Advocacy

21 February 2023 - 9:47pm

Contribute to CEDAW 2023

Prepared by Rae Duff, Advocacy Lead, GWNZ - February 2023

CEDAW 2023 promises to be a busy year for GWNZ advocacy both national and globally.  As a state party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the New Zealand government prepares a regular report on our implementation of the Convention, usually every four years. Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) such as the National Council of Women of NZ of which GWNZ is a member, are encouraged to prepare an Alternate or Shadow report providing a critical analysis from an everyday NZ women’s perspective.

In NZ currently, the key areas of concern are issues relating to the health and wellbeing of women and girls, women peace and security, sexual harassment in the workplace, gender-responsive budgeting, and criminalising gender-based violence. Not surprisingly the Government’s reports to the CEDAW Monitoring Committee and NCWNZ’s reports often differ! 

Public consultation on the draft version of New Zealand’s ninth periodic CEDAW Report prepared by Manatū Wāhine Ministry for Women in collaboration with other public sector agencies on their respective areas of responsibility has just opened. The report is structured according to the questions from the CEDAW Committee, received in July 2022. There is also a section covering some additional information included at the end, as well as several appendices. One appendix outlines the progress of women and girls in Tokelau.   There are several ways of providing feedback as listed at: https://women.govt.nz/about/international/cedaw-reports/aotearoa-new-zealand%E2%80%99s-ninth-cedaw-report . Public consultation is open from 26 January to 24 March 2023. The final report is due to the United Nations in July 2023. 

GWNZ has usually worked in collaboration with NCWNZ and other NGOs to produce an Alternate Report. An initial CEDAW Planning meeting was held last week to identify the NGOs with expertise in the issues raised by the questions from the CEDAW Committee. With a focus on women and girl’s education and peace, GWNZ members should be able to make a valuable contribution to this Alternate report. Please contact me if you are interested in joining a group to assist in the preparation of the report listing your skills/area of expertise.

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