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<p><span style="color:#000000;"><strong>The International Women's Rights Action Watch (IWRAW)</strong></span>
was organized in 1985 at the Third World Conference on Women in
Nairobi, Kenya, to promote recognition of womenâs human rights under the
United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (<a href="http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/instree/e1cedaw.htm" style="color:#880030" target="new">CEDAW</a>),
an international human rights treaty. IWRAW was founded on the belief
that the human rights of women and girls are essential to development
and that equality between women and men will only be achieved through
use of international human rights principles and processes. Since its
inception, IWRAWâs program has expanded to encompass advocacy for
womenâs human rights under all the international human rights treaties.
IWRAW operates as an international resource and communications
center that serves activists, scholars, and organizations throughout
the world. IWRAW is directed by Dr. Marsha A. Freeman and is based at
the University of Minnesota Law School, Minneapolis, Minnesota USA,
affiliated with the <a href="http://www.law.umn.edu/humanrightscenter/index.html" style="color:#880030" target="new">Universityâs Human Rights Center</a>. </p>
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eds Marsha A. Freeman, Christine Chinkin, Beate Rudolf, <br>
Oxford University Press, 2012. <br>
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<td style="font-size:14px" height="123" width="101"><strong>Oxford <br>
University Press, UK and Europe:<br>
<span style="color:#880030"><a href="http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199565061.do" style="color:#880030" target="new">Learn more</a></span> <img src="index-a_files/arrow.jpg" alt="" height="10" width="7"> </strong></td>
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<td style="font-size:14px; padding-left:5px" width="99"><strong>Oxford <br>
University Press, North America:<br>
<span style="color:#880030"><a href="http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Law/?view=usa&ci=9780199565061" style="color:#880030" target="new">Learn more</a></span> <img src="index-a_files/arrow.jpg" alt="" height="10" width="7"></strong></td>
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<td style="font-size:14px;padding-left:5px" width="151"><strong>Online version also available through OUPâs subscription service for libraries and institutions<br>
<span style="color:#880030"><a href="http://opil.ouplaw.com/home/OSAIL" style="color:#880030" target="new">Learn more</a></span> <img src="index-a_files/arrow.jpg" alt="" height="10" width="7"> </strong></td>
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<p><br>
âThe foundational assumption of the Commentary is that CEDAW, its
Optional Protocol, and the work of the Committee matter. . . . The
Commentary will serve human rights scholars and students, gender
activists, policy makers, and the wider international law community for
decades to come.â?
</p><div align="right">â Lisa R. Pruitt, IntlLawGrrls blog</div>
<br>
â . . . a model of meticulous research, thoughtful critique and unwavering commitment<br>
to social justice.â? <br>
<div align="right">â Julia L. Ernst, <em>Melbourne Journal of International Law</em><br>
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<p align=" left"="" align="left" width="700px"><strong><span style="font-size:16px;color:#880030"><br>
Our history</span></strong><br>
IWRAW began as a network of NGOs, scholars, and individual activists
concerned with publicizing and monitoring implementation of the CEDAW
Convention. The IWRAW program at the University of Minnesota was
established as the communications and resource link for the network. The
IWRAW program pioneered shadow reporting (NGO participation in the
review of a country that has ratified a treaty) to the CEDAW Committee
and shadow reporting on womenâs human rights to the Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In addition to producing shadow
reports for sixty country reviews and holding international
consultations on topics related specifically to the CEDAW Convention,
IWRAW has engaged in training, conferences and expert groups, and global
events such as the Fourth World Conference on Women and its follow-up
reviews, all with a view to expanding the knowledge and application of
the CEDAW Convention and other human rights treaties to advance womenâs
human rights.<br>
<br>
<strong>IWRAW remains unique in its focus</strong> on
building and supporting capacityâboth among NGOs and within the treaty
bodiesâfor using the entire international treaty system as a key to
accountability for womenâs human rights. To that end, and particularly
in view of the major changes in the human rights monitoring system
resulting from the United Nations reform process, IWRAW participated in
the treaty monitoring bodiesâ Inter-Committee Meetings and Chairpersons
Meetings, and contributes to other projects of the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights. IWRAW played a leading role in developing
new relationships between the international NGOs that are concerned
with the human rights treaty monitoring process and enhancing their role
in developing and evaluating new monitoring procedures.
<p></p>
<p align="left"> <br>
<strong><span style="font-size:16px;color:#880030">Tools for promoting womenâs human rights</span></strong><br>
IWRAW manuals and guides are designed to promote NGO understanding
and use of international human rights treaties in their domestic
advocacy as well as to help NGOs advocate for womenâs human rights on
the international level. They include: <br>
</p>
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<ul>
<li><strong><em>Assessing the Status of Women in the
21st Century: A Guide to Monitoring and Reporting on Womenâs Human
Rights under the CEDAW Convention</em>.</strong><br>
Builds on earlier manuals such as <em>Assessing the Status of Women</em>. Forthcoming 2015<strong>.</strong></li>
<li><strong><em>Producing Shadow Reports to the CEDAW Committee: A Procedural Guide</em></strong>. <br>
Detailed information on the logistics of producing and submitting shadow reports. Updated 2009.</li>
<li><strong><em>Equality and Womenâs Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights: A Guide to Implementation and Monitoring under the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights</em>. </strong>2004. </li>
<li><strong><em>New Harmonized Guidelines for Human Rights Treaty Reporting: Opportunities for Womenâs Rights NGOs</em>. </strong><br>
Explains new reporting guidelines that apply to all the
human rights treaties. These guidelines provide womenâs NGOs with a
simplified way to approach all the treaty monitoring bodies. 2008.</li>
</ul>
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<p align="left"><strong><span style="font-size:16px;color:#880030"><br>
NGOs and womenâs human rights</span><br>
</strong>The achievements thus far in womenâs human rights are the
result of efforts by many actors on many levels. In 1993, IWRAW Asia
Pacific was established as a sister program to IWRAW, to focus on
CEDAW-related activities in the Asia Pacific region. Operating as an
entirely separate entity, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, IWRAW Asia
Pacific now coordinates NGO participation in the CEDAW review process
and works on selected CEDAW-related issues. For a list of other
NGOs concerned with womenâs human rights, see <a href="Resources.html" style="color:#880030" target="_self">Resources</a><a href="http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/iwraw/resources.html">.<strong><br>
<br>
</strong></a></p>
<p align="left">For more information, please see our <a href="Basic_Facts.html" target="_self" style="color:#880030">Basic Facts</a><a href="http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/iwraw/faqs.html"></a>.</p>
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