International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

More than 195 nations, including Aotearoa, have signed CEDAW. Aotearoa ratified CEDAW in 1985. Our government is obligated to report to the United Nations on the ways it is upholding the rights of women and girls — as specified under CEDAW — including the sexual and reproductive rights of women and girls. 
 
Aotearoa regularly reports to the UN. As a non-governmental organisation (NGO), we also have opportunities to report to the UN. We have provided written reports on the status of sexual and reproductive health and rights in Aotearoa to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women at the UN. We have also provided information in person, in Geneva, during reviews of Aotearoa.   
 
The CEDAW reporting and review process holds Aotearoa accountable for how it protects and promotes the human rights of women and girls — particularly women and girls that experience the greatest barriers to realising their human rights, such as:

• Māori and Pacific women and girls
• Trans women and girls
• Disabled women and girls
• Young women
• Women on low-incomes 

Learn more about CEDAW