Women's Rights are Human Rights - A review of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR, 2000, 36 p.): SPECIALIZED MECHANISMS AND TREATY BODIES: Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 10 December 1999

Women's Rights are Human Rights - A review of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR, 2000, 36 p.)

SPECIALIZED MECHANISMS AND TREATY BODIES

		Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
		Integrating the Gender Perspective into the Work of the United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies
		New General Comment of the Human Rights Committee Concerning Gender Equality1
		Gender Related Dimensions of Racial Discrimination: General Recommendation1
		Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 10 December 1999
		Joint statement by the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, Ms. Angela E.V. King, and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs. Mary Robinson, at the occasion of the opening for signature of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women - 10 December 1999
		Le Projet de Protocole a la Charte Africaine des Droits de l'Homme et des Peuples relatif aux Droits de la Femme en Afrique

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 10 December 1999

On 6 October 1999, the General Assembly adopted the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Protocol was opened for signature, ratification and accession at a signing ceremony on 10 December 1999. As of 5 April 2000, 34 States had signed the Optional Protocol. Ten ratifications are needed for its entry into force and it is expected that the special session of the General Assembly on the Beijing plus five Conference will provide a conducive framework for ratification.

The Optional Protocol contains two procedures: a communications and an inquiry procedure, with both procedures modelled on comparable existing procedures, but at the same time reflecting the progressive development of international law as reflected in the practice of the treaty bodies which implement those procedures. Accordingly, article 5 of the Optional Protocol explicitly provides for interim measures between the receipt of a communication and before a determination on its merits. Although this is not spelled out in the first Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, interim measures are now established as part of the practice of the Human Rights Committee under that Protocol. Short-term and long-term follow-up mechanisms to the Committee's views and recommendations on a communication, now a standard feature in the practice of the Human Rights Committee are also reflected in article 7 of the Optional Protocol. Innovations in the Optional Protocol include its articles 11 and 13 requiring States parties to ensure: that individuals under their jurisdiction are not subjected to ill-treatment or intimidation as a consequence of accessing the procedures in the Protocol; that the procedures of the Protocol are widely understood; and that individuals have ready access to the Committee's decisions concerning the Protocol, particularly in regard to matters involving the State party. Article 17 explicitly states that no reservations shall be permitted to the Optional Protocol, although States may “opt-out” of the inquiry procedure.