Samaneh Shabani
Women’s Rights Officer
Contact: s.shabani@edf-feph.org
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is an international human rights treaty that protects the rights of all women. It obliges 189 countries that ratified it to take actions to combat discrimination against women. It was ratified by all countries of the European Union. The European Union has not ratified it.
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of the Discrimination Against Women is the expert Committee in charge of monitoring the implementation of CEDAW. It is composed of 23 experts on women’s rights elected by State Parties and serve in their individual capacity. Members serve for two-year terms and are eligible for re-election once. A Chairperson, 3 Vice-Chairpersons and a Rapporteur are appointed among the members of the Committee.
The Committee rarely elects expert women with disabilities and country reports often do not include information on women and girls with disabilities, so they rely on organisations of persons with disabilities and of women with disabilities for information to obtain information relevant to people with disabilities. Ana Peláez Narváez (EDF Vice President) was the first woman from the disability movement elected to the Committee in 2018.
We support EDF members and other organisations of women and girls with disabilities to submit alternative reports to the Committee.
You can learn more about how to engage with the Committee in our Guide for DPOs.
In 2024, the following European countries are foreseen for review by the CEDAW Committee:
Submitted in 2021:
Women’s Rights Officer
Contact: s.shabani@edf-feph.org