The Convention was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979 and entered into force in September 1981, 30 days after being ratified by 20th State Party. As for May 2009, 186 states are party to CEDAW which makes the Convention one of the most highly ratified international human rights treaty.
The CEDAW Convention is an international treaty that was prepared and adopted with an aim to better protect and promote women’s human rights. It is the first international document that defined the term “discrimination against women”. According to the Convention (art. 1) discrimination against women shall mean “any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of the marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field”. The Convention states that special measures taken in order to accelerate gender equality should not be considered as discriminatory.
The CEDAW Conventions obliges the States Parties to take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to ensure the full development and advancement of women. These measures also include the elimination of prejudices, customs and practices based on stereotyped roles for women and men. By becoming a party to the convention the States commit themselves to eliminate the discrimination against women by any person, organisation and enterprise in both the public and private spheres.

The convention specifies the following areas in which discrimination should be eliminated through special measures:

The provisions included in the convention are interpreted by the Committee on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Committee) in the official statements - general recommendation - which are issued in order to provide the states with the guidance on the application of the Convention. General recommendations reflect the development of women’s human rights standards and progressive interpretation of those rights by the CEDAW Committee. CEDAW Convention should be read together with general recommendations which provide more precise information on how discrimination against women or specific rights should be interpreted. To date there are 25 general recommendations. All general recommendations are available at UN website: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/comments.htm

The States Parties to CEDAW are obliged to submit the national reports to the CEDAW Committee which monitors the implementation of the Convention. According to article 18 of the Convention the reports should be submitted at least every four years and whenever the Committee so requests. The reports should include the information described more specifically in the general recommendations.

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