Sudanese women demand govt to sign CEDAW

January 3 - 2020 KHARTOUM

Rally of the No Oppression against Women Initiative celebrating the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, December 16, 2019 (RD)

On Thursday, hundreds of women demonstrated in Khartoum demanding Sudan’s new government to sign the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

The rally, which was called for by 60 feminist organisations, moved from the Hadayeg El Shuhada in downtown Khartoum to the offices of the Council of Ministers.

The women raised banners calling on the government to accelerate the signing of the CEDAW agreement. “The entire world, except us. You make us feel ashamed,” they chanted.

The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly. Described as an international bill of rights for women, it was instituted on 3 September 1981 and has been ratified by 189 states.

The USA and Palau have signed, but not ratified CEDAW. The Holy See of Rome, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, and Tonga did not sign the treaty.

The regime of Omar Al Bashir, ousted in April 11 last year, was opposed to the equation of men and women. In February 2017, Islamist groups strongly resisted constitutional amendments that would give women more rights in marriage and inheritance affairs.

In post-Al Bashir’s Sudan, feminists have appealed for more women participation in the government and in the peace negotiations more than once.

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