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The Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women

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The Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is a comprehensive international treaty, created to advocate for the rights of women 's. It is a highly ratified treaty since one hundred and eighty-six of the UN’s 193 members have agreed to apply its principles to their nation states and to protect and fulfil its terms and conditions (Wakefield 2010, p.22). The aim of the essay is to demonstrate the strengths of CEDAW in promoting gender equality, whilst simultaneously study its weakness in order to determine success of the Convention. This essay will argue that CEDAW has proven to be a successful Convention over the years as it has become part of the global system of law due to its positive influence across national and local system of laws of the states that decides to ratify it. The Convention has also become a good venue for states, NGOS and women 's movements to use in order to explore issues relating to discrimination against women, as reflected in the case study of Afghanistan. However, this is to a certain extent, as the essay will reflect that factors such as lack of enforcement, overdue of reports, minimal individual complaints, issue of reservations, culture e.tc. has impeded its potential and disappointed a lot of activists who had high expectations (Merry 2003, p.942). Human rights became known to the world in the 20th century, when it was established that human beings should be treated with dignity and respect anywhere,

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