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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Uganda's Reporting Obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) |
Author: | Semafumu, Rosemary |
Year: | 1999 |
Periodical: | East African Journal of Peace and Human Rights (ISSN 1021-8858) |
Volume: | 5 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 175-198 |
Language: | English |
Notes: | biblio. refs. |
Geographic terms: | Uganda East Africa |
Subjects: | gender relations human rights women Law, Human Rights and Violence Politics and Government Women's Issues Law, Legal Issues, and Human Rights Equality and Liberation Status of Women gender international law gender discrimination legal status United Nations. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women |
Abstract: | The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which entered into force in 1981, has played an important role in standard setting and action-guiding in Uganda, particularly in the area of legal equality. It has also played an important role in shaping government and donor policies on women's rights. However, there is still significant scope for expanding the role of CEDAW in areas that have been inadequately addressed. This article, an abridged version of the author's 1996 dissertation (Institute of Social Studies, The Hague), explores the scope of CEDAW as a Magna Carta for the human rights of women, sketches the legal and political situation of women in Uganda, and assesses the socioeconomic situation of women in the areas of health, education, labour, and business within the framework of the relevant CEDAW articles. It goes on to assess some efforts directed toward improving the status of women in Uganda, focusing on government machinery, affirmative action, legal reform, and the danger of retrogression. The next section examines the link between CEDAW and the situation of women using three processes: legal reform, donor policy, and reporting on CEDAW implementation. It is concluded that human rights instruments like CEDAW do matter, though they cannot and should not be a substitute for national, local and individual action. The women's movement in Uganda must build a CEDAW-Uganda agenda that is consensus-based, flexible and proactive. Notes, ref. |