WPS and CEDAW, Optional Protocol, and General Recommendations

Abstract

One of the key conclusions of the Global Study on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 was the need for improved synergies between the treaty-based human rights system and the WPS agenda. This chapter considers the current and potential role of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the CEDAW Committee in advancing accountability and normative development of the WPS agenda. The Convention and the Optional Protocol offer an established mechanism of state accountability for women’s rights for the Convention’s 189 state parties. In addition, the CEDAW Committee is a key normative actor on women’s rights in conflict, producing general recommendations and considering individual communications and inquiry requests under the Optional Protocol. This chapter, therefore, examines the Committee’s activities in the implementation and interpretation of the WPS agenda, drawing particular attention to changes introduced by the Committee’s General Recommendation Number 30 (2014) on the rights of women in conflict prevention, conflict, and post-conflict settings. The chapter concludes by providing a critical reflection of the comparative advantage of pursuing the WPS agenda through the CEDAW Convention and Committee.