CEDAW Concluding Comments Urges the Philippines to fulfill its Obligations under the Women’s Convention

By Clara Rita A. Padilla, March 29, 2007

The August 25, 2006 United Nations Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Concluding Comments on its review of the Philippine government’s report during its 36th Session urged the Philippines to fulfill its obligations under the Women’s Convention.

CEDAW is the committee tasked to monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Women’s Convention). The Concluding Comments contains CEDAW’s observations and recommendations on the de facto and de jure equality of women in the Philippines and the obligation of the Philippines under the Women’s Convention to eliminate discrimination against women.

“CEDAW raised its concern about the ‘Convention [having] been in force in the State party for 25 years’ and ‘the lack of progress in undertaking and completing necessary revisions of discriminatory provisions in national legislation and in enacting a comprehensive legal framework pertaining to gender equality,’” says Atty. Clara Rita A. Padilla, Executive Director of EnGendeRights. Atty. Padilla submitted their collaborative Shadow Report to CEDAW and presented at the CEDAW-NGO dialogue at the UN. EnGendeRights drafted their collaborative Shadow Report together with the Center for Reproductive Rights, Reproductive Rights Resource Group-Philippines (3RG-Phils), and Health Development Initiatives Institute.

“The Committee expressed its concern about ‘the inadequate recognition and protection of the reproductive health and rights of women in the Philippines. The Committee is concerned about the high maternal mortality rates particularly the number of deaths resulting from induced abortions, high fertility rates, inadequate family planning services, the low rates of contraceptive use and difficulties in obtaining contraceptives. It is also concerned about the lack of sex education, especially in rural areas. It is concerned at the high rate of teenage pregnancies, which present a significant obstacle to girls’ educational opportunities and economic empowerment,’” Atty. Padilla added.

The Committee urged the Philippines as a State party “to take concrete measures to enhance women’s access to health care, in particular to sexual and reproductive health services, in accordance with article 12 of the Convention and the Committee’s general recommendation 24 on women and health. It requests the State party to strengthen measures aimed at the prevention of unwanted pregnancies, including by making a comprehensive range of contraceptives more widely available and affordable and without any restriction and by increasing knowledge and awareness about family planning. The Committee recommends that the State party give priority attention to the situation of adolescents and that it provide sex education, targeted at girls and boys, with special attention to the prevention of early pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.”

“The Committee urged the Philippines ‘to consider the problem of unsafe abortion as a matter of high priority. The Committee recommends that the State party consider reviewing the laws relating to abortion with a view to removing punitive provisions imposed on women who undergo abortion and provide them with access to quality services for the management of complications arising from unsafe abortions and to reduce women’s maternal mortality rates in line with the Committee’s general recommendation 24 on women and health and the Beijing Platform for Action,’” says Atty. Padilla.

CEDAW requests “the wide dissemination in the Philippines of the present concluding comments in order to make the people, including government officials, politicians, parliamentarians and women’s and human rights organizations, aware of the steps that have been taken to ensure de jure and de facto equality of women, as well as the further steps that are required in that regard.”

For a copy of the Concluding Comments, please click on the following link: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/cedaw36/cc/Philippines_25augrev.pdf