Thanks to the attention of so many world leaders here in New York for the UN General Assembly, CEDAW – the *Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women – is back in feature articles of major newspapers. (See my earlier post on CEDAW here.)
On Saturday, September 26, President Xi Jinping of China hosted a meeting to recognize a landmark women’s rights conference in Beijing 20 years ago. Presidents and Prime Ministers from all over attended the meeting. And, while China was criticized for jailing prominent female activists, the US was taken to task for failing to ratify CEDAW, the “leading global treaty on the rights of women and girls.” Read the NY Times article here.
Gender equity issues made news again on Sunday the 27th, with reports of the UN Women-organized conference and the details of what various countries were pledging to combat gender disparities. While President Obama rightly pointed out that gender equity was critical for an entire country’s development, a coalition of civic organizations called on the US to ratify CEDAW, enforce the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), and strengthen health services for women and girls. See the report summary here and the NY Times article here.