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326 Personal Reflections: Ach ieving Fru itful Results Feng C ui, Ch ina When I sat on the CEDAW Committee, I felt very much honored and duty-bound. We faced representatives from highly industrialized and rich countries and from comparatively poor countries, all with a unique history and all with different social systems and traditional cultures. The ambassadors and representatives of ministries from those countries reported in detail on the progress being made in eliminating discrimination against women, and waited for questions and evaluations from the Committee. As a diplomat for decades and in women’s work over a long time, I have witnessed how the States Parties have applied CEDAW. The examination of States Parties reports by the Committee has been based both on adhering to the principle of universality and on understanding the different particularities of various countries. The reviews thus have led to good results throughout the world, and the Convention has become a cornerstone of the development of women’s cause—one of its key objectives. During my term in the Committee, I examined reports from nearly seventy countries, which had been implementing provisions of the Convention in great honesty and in accordance with their respective situations: New laws were passed, and existing legal instruments with contents discriminatory of women were either revised or eliminated. In the spirit of the Convention, a number of preferential policies and measures for women have been adopted. In many countries, women’s status in politics, economy, culture, society and families has been elevated, and their rights and interests have been protected, enabling them to further benefit the society. China, my home country, has been doing a significant amount of work in implementing the Convention and has achieved fruitful results. The latest and very important legal progress is the newly revised Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women in 2005, in which a new provision on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women was included, which used the exact wording of Article 1 of the Convention. In this respect, I would like to highlight the obligation of States Parties to adopt nondiscriminatory legislation and secure the equal rights of rural women with rural men as required by Article 14. As in other developing countries, the majority of the Chinese population lives in the countryside; many rural women stay in the villages and only sometimes leave for seasonal work elsewhere. Thus, these provisions in the Convention are very important for China in order to accelerate equality between women and men and, in particular, to raise the status of rural women. The day-in and day-out work in the Committee is tense, busy, and serious. I will never forget one terribly cold evening after a long and intense day; it had been snowing heavily. On my way back to the hotel, it was freezing. However, thinking of the significance of the Convention, I could only conclude that the occasional difficulties in the meetings and this bad weather amounted to nothing! Behind the birth of the Convention, a global legal landmark and an accomplishment of the international women’s movement, are the countless women who had suffered from discrimination and paid high prices, many with their lives, as well as numerous scholars, experts, and devoted people who had struggled, many for a lifetime. Committee members are doing their jobs, monitoring and promoting the global implementation of the Convention. The Convention has been in force for more than twenty-five years, and today, the general environment has become more favorable to the development of women. However, deeply rooted discrimination against women still exists in all parts of the world, regardless of a country’s developmental stage, history, cultural heritage, or political system. China is no exception. With my increased knowledge gained through my work in the Committee I will continue to play an active role for women in my country.To realize the Convention’s objectives, which aim at eliminating all forms of discrimination against women, and to say “no” to inequality between women and men, we still have to accomplish arduous tasks and walk a long road. Yet, this is a journey we, as humankind, must embrace. It is a duty to realize equality between women and men in order to build a harmonious society and a peaceful world. We should all shoulder that responsibility.That day of equality will certainly come; let us make it happen as early as possible...

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