Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

The Secretariat of CEDAW has been transferred to Geneva since 1 January 2008. Complaints submitted in accordance with the procedure governed by the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women must be sent to the following address:

Petitions Team
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Office at Geneva
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Fax:+ 41 22 917 9022
(particularly for urgent matters)

E-mail:tb-petitions@ohchr.org

Overview of the Procedure

Introduction

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, adopted on 18 December 1979, guarantees the right fo all women to be free from discrimination and sets out obligations for States parties designed to ensure legal and practical enjoyment of that right. While the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights also contains free-standing provisions for non-discrimination on the basis of gender, the Convention is a specialized treaty that deals in greater details with a wide variety of issues arising in this area. The Committee established under the Convention also possesses expertise on issues of discrimination against women. The substantive obligations are set out in articles 1 to 16 of the Convention, comprising Parts I to IV.

As in the case of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the complaints mechanism for the Convention is contained in an Optional Protocol, which was adopted on 6 October 1999. It is a separate treaty open to States parties to the parent Convention. States that have become a party to the Optional Protocol recognize the competence of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women – a panel of 23 independent experts that meets 3 times a year – to receive complaints from persons within their jurisdiction alleging violations of their right under the Convention. The Optional Protcol contains a number of innovations that are described in Fact sheet 7 (see relevant part)