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The Wikipedia article on one of the United Nations' specialized bodies, the Commission on the Status of Women, is disappointing for a variety of reasons. From a functionality standpoint, this article only has three notes and less than 10 notes. The overview section is incredibly brief and fails to touch on any of the specific actions taken by the body in depth, especially with regards to the numerous efforts it has made to improve both transnational reproductive health and justice. The CSW is a complex and multifaceted body which aims to improve the well-being of women throughout the world by providing them with access to reproductive aids, healthcare, and education through a variety of appropriate means, but these efforts are not reflected in any aspect of the existing article. Additionally, the introduction mentions that a variety of non-governmental organizations work with the CSW, but fails to identify any explicitly. If I were to draft edits for the current entry, I would be sure to include in-depth reports on past and current efforts by the body and its members to improve the status of women in a variety of areas including that of reproduction. sabrina's wikipedia page

Reproductive rights and the Commission[edit]

Early Work and CEDAW[edit]

The Commission began working after its founding in 1946 to directly introduce women's rights to the international arena.[1] This was achieved through a variety of means, most commonly through attempts to collect data that showed discrimination occurring against women.[1] In conjunction with the emerging global women's movement, the UN and the CSW named 1976 through 1985 the United Nations Decade for Women. During this time, reproductive rights were included in the central action of the Commission, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) which entered into force in 1981[1]. This convention stipulated that with regards to reproductive rights, reproduction "should not be a basis for discrimination".[2] It also acknowledges the social implications of motherhood, and states that childcare and maternity protection are integral rights and should be extended to all realms of the lives of women.[2] CEDAW is the only international human rights treaty that overtly references family planning. It states that it is a human right for women "to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and to hove access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these rights", and any state party to the treaty is required to provide education on family planning and reproductive rights, including various forms of contraception.[2] [3] Forced abortion or sterilization constitute violations to the treaty.[3] The United States has failed to ratify CEDAW. [4] In addition to CEDAW, the CSW has undertaken several other efforts to address reproductive rights. Throughout this time, the Commission hosted four global conferences on women to address issues including reproductive rights.[5] The locations were Mexico City in 1975, Copenhagen in 1980, and Nairobi in 1985.[5]

Fourth World Conference on Women and Beijing Platform for Action[edit]

In 1995, the Commission held the Fourth World Conference for Action, better known as the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.[6] This followed three other conferences addressing the needs and rights of women around the world.[7] The Beijing Platform has been hailed by the Center for Reproductive Rights as "the most comprehensive articulation of international commitments related to women’s human rights." [8] It places a special emphasis on reproductive rights through its legislation regarding family planning, which states that it is the right of all women “to be informed and to have access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods of family planning of their choice, as well as other methods of their choice for regulation of fertility which are not against the law."[9] Specifically, the Platform urges state governments to reevaluate punitive measures placed on abortion, provide family planning and a range of contraceptives as alternatives to abortion as well as quality abortion after care.[9] The Platform also presents a safe, healthy pregnancy as a human right which is to be attained through quality resources and healthcare available to all women regardless of economic status.[9] Some scholars have argued that the Platform served to complicate issues of adolescent sexual care and complications resulting from HIV and AIDS.[7]

Reproductive Rights in the Twenty First Century[edit]

Since the new millennium, the CSW has also taken action to integrate reproductive rights into the international arena through the creation of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), specifically goal 5, which is achieving universal access to reproductive health. In 2005, the UN added a provision to MDG 5 which aimed to "achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health," determined by the prevalence of contraceptives, adolescent birth rates, the use of prenatal care, and the failure to access family planning methods.[10] The agreements published from the 57th session in 2013 of the CSW also mentions the importance of reproductive rights as human rights and access to safe reproductive care as a means to resolve violence against women. The Declaration also understands this care as a means of prevention of future violence, acknowledges systematic factors and how they influence care and reproductive rights.[11] More recently, the CSW reaffirmed their prioritization of their sexual education, reproductive rights, and reproductive justice for all women including the use of modern family planning options (including a range of contraceptive options) through publishing their 2014 Declaration of Agreements.[12]

  1. ^ a b c "Short History of the Commission on the Status of Women" (PDF). United Nations. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c UN General Assembly, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 18 December 1979, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1249, p. 13, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3970.html [accessed 22 February 2017]
  3. ^ a b Bustelo, Carla (1995). "REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND CEDAW". The American University Law Review. 44:1145: 1145–1150.
  4. ^ "CEDAW Advances Women's Human Rights". Center for Reproductive Rights. 2014-02-20. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  5. ^ a b "World Conferences on Women". UN Women. Retrieved 2017-03-01.
  6. ^ "Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing 1995". www.un.org. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  7. ^ a b Haslegrave, Marianne; Havard, John (1995). "Women's Right to Health and the Beijing Platform for Action: The Retreat from Cairo?" (PDF). Health and Human Rights. 1 (4): 461–471. doi:10.2307/4065253. JSTOR 4065253. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  8. ^ "BEIJING + 15 No Equality Without Full Enjoyment of Women's Sexual and Reproductive Rights" (PDF). Center for Reproductive Rights. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  9. ^ a b c United Nations, Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women, 27 October 1995, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3dde04324.html [accessed 15 February 2017]
  10. ^ "Expanding Millennium Development Goal 5: Universal access to reproductive health by 2015" (PDF). UNICEF. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  11. ^ "Elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls 2013 Commission on the Status of Women Agreed Conclusions" (PDF). Commission on the Status of Women. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  12. ^ Lederer, E. M. (2014, Mar 23). UN document promotes equality for women; it reaffirms their sexual and reproductive rights, endorses sex education for adolescents. St.Louis Post - Dispatch Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1509322389?accountid=15131
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