FIAN International publishes analytical note on recently adopted CEDAW General Recommendation on Rural Women

Publish Date: 
Monday, April 25, 2016

ESCR-Net member FIAN International recently published an analysis of General Recommendation No. 34 on the rights of rural women, which was issued by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Committee) in March, 2016.

FIAN’s note focuses on the aspects of the General Recommendation that relate to the explicit recognition of the right to adequate food and nutrition of rural women. The analysis notes that the adoption of the General Recommendation is especially significant because “it is the first international instrument that specifically addresses the rights of rural women and furthermore, it is the first that explicitly recognizes the human right to adequate food and nutrition of rural women within the framework of food sovereignty.”

FIAN’s analysis also demonstrates the ways in which the General Recommendation is an important tool which civil society can use to hold their governments accountable for human rights violations suffered by rural women. For example, among other things, civil society actors can be guided by the General Recommendation to include specific information in their parallel reports to the CEDAW Committee during the State reporting process regarding compliance with the CEDAW Convention.

As noted in a previous Member News item, several ESCR-Net members, including Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) and FIAN International, had advocated for this General Recommendation. 

FIAN’s analytical note can be found here. The note is also available in Spanish and in French.

General Recommendation No 34 on the Rights of Rural Women can be found here.