The 1979 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, the Convention or the CEDAW Convention) is known as the international bill of women’s human rights, as it is the only near-universally ratified legally binding instrument that comprehensively protects women’s civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. Over the years, its monitoring body – the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (the CEDAW Committee or the Committee) – has further clarified the normative content and scope of the 16 substantive articles of the Convention, and States parties have embedded many of these provisions and related Committee recommendations in their legislative and policy frameworks. However, more than 40 years after the adoption of the CEDAW Convention, no country can claim to be immune from discrimination against women and girls. In addition, the progress achieved is at risk of being reversed. The CEDAW Convention is also of paramount importance in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

This handbook aims to serve as a practical tool for parliamentarians so that they can better understand relevant standards under the CEDAW Convention and apply them in their work. It draws on the important guidance of the CEDAW Committee and other relevant mechanisms, as well as on national experiences in implementing the CEDAW Convention. It also builds on decades of collaboration between the CEDAW Committee and the InterParliamentary Union (IPU) in engaging parliaments in translating the Convention into an everyday reality for women and girls.