Haifa’s Story - 30

Hilary Clinton gave a speech during the Beijing conference entitled “Women’s Rights Are Human Rights.” The conference marked a significant turning point for the global agenda for gender equality. The Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action, adopted unanimously by 189 countries, set an agenda for women’s empowerment and were considered the key global policy documents on gender equality.

CEDAW, or the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was adopted by the UNGA on December 18, 1979, and ratified by Lebanon in 1997. The ratification was followed by the establishment, in 1998, of the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW), which is affiliated with the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Lebanon has maintained reservations on CEDAW Article 9(2), regarding nationality, on several subparagraphs of Article 16(1), related to personal status laws, and on Article 29(1), on the settlement of disputes on the interpretation of Convention to the International Court of Justice (source: unwomen.org)