CEDAW: reflections on the framework in the context of culture

AuthorFarida Shaheed
Pages193-194
193
Part IV: Afterword
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14. CEDAW: reflections on the framework
in the context of culture
Farida Shaheed1
In Pakistan, CEDAW’s adoption went unnoticed: 1979 was a traumatic year marked by
a military dictatorship hanging the elected Prime Minister. In September 1981, when
CEDAW came into force, I was engrossed in mobilising the women’s rights lobby,
Women’s Action Forum, to mount collective resistance to the military’s misogynistic
campaign. Until 1988 and the return of democracy, the need to counter daily threats
to rights within the country consumed all time and energies. Even afterwards, only a
few activists were engaged in the UN system processes. It was not until 1993–94, in
the build up to Fourth World Conference on Women, that some of us started pressing
the government to sign CEDAW.
A major concern was accession without either blanket reservations with reference to
‘Islam’ or ‘Sharia’ – as made by numerous Muslim majority states by then – or
reservations on the first four foundational articles. We succeeded: Pakistan signed
CEDAW prior to the 1995 Conference and ratified on 11 March 1996.2 In 1994, I
prepared a first training module on CEDAW for grassroots women and have been fully
engaged with CEDAW since then.
To me, in some ways CEDAW is both a rights and development agenda. This duality
resonates deeply since my organisation (Shirkat Gah – Women’s Resource Centre) has
always maintained that rights and development are two sides of the same coin, the one
incomplete without the other. In engaging with people, I find it very useful to remind
people of CEDAW’s genesis to dispel the popular misperception in many countries that
CEDAW is a ‘Western’ agenda. This is especially relevant for policy-makers in Pakistan
where, despite ratification, even senior government officials are reluctant to fully
embrace CEDAW and its obligations. Of particular significance is the 1967 Declaration
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, prepared by the
Commission on the Status of Women following a 1963 request sponsored by
1. Ms Farida Shaheed is the first UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights. The views
expressed herein are those of Ms Shaheed and do not necessarily reflect the views of
the United Nations.
2. There is one reservation (on a procedural clause) and a general declaration that refers to
the constitution and not to religion.

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