GGCA Gender and Climate Change Training Manual - Women's ...

facilities, and appropriate technology…” 14 as well as the “the right to bank loans,
mortgages and other forms of financial credit”. 15
CEDAW also states that State Parties “shall take all appropriate measures
to ensure to women, on equal terms with men and without any discrimination,
the opportunity to represent their Governments at the international level and to
participate in the work of international organizations”. 16
The cumulative effect of these provisions is to create obligations
on countries to ensure that women are granted equal opportunities and
the conditions necessary to enable their: participation in decision making;
negotiation of climate change agreements; and equitable participation in
access to financial mechanisms and technologies. They may also be interpreted
as requiring states to ensure the fullest possible participation of women in law
and policy making at the international level, where such laws and policies are
necessary to prevent discrimination.
47
National implementation of CEDAW has occurred at various levels
including incorporation in constitutional law. The Ugandan and South African
constitutions, for example, contain significant provisions based on the
Convention’s principles which guarantee women’s equality. 17 The courts
have also begun to develop jurisprudence on gender equality with reference
to CEDAW’s provisions. A presentation by the UN Special Adviser on Gender
Issues and Advancement of Women, on the 25 th anniversary of CEDAW’s
adoption, drew attention to a number of cases in which courts had relied on the
Convention. This included: decisions by the Supreme Courts of Nepal, directing
the government to submit legislation to Parliament to address discriminatory
laws; the Constitutional Court of Guatemala upholding a challenge to the
penal code, which has provisions treating men and women differently; and a
decision of the High Court of Tanzania that overruled elements of customary law
which denied women the right to inherit and sell land. 18 These cases demonstrate
the preparedness of courts to reference the Convention in a wide range of issues.
It is conceivable that cases regarding climate change issues may well appear
before courts based upon discrimination against women, for example relating
to access to financial mechanisms and technologies, or the right to participate
in decision-making processes.
14
Article 14.2(g).
15
Article 13(b).
16
Article 8.
17
Statement by Ms Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of
Women, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the work of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women, New York, 23 July 2007.
18
Ibid.
Module 2