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ANNEX 6:CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OFDISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMENRESERVATIONS TO CEDAWCEDAW status aOptionalprotocol bCompatibility withreligious, customaryor traditional lawsand practices cElimination ofdiscrimination dEquality inemployment eEquality ofnationality fEqualityto chooseresidence gEqual rightsin marriageand family hSocialprotection iNamibia ratified ratifiedNiger ratified ratified reservation reservation reservation reservationNigeria ratified ratifiedRwanda ratified ratifiedSão Tomé andPrínciperatifiedsignatureonlySenegal ratified ratifiedSeychelles ratified ratifiedSierra Leone ratified signatureonlySomalia has not signed or ratified - - - - - - - -South Africa ratified ratifiedSouth Sudan has not signed or ratified - - - - - - - -Sudan has not signed or ratified - - - - - - - -SwazilandratifiedTogoratifiedUgandaratifiedUnited Republic ofratifiedratifiedTanzaniaZambia ratified signatureonlyZimbabweratifiedSource:Columns 1-9: UN Women systematisation based on data from UN 2015, as of March 2015.Notes:“-” indicates where information on CEDAW status and/or CEDAW reservations are notapplicable.The table does not include reservations entered by countries which extend, or reserve the rightto extend, more favourable treatment to women, because these measures, used to addressstructural discrimination against women, are explicitly mandated by the Convention, in theform of temporary special measures.῀. Indicates countries that have no explicit reservation to Article 16 on equal rights in marriageand family, but they maintain a general reservation in relation to the use of religious laws thatmandate differential treatment of men and women in respect to family law or “personal law”matters.a. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was adoptedin 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution A/RES/34/180. It came intoforce on 3 September 1981.b. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discriminationagainst Women was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 6 October 1999 inits resolution A/RES/54/4 and came into force on 22 December 2000. Article 2 of the Protocolstates that: ‘Communications may be submitted by or on behalf of individuals or groups ofindividuals, under the jurisdiction of a State Party, claiming to be victims of a violation of any ofthe rights set forth in the Convention by that State Party. Where a communication is submittedon behalf of individuals or groups of individuals, this shall be with their consent unless theauthor can justify acting on their behalf without such consent.’”c. ‘Compatibility with religious laws or traditional codes’ indicates that a State finds someprovisions of CEDAW incompatible with traditional codes that the State cannot or will notchange; this category includes countries that explicitly adhere to Shari’a or tribal laws or thatprotect and grant supremacy to minority traditions over their own national laws.d. ‘Elimination of discrimination’ indicates reservations to the commitments to condemndiscrimination against women in ‘all its forms’ contained in Article 2. The CEDAW Committeehas identified these rights as central to the object and purpose of the Convention.e. ‘Equality in employment’ indicates reservations to CEDAW’s provisions on equality inemployment.f. ‘Equality of nationality’ refers to reservations concerning Article 9, which ensures equalnationality and citizenship rights, including the transmission of citizenship from mother to child.g. ‘Equality to choose residence’ reflects a country’s reservation to Article 15(4), whichaccords to men and women the same legal rights with regard to their movement and thefreedom to choose their residence and domicile.h. ‘Equal rights in marriage and family’ encapsulates reservations from countries to CEDAW’sprovisions on rights relating to marital and family issues, including the obligation to ensurewomen and men equal rights to marry, to exercise free and full consent, to dissolvemarriage, to make parental decisions, to decide on the number and spacing of children,to act as guardian to their children, to choose a profession, and to own and manageproperty. Most of these relate to Article 16. The CEDAW Committee has identified theserights as central to the object and purpose of the Convention.i. Reservations in this category are entered by Member States in relation to articles ofCEDAW on social protection and social security (Articles 11(e); 14(2)(c); 11(2)(b); and 13 (a)),including on pensions, maternity leave, family benefits and unemployment and disabilitybenefits.k. This reservation is expressed in the form of a Declaration.l. The text of the reservation reads: ‘As regards subparagraph 1 (f) of article 16, the UnitedKingdom does not regard the reference to the paramountcy of the interests of the childrenas being directly relevant to the elimination of discrimination against women, and declaresin this connection that the legislation of the United Kingdom regulating adoption, whilegiving a principal position to the promotion of the children’s welfare, does not give to thechild’s interests the same paramount place as in issues concerning custody over children’.m. The text of the reservation reads: ‘Articles 16, 1 (d) and (f): Ireland is of the view thatthe attainment in Ireland of the objectives of the Convention does not necessitate theextension to men of rights identical to those accorded by law to women in respect of theguardianship, adoption and custody of children born out of wedlock and reserves the rightto implement the Convention subject to that understanding’.