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Show your support and endorse the NGOs’ Follow-Up Report to CEDAW
AWAVA and NATSIWA are seeking endorsement, in part or in full, for the NGOs’ Follow-up Report to the CEDAW Committee’s 2010 Interim Recommendations on addressing violence against women, and actions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women
Show your organisations support for the report by adding your organisation’s endorsement by close on Thursday 9 August, you can email us for a copy of the report. A final version will be published on our website following submission to the CEDAW Committee in August.
Thank you for your support!
Coordinating NGO CEDAW Report
We asked you what you thought the priority actions on VAW and for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander women were back in June. Our online survey sought your views on Australia™s performance on actions on violence against women and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children and what Australia™s priorities on violence against women and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women needed to be.
AWAVA and NATSIWA asked for your input into the non-government organisations™ response to the CEDAW July 2010 Concluding Observations recommendations on action on violence against women and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women
So, what™s was the survey for?
The survey assessed NGOs’views of the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children and what they thought Australia™s priorities on violence against women and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women needed to be. It was used specifically to produce the NGO report for the CEDAW Committee. The NGO report provides additional information and an alternative view for the CEDAW Committee when it considers the Australian Government™s response to its July 2010 recommendations.
What is CEDAW?
The United Nations Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, CEDAW, is an international treaty that Australia is signatory to. Many countries around the world, including Australia, signed on to this convention and agreed to try and implement mechanisms in their country to eliminate discrimination against women.
What does it aim to achieve?
The convention aims to:
How are countries held to account?
As a signatory to the Convention, the United Nation requires each country to prepare a report around every 4 years about how the government has been implementing policies and programs to meet the conventions requirements. There is a Government report, and a Shadow Report which is prepared by NGOs. The UN CEDAW Committee reviews these and prepares a report back to each country outlining how it is progressing and makes recommendations on areas for improvement.
When was Australia last reviewed?
In July 2010 the UN CEDAW Committee reviewed the Australian Government™s compliance with CEDAW and how Australia has implemented the treaty into its laws and policies. The committee made two specific recommendations for actions on violence against women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, in its Concluding Observations and requested an update on progress at the 2-year mark, prior to a full review in 2014. The Australian Government has to report back to the CEDAW committee on its progress on these two areas (paragraph 29 and 41) by July 2012
For more information about the 2010 review of Australia and the CEDAW Committee™s other recommendations please see the Australian NGO CEDAW Action Plan.
Why are we doing an NGO report?
The NGO report provides additional information and an alternative view to the CEDAW Committee when it considers Australia™s response to its recommendations. We took NGOs’ views on how policies, programs and practices really work, on what works well and where more needs to be done. The NGO report is high-level and focussed, capturing the key points raised.
The survey responses helped both AWAVA and NATSIWA capture what the sector and communities want to see on violence against women and actions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, it will also feed into the preparations for the Commission for the Status of Women 57th session in March 2013 where the theme is Elimination and prevention of all forms of volence against women and girls.
Who coordinated the interim NGO report?
Two of the Commonwealth-funded National Women™s Alliances, AWAVA, and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women™s Alliance, NATSIWA, coordinated the NGO response to the CEDAW recommendations.