PUCL Bulletin, Nov., 2000
UNITED NATIONS
CEDAW
26 September 2000
NEW YORK, 25 September. With the ratification by Italy on 22 September, the
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women has been ratified by 10 countries. It will enter into force on
22 December.
States which ratify the Optional Protocol recognize the competence of the Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to consider petitions from
individual women or groups of women who have exhausted all national remedies.
The Optional Protocol also entitles the Committee to conduct inquiries into
grave or systematic violations of the Convention. The Committee is the body
established under the Convention to monitor its implementation.
On 6 October 1999, in a landmark decision for women, the United Nations General
Assembly, acting without a vote, adopted the 21-article Optional Protocol to
the Convention, and called on all States parties to the Convention to become
party to the new instrument as soon as possible. The Protocol, which was opened
for signature, ratification and accession on 10 December 1999, includes an "opt-out
clause", allowing States upon ratification or accession to declare that
they do not accept the inquiry procedure. Article 17 of the Protocol explicitly
provides that no reservations may be entered to its terms. Only States parties
to the Convention may accept the Optional Protocol. With the ratification of
Saudi Arabia on 7 September, the Convention has 166 States parties.
During the Millennium Summit of the United Nations (New York, 6-8 September),
ratifications to the Optional Protocol were received from Austria, Bangladesh,
Ireland and New Zealand. Other States parties to the Protocol are Denmark, France,
Namibia,
Senegal and Thailand. There are a total of 62 signatories to the Optional Protocol.
The ratification of the Optional Protocol, and its entering into force on 22
December, represent further milestones on the road towards the achievement for
all women of their fundamental human rights and freedoms. It is also a recognition
of the universality of human rights.