South Africa: Speaker Calls for Stronger CEDAW Implementation Oversight

The Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Thoko Didiza, has called on parliaments to strengthen their oversight of governments and ensure that commitments to end discrimination against women translate into tangible improvements in the lives of women and girls. The Speaker made the call during her participation today in an Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) webinar on parliamentary engagement and oversight of the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Nearly five decades after CEDAW was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979, discrimination, inequality and violence continue to affect millions of women and girls worldwide. The webinar underscored that adopting laws and making international commitments are not enough if they do not result in meaningful change. Parliaments, through their legislative, oversight and budgetary responsibilities, have a critical role in closing the gap between commitments made under CEDAW and their implementation. The discussions highlighted the need for parliamentarians to scrutinise governments' progress, identify implementation gaps, examine national CEDAW reports and follow up on recommendations arising from the international reporting process. Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn The webinar further emphasised that CEDAW reporting should not be treated merely as an international reporting obligation, but as an important accountability mechanism through which parliaments can assess whether commitments are delivering measurable improvements for women and girls. For South Africa, this responsibility is reinforced by the Constitution's commitment to equality, human dignity and freedom from discrimination. Parliament therefore has a central role in ensuring that legislation, public policy, government programmes and public spending advance substantive equality and the rights of women and girls. The webinar also provided parliamentarians from IPU member countries with an opportunity to exchange experiences and strengthen parliamentary approaches to monitoring the implementation of CEDAW. Read the original article on Parliament of South Africa . AllAfrica publishes around 600 reports a day from more than 90 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals , representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica . To address comments or complaints, please Contact us . AllAfrica is a voice of, by and about Africa - aggregating, producing and distributing 600 news and information items daily from over 90 African news organizations and our own reporters to an African and global public. We operate from Cape Town, Dakar, Abuja, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington DC. Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy . We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.