parliament's role both in the reporting process, including preparation and presentation of reports, and in follow-up to the Committee's concluding observations in regard to the reporting State. Various experts, including a member of the CEDAW Committee, a member of the Committee's Secretariat, and a member of parliament with experience in this field, facilitated this information seminar.

 

SESSION DOCUMENTS
	Programme [HTML] [PDF]
RELATED SITES AND DOCUMENTS
	The Convention
	United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women Web site
	Previous information seminar
Note: Documents in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader

PROGRAMME
8.45 - 9.30 a.m.	Registration
9.30 - 9.45 a.m.	Welcome
9.45 - 11 a.m.	Introducing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its Optional Protocol Why a Convention on discrimination against women? What does it add? Why an Optional Protocol to the Convention?
11 - 11.15 a.m.	Coffee break
11.15 a.m. - 12.30 p.m.	Implementing the Convention: the Role of Parliament Developing an adequate legislative and oversight framework Working with civil society and the media Other parliamentary mechanisms
12.30 - 2.30 p.m.	Lunch
2.30 - 3.45 p.m.	Keeping track of progress: the reporting process and follow-up The reporting mechanism of the Convention Follow up to the Committee's concluding comments
3.45 - 5 p.m.	Parliamentary involvement in the CEDAW reporting mechanism Ensuring timely reporting Input into the Government's report Follow-up to the report: implementing the Committee's concluding comments
5 - 5.30 p.m.	Conclusions and recommendations