Parliament passes to lift restrictions from CEDAW treaty

The people's Majilis has given the approval to lift certain restrictions placed on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

The motion was passed with the votes of 61 members. Only one member objected to the motion.

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih announced the decision to seek Parliamentary approval to remove the restrictions during December 2019. The decision was finalised upon recommendations from the Cabinet and follows deliberations on a paper proposed by the Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services.

The motion to lift reservations on sections (b), (e), (g), and (h) of Clause 1 and Clause 2 of Article 16 of the CEDAW treaty was reviewed and approved by the 19th Parliament Committee on National Security & Foreign Relations.

Clause one of Article 16 states that state parties must take all required measures to abolish discrimination against women in all matters related to marriage and family relations and ensure equality between the two genders. As such, section (b) specifies that women must be afforded equal rights to choose a spouse or enter marriage with unforced consent. Likewise, section (e) stipulates state parties to provide women with equal rights to freely and responsibly decide the number of children they want to have and the spacing between them. Further, section (e) states that women must be provided with "access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these rights"

Similarly, section (g) states that women must be afforded equal personal rights in a marriage such as the right to choose a family name, a profession or an occupation whereas section (h) demands equal "rights for both spouses in respect of the ownership, acquisition, management, administration, enjoyment and disposition of property."

Clause 2 of Article 16 states that child marriage or betrothal will not be legally recognized and that the state will set a minimum age for marriage in addition to making the "registration of marriages in an official registry compulsory".

After reviewing the motion, the committee highlighted a total of 31 findings in their report. As per the report, the Attorney General's Office states that there are no legal obstacles against the removal of the restrictions. Further, the report states that the treaty will bolster targets set in the administration's manifesto for female empowerment as well as to promote efforts to provide equal opportunities for both genders in the political, economic and social sphere.

CEDAW is an international legal instrument that requires countries to eliminate discrimination against women in all areas and promotes women’s equal rights.