Tuvalu prepares for CEDAW dialogue
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A two-day session at UN Women’s Suva office in Fiji helped Tuvalu’s state delegation prepare to face the Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women in February. The five-member delegation (pictured below) was heading to Geneva to take part in a constructive dialogue with the Committee following the submission of their latest report on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
The delegation was headed by Puaita Etuati, Senior Assistant Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister of Tuvalu. Led by UN Women with support from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Regional Rights Resource Team (RRRT), day one focused on workshops and training on the international human rights legal framework and context, the CEDAW Committee process and the Convention’s 16 articles. This was followed by a full mock committee session and debrief on day two. “After the mock session, I have a real feeling of how it will be in Geneva,” Ms Etuiti said before departing. “It showed us we need to be really focused, and to really hit the question when we respond to the Committee. Without this session, I would not be as prepared.”
The dialogue took place on February 20 and the resulting report highlighted several areas for improvement, including: the impact of climate change on Tuvalu and in particular on women; participation of women in decision-making; economic empowerment of women; a large number of discriminatory provisions in laws and long delay in revision of national legislation; elimination of all forms of violence against women.