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262 Personal Reflections: Support by the UN Division for the A dvancement o f Wom en I nge borg Creydt, G ermany My work for the CEDAW Committee began in 1980 as a consequence of the many early ratifications of the Convention, which caused it to enter into force in 1981 less than two years after its adoption by the UN General Assembly. Nobody had anticipated such speedy and widespread recognition of the Convention in the first years of its existence, as the ratification process of other human rights treaties had proceeded far more slowly. The successful start of the Convention, however, made the work of the Secretariat—i.e. the UN Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW)—very difficult. DAW was originally established in 1946 under a different name —the Section on the Status of Women, Human Rights Division, Department of Social Affairs—and with a lower status. It subsequently underwent several name changes and upgrades. It also moved from New York to the UN Office in Vienna in 1972, and then moved back to New York in August 1993. The program budget for the Committee, which had been adopted together with the Convention, did not match the workload resulting from the early adoption. Moreover, the Committee comprised twenty-three expert members from the beginning, while other human rights treaty bodies had only ten to eighteen. The Committee’s sessions were also open to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the general public, while other treaty bodies held closed meetings. As a member of the Human Rights Committee once informally said to me: The Human Rights Committee meets in working groups, but the CEDAW Committee convenes in conferences. Since only half of the Division’s staff had moved from New York to Vienna, new staff had to be recruited. However, the work of the Committee started on time and proceeded without delay, thanks also to its highly motivated elected members. DAW is responsible for the substantive and administrative preparation, servicing, and follow-up of the annual sessions of the Committee and the biannual meetings of the States Parties. The Secretariat has to secure the work of the Committee, but it is not permitted to influence the content of its work. The Committee is, after all, an organ of the States Parties, not of the United Nations. In support of the implementation of the Convention and the monitoring process by the personal reflections l 263 Committee, DAW has undertaken various educational and informational activities and provided technical assistance to States Parties. Thus, it has convened a number of interregional seminars in various countries and participated in and supported related conferences, such as the Mediterranean Conference on Human Rights in March 1993 in Taormina, Italy. The Secretariat has also helped individual countries (e.g. Namibia) to bring national laws in line with international instruments concerning the status of women. The Early Years Luvsa ndanz angyn Ider, Mongolia On this twenty-fifth anniversary of the CEDAW Committee, I want to say that it was a great honor for me to serve as its first Chairperson during its first two years. I also chaired the Working Group of the Third Committee, which thoroughly considered the draft CEDAW Convention during the UN General Assembly session in 1977. The UN’s Third Committee deals with social, humanitarian and cultural issues. The adoption of CEDAW was a landmark in the quest by the United Nations for equality and justice for women. It has become one of the most widely ratified human rights treaties, and as such it serves as an effective tool which women and organizations can use to redress women’s inferior, unjust status. The first CEDAW Committee included twenty-three experts— twenty-two women and one man—representing four continents. Since the Committee had to be composed of experts from those countries that had ratified the Convention, it had at that time wide representation from Europe (West and East) and Latin America but only one expert from Africa. The members were very different. Some had a wealth of firsthand experience of women’s problems while working in women’s organizations; some had a legal background; some held high posts in central and regional governments in their respective countries. During its first two years the Committee spent much of its time considering and adopting its Rules of Procedure as well as Guidelines for Reporting, in order to help States prepare reports. In general, the spirit of understanding and cooperation among members prevailed during the deliberations. The...

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