The Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was agreed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979, and it remains one of the most important means for assessing international progress of women’s rights.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) meets regularly to assess each member state on their progress in implementing the agenda. They take evidence from national governments, NGOs and other interested parties as part of their deliberations, finally issuing a report and recommendations of their assessments.

Yemen ratified the Convention in 1984, a commitment that it would take measures to implement its provisions.

Before last year, the CEDAW Committee had not carried out a review on the situation of women and girls in Yemen since 2008. Since that time, Yemen had gone through a process of national dialogue, an ongoing conflict and the worst man-made humanitarian disaster in the world, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic.

In order to ensure that the experience of women in Yemen informed the deliberations of the CEDAW committee, we worked with Amal al-Basha of the Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights in her coordination of the Yemeni NGOS CEDAW Coalition.

The coalition brought together over 60 NGOs and activists from across Yemen. Their report went on to inform the work of the CEDAW coalition, and many of its recommendations were reflected in the CEDAW Committee’s report.