The UK has recently extended membership of the UN Convention on Women's Rights to the crown dependency of Jersey, granting its approximately 50,000 women extended human rights protections.
The Convention is a key UN human rights treaty which seeks to wipe out discrimination against women and girls around the world and is one of seven core UN human rights treaties that the UK has signed.
The UK’s Minister for Women, Baroness Berridge, attended a virtual celebratory event on Friday May 28 to commemorate the extension of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women [CEDAW] to the Bailiwick of Jersey. Rwandan High Commissioner to the UK, Her Excellency Yamina Karitanyi, and Dragan Nastic, senior representative of UNICEF UK, also participated in the event, which included a panel discussion on some of the key challenges affecting women and girls in Jersey and across the globe.
Under CEDAW, all member states pledge to implement measures which guarantee their women equal rights to their men. CEDAW also outlines the areas where governments should be taking equality action, such as in healthcare provision, employment and family law.
The CEDAW Committee governing the carrying out of the Convention conducts a pentennial review into how well each member state is implementing its principles and provides progress updates.
Speaking on Friday, Baroness Berridge commented: “Today’s announcement is a great step forward for women living in Jersey.
“This government believes in securing and advancing the rights of women and girls in the UK and all around the world. We will use the G7 and the Gender Equality Advisory Council to help us achieve our ambitions."
Jersey’s Social Security Minister, Deputy Judy Martin, added: “Gender equality is something we are committed to across government, and it’s something that we keep working on. We’ve taken some great steps recently - including introducing family friendly policies - and CEDAW gives us the map to keep on making progress.”
