Reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women - Weakening the protection of women from violence in the Middle East and North Africa region

By Amnesty International
November 2004

This report gives a general overview of these reservations and declarations made to CEDAW by countries in the region from a human rights perspective.(1) It includes an overview of reservations in international law, concentrating on what the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) has said on the issue, and examines the link between reservations and violence against women.

This is followed by a review of the specific reservations in the Middle East and North Africa, and the reasons given by states for making them, together with observations by the CEDAW Committee regarding them. The document concludes with a number of recommendations. Two appendices are included at the end of the document: the first includes the exact text of reservations to CEDAW by states in the region with the relevant text of concluding observations from the CEDAW Committee; the second is a table of overdue reports to CEDAW by states in the region.
Read the report