News from Khartoum
Sudan Government makes huge steps forward on women's rights
The Cabinet of Ministers has ratified the Convention of Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and signed on to the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa (‘the Maputo Protocol’).
The ratification of CEDAW provides the legal framework which will enable Sudan to address decades of repression and structural and systemic violence practiced against women by the former regime. The convention was ratified with reservations on a a few Articles.
Until today, CEDAW had been ratified by 189 States Parties, except Sudan and four other countries (Palau, Iran Tonga and Somalia). CEDAW safeguards the rights of women and girls and contributes to the promotion of a governance system based on the state’s commitment to equality and justice. CEDAW guarantees political, economic, social and legal rights for women and girls.
The Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa (‘the Maputo Protocol’) was adopted by Heads of State and Government in Maputo, Mozambique on 11 July 2003 and is one of the world’s most comprehensive and progressive women’s human rights instruments.