NGO Committee on the Status of Women

ICJW is actively involved in the NGO Committee on the Status of Women at the United Nations in New York, a Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. 

The NGO Committee on the Status of Women in New York supports the work of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

The Committee represents approximately 80 NGO organizations that monitor and actively participate at the daily UN events in New York, including ICJW. By playing an active role in the UN community, they advocate for gender architecture reform at the UN, women’s rights and the advancement of women and girls worldwide. In its work with the NGO Committees on the Status of Women in Geneva and Vienna, the NGO CSW, NY supports the Beijing Platform for Action, UN Security Resolution 1325, the Millennium Development Goals, and CEDAW.

Every year, the Committee organizes the NGO Consultation Day in preparation for the UN Commission on the Status of Women sessions that take place in February/March. By bringing together activists from around the world for two weeks at the United Nations, the NGO CSW, NY is effective in networking, sharing strategies and best practices, lobbying governments encouraging them to implement resolutions, treaties they have signed and to allocate necessary resources. The NGO CSW, NY brings NGO representatives together to caucus, issue joint statements and provide wording for the Agreed Conclusions of the annual United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

The Committee also organizes CEDAW sessions, an annual Luncheon to honor Women Ambassadors to the UN, and runs an internship program to help with the above activities.

WHAT IS CEDAW?

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is the international agreement adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly. It consists of a preamble and 30 articles, defining what constitutes discrimination against women and setting up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination. As such, CEDAW is often described as an international bill of rights for women.
By accepting the Convention, countries commit themselves to undertake a series of measures to end discrimination against women in all forms, including: to incorporate the principle of equality of men and women in their legal system, abolish all discriminatory laws and adopt appropriate ones prohibiting discrimination against women; to establish tribunals and other public institutions to ensure the effective protection of women against discrimination; and to ensure elimination of all acts of discrimination against women by persons, organizations or enterprises.
Countries that have ratified or acceded to the Convention are legally bound to put its provisions into practice. They are also committed to submit national reports on measures they have taken to comply with their treaty obligations.