The State Department web site below is a permanent electronic archive of information released prior to January 20, 2001.  Please see www.state.gov for material released since President George W. Bush took office on that date.  This site is not updated so external links may no longer function.  Contact us with any questions about finding information. NOTE: External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein.

Support for Women's Human Rights: Ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women Fact sheet released by the Senior Coordinator for International Women's Issues, March 10, 1998.

The Problem

• The United States has not ratified the women’s human rights treaty- the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the most comprehensive and detailed international treaty to date that addresses the rights of women.

• The United Nations General Assembly adopted CEDAW in 1979. The United States actively participated in the drafting and signed the treaty in 1980. Although the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted in favor of ratification in 1994, the Senate has not formally considered the treaty since that time.

• To date, 161 countries have ratified CEDAW, including all of our European allies and most of our important trading partners. The United States is one of the few countries that has not yet ratified CEDAW.

Background on CEDAW

• Ratification of CEDAW will strengthen our efforts to advance the status of women throughout the world.

• Ratification will enhance our efforts to ensure that women around the world are treated fairly and have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

• Ratification will allow us to participate in the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women and give us a greater voice in shaping policies that affect the lives of women.

• Both state and federal laws in the United States already provide strong protections for women and are largely consistent with the provisions of CEDAW. This treaty does not affect United States sovereignty or states’ rights.

• In other countries, which do not have such protections, CEDAW is an effective tool which can be used to combat violence against women, reform unfair inheritance and property rights, and strengthen women’s access to fair employment and economic opportunity.

• Concerns about the effects of CEDAW on our law are addressed by the small number of reservations, understandings, and declarations upon which the State Department and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have already agreed. These include an explicit understanding that the treaty does not create an international right to abortion.

Current Initiatives

The President is announcing a vigorous campaign to get the advice and consent of the United States Senate for ratification of this treaty.

[end of document]