Themes > Women in Politics > Implementation of CEDAW on parliamentary level
Implementation of CEDAW on parliamentary level
2025-08-20
In Part II, Chapter 4, we talked about the CEDAW-convention. MPs have the opportunity to take part in Myanmar’s CEDAW process. The CEDAW Committee has many recommendations for State parties, amongst them:
- that parliaments participate fully in the reporting process and the implementation of the Convention and its Protocol,
- that parliaments encourage MPs to inform their voters of the Committee’s work,
- that State parties make sure that all relevant information is made available to MPs on a regular basis,
- that information received by government on its obligations as a State party and other matters of concern are brought to the attention of MPs,
- that whenever members of the Committee are invited to visit a State party, it is desirable that the State party organize meetings with MPs.
The Committee stresses the importance of strengthening the national machinery dedicated to equality at the level of parliament, such as commissions on gender equality, missions and information on inquiries relating to violence against women, and improvement of legislation on equality between women and men. The Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement of Myanmar has written, in an inclusive process with the civil society, a National Strategic Plan for the Advancement of Women 2013 – 2022 (see box); also available online.[i]
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Beijing Platform for Action, CEDAW and Myanmar: The government of Myanmar established Myanmar National Committee for Women Affairs (MNCWA) in 1996 after participating at the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995). The committee was re-structured as Myanmar National Committee on Women (MNCW) in 2018, with inclusion of representatives of women from the civil society and gender networks. To respond to the government’s commitment to UN CEDAW and Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), the plan “National Strategic Plan for the Advancement of Women[ii]” (NSPAW 2013-2022) was developed by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement (MSWRR), with technical support from the United Nations Gender Theme Group and Gender Equality network. The plan is based on the 12 Priority Areas of the BPfA and the principles of CEDAW. For effective implementation of NSPAW, the MSWRR formed, in 2018, 4 Technical Working Groups (TWG): 1) Violence Against Women TWG; 2) Women, Peace and Security TWG; 3) Participation TWG; and 4) Mainstreaming TWG. |
The CEDAW Committee draws the attention of State parties to the fact that institutional linkages and informal relations with civil society and women’s organizations are fundamental to the promotion of women’s rights by the parliament.
The Committee encourages State parties to include in their delegation before the Committee for the examination of their report, MPs as well as a special advisor in charge of relations between the government and the parliament in order to improve the visibility of parliamentary responsibilities.