development of the potentialities
of women in the service of their countries and of humanity,
Concerned that
in situations of poverty women have the least access to food,
health, education, training and opportunities for employment
and other needs, Convinced that the establishment of the new
international economic order based on equity and justice will
contribute significantly towards the promotion of equality
between men and women,
Emphasizing that
the eradication of apartheid, of all forms of racism, racial
discrimination, colonialism, neo-colonialism, aggression,
foreign occupation and domination and interference in the
internal affairs of States is essential to the full enjoyment
of the rights of men and women,
Affirming that
the strengthening of international peace and security, relaxation
of international tension, mutual co-operation among all States
irrespective of their social and economic systems, general
and complete disarmament, and in particular nuclear disarmament
under strict and effective international control, the affirmation
of the principles of justice, equality and mutual benefit
in relations among countries and the realization of the right
of peoples under alien and colonial domination and foreign
occupation to self-determination and independence, as well
as respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity,
will promote social progress and development and as a consequence
will contribute to the attainment of full equality between
men and women,
Convinced that
the full and complete development of a country, the welfare
of the world and the cause of peace require the maximum participation
of women on equal terms with men in all fields, Bearing in
mind the great contribution of women to the welfare of the
family and to the development of society, so far not fully
recognized, the social significance of maternity and the role
of both parents in the family and in the upbringing of children,
and aware that the role of women in procreation should not
be a basis for discrimination but that the upbringing of children
requires a sharing of responsibility between men and women
and society as a whole,
Aware that a change
in the traditional role of men as well as the role of women
in society and in the family is needed to achieve full equality
between men and women,
Determined to implement
the principles set forth in the Declaration on the Elimination
of Discrimination against Women and, for that purpose, to
adopt the measures required for the elimination of such discrimination
in all its forms and manifestations,
Have agreed on
the following:
PART
I
Article
1.
For the purposes
of the present Convention, the term "discrimination against
women" shall mean any distinction, exclusion or restriction
made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of
impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise
by women irrespective of their marital status, on a basis
of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental
freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil
or any other field.
Article
2.
States Parties
condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, agree
to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy
of eliminating discrimination against women and, to this end,
undertake:
(a) To embody the principle of the equality of men and women
in their national constitutions or other appropriate legislation
if not yet incorporated therein and to ensure, through law
and other appropriate means, the practical realization of
this principle;
(b) To adopt appropriate legislative and other measures, including
sanctions where appropriate, prohibiting all discrimination
against women;
(c) To establish legal protection of the rights of women on
an equal basis with men and to ensure through competent national
tribunals and other public institutions the effective protection
of women against any act of discrimination;
(d) To refrain from engaging in any act or practice of discrimination
against women and to ensure that public authorities and institutions
shall act in conformity with this obligation;
(e) To take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women by any person, organization or enterprise;
(f) To take all appropriate measures, including legislation,
to modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and
practices which constitute discrimination against women;
(g) To repeal all national penal provisions which constitute
discrimination against women.
Article
3.
States Parties shall take in all fields, in particular in
the political, social, economic and cultural fields, all appropriate
measures, including legislation, to ensure the full development
and advancement of women, for the purpose of guaranteeing
them the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental
freedoms on a basis of equality with men.
Article
4.
1.Adoption by States Parties of temporary special measures
aimed at accelerating de facto equality between men and women
shall not be considered discrimination as defined in the present
Convention, but shall in no way entail as a consequence the
maintenance of unequal or separate standards ; these measures
shall be discontinued when the objectives of equality of opportunity
and treatment have been achieved.
2. Adoption by
States Parties of special measures, including those measures
contained in the present Convention, aimed at protecting maternity
shall not be considered discriminatory.
Article
5.
States Parties
shall take all appropriate measures:
(a) To modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct
of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination
of prejudices and customary and all other practices which
are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority
of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and
women;
(b) To ensure that family education includes a proper understanding
of maternity as a social function and the recognition of the
common responsibility of men and women in the upbringing and
development of their children, it being understood that the
interest of the children is the primordial consideration in
all cases.
Article
6.
States Parties
shall take all appropriate measures, including legislation
, to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation
of prostitution of women.
PART
II
Article
7.
States Parties
shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in the political and public life of the country
and, in particular, shall ensure to women, on equal terms
with men, the right:
(a) To vote in all elections and public referenda and to be
eligible for election to all publicly elected bodies;
(b) To participate in the formulation of government policy
and the implementation thereof and to hold public office and
perform all public functions at all levels of government;
(c) To participate in non-governmental organizations and associations
concerned with the public and political life of the country.
Article 8.
States Parties
shall take all appropriate measures to ensure to women, on
equal terms with men and without any discrimination, the opportunity
to represent their Governments at the international level
and to participate in the work of international organizations.
Article
9.
1. States Parties
shall grant women equal rights with men to acquire, change
or retain their nationality. They shall ensure in particular
that neither marriage to an alien nor change of nationality
by the husband during marriage shall automatically change
the nationality of the wife, render her stateless or force
upon her the nationality of the husband.
2. States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men
with respect to the nationality of their children.
PART III
Article
10.
States Parties
shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in order to ensure to them equal rights with
men in the field of education and in particular to ensure,
on a basis of equality of men and women:
(a) The same conditions for career and vocational guidance,
for access to studies and for the achievement of diplomas
in educational establishments of all categories in rural as
well as in urban areas; this equality shall be ensured in
preschool, general, technical, professional and higher technical
education, as well as in all types of vocational training;
(b) Access to the same curricula, the same examinations, teaching
staff with qualifications of the same standard and school
premises and equipment of the same quality;
(c) The elimination of any stereotyped concept of the roles
of men and women at all levels and in all forms of education
by encouraging coeducation and other types of education which
will help to achieve this aim and, in particular, by the revision
of textbooks and school programmes and the adaptation of teaching
methods;
(d) The same opportunities to benefit from scholarships and
other study grants;
(e) The same opportunities for access to programmes of continuing
education including adult and functional literacy programmes,
particularly those aimed at reducing, at the earliest possible
time, any gap in education existing between men and women;
(f) The reduction of female student drop-out rates and the
organization of programmes for girls and women who have left
school prematurely;
(g) The same opportunities to participate actively in sports
and physical education; (h) Access to specific educational
information to help to ensure the health and well-being of
families, including information and advice on family planning.
Article 11.
1. States Parties
shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in the field of employment in order to ensure,
on a basis of equality of men and women, the same rights,
in particular:
(a) The right to work as an inalienable right of all human
beings;
(b) The right to the same employment opportunities, including
the application of the same criteria for selection in matters
of employment;
(c) The right to free choice of profession and employment,
the right to promotion, job security and all benefits and
conditions of service and the right to receive vocational
training and retraining, including apprenticeships, advanced
vocational training and recurrent training;
(d) The right to equal remuneration, including benefits, and
to equal treatment in respect of work of equal value, as well
as equality of treatment in the evaluation of the quality
of work;
(e) The right to social security, particularly in cases of
retirement, unemployment, sickness, invalidity and old age
and other incapacity to work, as well as the right to paid
leave;
(f) The right to protection of health and to safety in working
conditions, including the safeguarding of the function of
reproduction.
2. In order to
prevent discrimination against women on the grounds of marriage
or maternity and to ensure their effective right to work,
States Parties shall take appropriate measures:
(a) To prohibit, subject to the imposition of sanctions, dismissal
on the grounds of pregnancy or of maternity leave and discrimination
in dismissals on the basis of marital status;
(b) To introduce maternity leave with pay or with comparable
social benefits without loss of former employment, seniority
or social allowances;
(c) To encourage the provision of the necessary supporting
social services to enable parents to combine family obligations
with work responsibilities and participation in public life,
in particular through promoting the establishment and development
of a network of child-care facilities;
(d) To provide special protection to women during pregnancy
in types of work proved to be harmful to them.
3. Protective legislation relating to matters covered in this
article shall be reviewed periodically in the light of scientific
and technological knowledge and shall be revised, repealed
or extended as necessary.
Article
12.
1. States Parties
shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in the field of health care in order to ensure,
on a basis of equality of men and women, access to health
care services, including those related to family planning.
2. Notwithstanding
the provisions of paragraph 1 of this article, States Parties
shall ensure to women appropriate services in connection with
pregnancy, confinement and the post-natal period, granting
free services where necessary, as well as adequate nutrition
during pregnancy and lactation.
Article
13.
States Parties
shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in other areas of economic and social life in
order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women,
the same rights, in particular:
(a) The right to family benefits;
(b) The right to bank loans, mortgages and other forms of
financial credit;
(c) The right to participate in recreational activities, sports
and all aspects of cultural life.
Article
14.
1. States Parties
shall take into account the particular problems faced by rural
women and the significant roles which rural women play in
the economic survival of their families, including their work
in the non-monetized sectors of the economy, and shall take
all appropriate measures to ensure the application of the
provisions of this Convention to women in rural areas.
2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate
discrimination against women in rural areas in order to ensure,
on a basis of equality of men and women, that they participate
in and benefit from rural development and, in particular,
shall ensure to such women the right:
(a) To participate in the elaboration and implementation of
development planning at all levels;
(b) To have access to adequate health care facilities, including
information, counselling and services in family planning;
(c) To benefit directly from social security programmes;
(d) To obtain all types of training and education, formal
and non-formal, including that relating to functional literacy,
as well as, inter alia, the benefit of all community and extension
services, in order to increase their technical proficiency;
(e) To organize self-help groups and co-operatives in order
to obtain equal access to economic opportunities through employment
or self-employment;
(f) To participate in all community activities;
(g) To have access to agricultural credit and loans, marketing
facilities, appropriate technology and equal treatment in
land and agrarian reform as well as in land resettlement schemes;
(h) To enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation
to housing, sanitation, electricity and water supply, transport
and communications.
PART
IV
Article
15.
1. States Parties
shall accord to women equality with men before the law.
2. States Parties
shall accord to women, in civil matters, a legal capacity
identical to that of men and the same opportunities to exercise
that capacity. In particular, they shall give women equal
rights to conclude contracts and to administer property and
shall treat them equally in all stages of procedure in courts
and tribunals.
3. States Parties
agree that all contracts and all other private instruments
of any kind with a legal effect which is directed at restricting
the legal capacity of women shall be deemed null and void.
4. States Parties
shall accord to men and women the same rights with regard
to the law relating to the movement of persons and the freedom
to choose their residence and domicile.
Article
16.
1. States Parties
shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in all matters relating to marriage and family
relations and in particular shall ensure, on a basis of equality
of men and women:
(a) The same right to enter into marriage;
(c) The same right freely to choose a spouse and to enter
into marriage only with their free and full consent;
(d) The same rights and responsibilities during marriage and
at its dissolution;
(e) The same rights and responsibilities as parents, irrespective
of their marital status, in matters relating to their children;
in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount;
(f) The same rights to decide freely and responsibly on the
number and spacing of their children and to have access to
the information, education and means to enable them to exercise
these rights;
(g) The same rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship,
wardship, trusteeship and adoption of children, or similar
institutions where these concepts exist in national legislation;
in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount;
(h) The same personal rights as husband and wife, including
the right to choose a family name, a profession and an occupation;
(i) The same rights for both spouses in respect of the ownership,
acquisition, management, administration, enjoyment and disposition
of property, whether free of charge or for a valuable consideration.
2. The betrothal
and the marriage of a child shall have no legal effect, and
all necessary action, including legislation, shall be taken
to specifya minimum age for marriage and to make the registration
of marriages in anofficial registry compulsory.
PART
V
Article
17.
1. For the purpose
of considering the progress made in the implementation of
the present Convention, there shall be established a Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (hereinafter
referred to as the Committee) consisting, at the time of entry
into force of the Convention, of eighteen and, after ratification
of or accession to the Convention by the thirty-fifth State
Party, of twenty-three experts of high moral standing and
competence in the field covered by the Convention. The experts
shall be elected by States Parties from among their nationals
and shall serve in their personal capacity, consideration
being given to equitable geographical distribution and to
the representation of the different forms of civilization
as well as the principal legal systems.
2. The members of the Committee shall be elected by secret
ballot from a list of persons nominated by States Parties.
Each State Party may nominate one person from among its own
nationals.
3. The initial election shall be held six months after the
date of the entry into force of the present Convention. At
least three months before the date of each election the Secretary-General
of the United Nations shall address a letter to the States
Parties inviting them to submit their nominations within two
months. The Secretary-General shall prepare a list in alphabetical
order of all persons thus nominated, indicating the States
Parties which have nominated them, and shall submit it to
the States Parties.
4. Elections of the members of the Committee shall be held
at a meeting of States Parties convened by the Secretary-General
at United Nations Headquarters. At that meeting, for which
two thirds of the States Parties shall constitute a quorum,
the persons elected to the Committee shall be those nominees
who obtain the largest number of votes and an absolute majority
of the votes of the representatives of States Parties present
and voting.
5. The members of the Committee shall be elected for a term
of four years. However, the terms of nine of the members elected
at the first election shall expire at the end of two years;
immediately after the first election the names of these nine
members shall be chosen by lot by the Chairman of the Committee.
6. The election of the five additional members of the Committee
shall beheld in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs
2, 3 and 4 of this article, following the thirty-fifth ratification
or accession. The terms of two of the additional members elected
on this occasion shall expire at the end of two years, the
names of these two members having been chosen by lot by the
Chairman of the Committee.
7. For the filling of casual vacancies, the State Party whose
expert has ceased to function as a member of the Committee
shall appoint another expert from among its nationals, subject
to the approval of the Committee.8. The members of the Committee
shall, with the approval of the General Assembly, receive
emoluments from United Nations resources on such terms and
conditions as the Assembly may decide, having regard to the
importance of the Committee's responsibilities.
8. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall provide
the necessary staff and facilities for the effective performance
of the functions of the Committee under the present Convention.
Article
18.
1. States Parties
undertake to submit to the Secretary-General of the United
Nations, for consideration by the Committee, a report on the
legislative, judicial, administrative or other measures which
they have adopted to give effect to he provisions of the present
Convention and on the progress made in this respect:
(a) Within one year after the entry into force for the State
concerned; and
(b) Thereafter at least every four years and further whenever
the Committee so requests.
2. Reports may
indicate factors and difficulties affecting the degree of
fulfillment of obligations under the present Convention.
Article
19.
1. The Committee
shall adopt its own rules of procedure.
2. The Committee shall elect its officers for a term of two
years.
Article
20.
1. The Committee
shall normally meet for a period of not more than two weeks
annually in order to consider the reports submitted in accordance
with article 18 of the present Convention.
2. The meetings of the Committee shall normally be held at
United Nations Headquarters or at any other convenient place
as determined by the Committee.
Article
21.
1. The Committee
shall, through the Economic and Social Council, report annually
to the General Assembly of the United Nations on its activities
and may make suggestions and general recommendations based
on the examination of reports and information received from
the States Parties. Such suggestions and general recommendations
shall be included in the report of the Committee together
with comments, if any, from States Parties.
2. The Secretary-General shall transmit the reports of the
Committee to the Commission on the Status of Women for its
information.
Article
22.
The specialized
agencies shall be entitled to be represented at the consideration
of the implementation of such provisions of the present Convention
as fall within the scope of their activities. The Committee
may invite the specialized agencies to submit reports on the
implementation of the Convention in areas falling within the
scope of their activities.
PART
VI
Article
23.
Nothing in this
Convention shall affect any provisions that are more conducive
to the achievement of equality between men and women which
may be contained:
(a) In the legislation of a State Party; or
(b) In any other international convention, treaty or agreement
in force for that State.
Article
24.
States Parties
undertake to adopt all necessary measures at the national
level aimed at achieving the full realization of the rights
recognized in the present Convention.
Article
25.
1. The present
Convention shall be open for signature by all States.
2. The Secretary-General of the United Nations is designated
as the depositary of the present Convention.
3. The present Convention is subject to ratification. Instruments
of ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary-General
of the United Nations.
4. The present Convention shall be open to accession by all
States. Accession shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument
of accession with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Article
26.
1. A request for
the revision of the present Convention may be made at any
time by any State Party by means of a notification in writing
addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
2. The General Assembly of the United Nations shall decide
upon the steps, if any, to be taken in respect of such a request.
Article 27.
1. The present
Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after
the date of deposit with the Secretary-General of the United
Nations of the twentieth instrument of ratification or accession.
2. For each State
ratifying the present Convention or acceding to it after the
deposit of the twentieth instrument of ratification or accession,
the Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day
after the date of the deposit of its own instrument of ratification
or accession.
Article
28.
1. The Secretary-General
of the United Nations shall receive and circulate to all States
the text of reservations made by States at the time of ratification
or accession.
2. A reservation incompatible with the object and purpose
of the present Convention shall not be permitted.
3. Reservations may be withdrawn at any time by notification
to this effect addressed to the Secretary-General of the United
Nations, who shall then inform all States thereof. Such notification
shall take effect on the date on which it is received.
Article
29.
1. Any dispute
between two or more States Parties concerning the interpretation
or application of the present Convention which is not settled
by negotiation shall, at the request of one of them, be submitted
to arbitration. If within six months from the date of the
request for arbitration the parties are unable to agree on
the organization of the arbitration, any one of those parties
may refer the dispute to the International Court of Justice
by request in conformity with the Statute of the Court.
2. Each State Party may at the time of signature or ratification
of this Convention or accession thereto declare that it does
not consider itself bound by paragraph 1 of this article.
The other States Parties shall not be bound by that paragraph
with respect to any State Party which has made such a reservation.
3. Any State Party which has made a reservation in accordance
with paragraph 2 of this article may at any time withdraw
that reservation by notification to the Secretary-General
of the United Nations.
Article
30.
The present Convention,
the Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish
texts of which are equally authentic, shall be deposited with
the Secretary-General of the United Nations. IN WITNESS WHEREOF
the undersigned, duly authorized, have signed the present
Convention.
