Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979): Article 21 and Article 22
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2018/08/07
Article 21
1. The Committee shall, through the Economic and Social Council, report annually to the General Assembly of the United Nations on its activities and may make suggestions and general recommendations based on the examination of reports and information received from the States Parties. Such suggestions and general recommendations shall be included in the report of the Committee together with comments, if any, from States Parties.
2. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall transmit the reports of the Committee to the Commission on the Status of Women for its information.
Article 22
The specialized agencies shall be entitled to be represented at the consideration of the implementation of such provisions of the present Convention as fall within the scope of their activities. The Committee may invite the specialized agencies to submit reports on the implementation of the Convention in areas falling within the scope of their activities.
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979)
The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979), the CEDAW, or the Convention speaks to the equality of the sexes or, more properly, the equality of women with men. In Articles 21 and 22, we look into the reports and agencies aspects of the Convention’s stipulations.
In particular, Article 21 speaks to the report to the General Assembly of the United Nations through the Economic and Social Council. The main part of the United Nations is the General Assembly. The report through the economic and social council organ also makes sense, almost as if a preliminary deliberation.
When you have a boss, and if they need some updates on the activities of the relevant sector of the job under your control, you will, typically, have to send them a formal report on the progress towards some previously specified targeted objectives.
Those targeted objectives become the basis for a metric with the reality. If the reality is far from the targeted objectives well into the programs of action, then the boss has reason to question the efficacy of the individual working on the project, or in charge of the managerial and administrative aspects of the work.
Within the report, the Committee of the CEDAW can then also make suggestions and general recommendations about the proper pathways for the individuals and, in particular, the nations or the “States Parties” to take for the improved functioning of their nation regarding the implementation of, and alignment with, the ideals of the Convention.
Now, the Convention’s Committee examines the reports sent to it. Those reports come from the nations bound to the statements and stipulations of the Convention. As part of the proper procedure, the reports must be sent into the Committee in a periodic, regular manner for the deliberation by the Committee.
These then get sent to the General Assembly through the Economic and Social Council. From these examinations, the status is given plus the recommendations. (You see the process.) The reports will be included will come from the reports sent from the nations or the “State Parties” as well as the additional commentary in the singular report of the Committee to the General Assembly.
These are then given to the Commission on the Status of Women for further information through the Secretary-General of the United Nations. An important figurehead on the international stage. Now, that is Article 21 – straightforward statements on the process.
Article 22 speaks to the entitlements. In North American culture, there is a public relations effort to demonize the idea of entitlements, but the idea of being entitled to something comes within a different contextualization in much of the rest of the world.
The specialized agencies – a general statement of the agencies – can be represented in the implementations of the provisions. The “present Convention” is an interesting phrase. Injecting a personal opinion, I suppose this implies prior to the next set of edits on the Convention.
The only limitation on the entitlement is the relevance of their domain of activities to the provisions of the present Convention. Then the Committee can then invite the specialized agencies to give their own reports about the proper implementation of the Convention, again within their area of operation.
All this speaks to the general openness, transparency, and generalized but limited to relevance contributions of interested parties including specialized agencies and others. It continues along a line of high ideals and standards for the furtherance of equality of the sexes.
–One can find similar statements in other documents, conventions, declarations and so on, with the subsequent statements of equality or women’s rights:
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the Preamble, Article 16, and Article 25(2).
- Convention Against Discrimination in Education (1960) in Article 1.
- The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) in Article 3 and Article 13.
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966).
- Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979).
- Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984).
- The Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (1993).
- Beijing Declaration(1995).
- United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000).
- Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (2000).
- The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa or the “Maputo Protocol” (2003).
- Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence or the Istanbul Convention (2011) Article 38 and Article 39.
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