CEDAW must be followed fully
Experts tell seminar
Sultana Kamal, executive director of Ain o Salish Kendra, addresses a seminar on “Status of Implementation of UN CEDAW Concluding Observations 2011” organised by Citizen's Initiatives on CEDAW in the capital's LGED auditorium yesterday.Photo: STAR
Bangladesh must oppose religious fundamentalists and agree to the CEDAW sections that give women equal rights in marriage, said experts at a national sharing session in the capital yesterday. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is the international treaty adopted by the United Nations (UN) in 1979 in its bid to eradicate gender disparity. The session on “Status of Implementation of UN CEDAW Concluding Observations 2011” was organised by Citizen's Initiatives on CEDAW, a congregate of forty-two human and gender rights organisations of Bangladesh, in LGED auditorium. Speakers said Bangladesh had not yet been able to ensure equal rights for women in marriage laws due to internal opposition from religious fundamentalist factions. They demanded that Bangladesh yield to the pressure by the CEDAW committee to agree to all its sections. Back in 1984, Bangladesh had ratified the CEDAW treaty but with a note of dissent about one of its articles that gave women the “same rights and responsibilities during marriage and its dissolution” compared to men. Bangladesh also had reservations about agreeing to another article that urges the government to “modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women”. The CEDAW convention held last year also recommended that Bangladesh creates a common marriage and divorce law for all religions, so as to give equal rights to all women. State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and Ain o Salish Kendra Executive Director Sultana Kamal, among others, addressed the session.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments