PS306C
Spring Semester 2006
UN Commission on the Status of Women (established 1946)
45 member countries elected to four year terms
International Women’s Year (1975)
World Conference held in Mexico City
UN Decade for Women (1976-1985)
Major conferences Copenhagen (1980), and Nairobi (1985)
International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994)
Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995)
Ratifications – 180 as of January 2006, entered into force in 1981
US signed in 1980, but has not ratified
Major provisions
"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 their 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.
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
Optional Protocol (Authorizing Receiving of Complaint from Individuals) (1999)
Ratifications – 76 as of January 2006
Ratifications – 192 as of January 2006, entered into force 1990
US signed in 1995 but has not ratified
Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography (2000)
Ratifications – 103
US has signed and ratified
Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (2000)
Ratifications – 104
US has signed and ratified