What Role Can Civil Society Play in the CEDAW Monitoring Process?
The CEDAW Committee places great value on hearing from women themselves about the situation in their countries. When the Committee is considering State reports, it will also draw on information provided by UN agencies and women’s NGOs from the reporting countries. Specific meeting times are set aside during the formal sessions for the Committee to hold discussions with NGOs. In addition, NGOs can also submit alternative reports on their countries’ progress – often called ‘shadow reports’ – to the Committee. After the CEDAW session, many NGOs undertake efforts to monitor their country’s obligations to CEDAW implementation. They translate key documents into local languages and disseminate these as widely as possible to raise awareness about the Convention. They also use the CEDAW Committee’s Concluding Observations as an important advocacy tool – to urge their governments to concentrate on the critical measures highlighted by the Committee that need to be taken to move forward on impleme
