A workshop on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) held recently in Port Vila, Vanuatu, centred on discussing the discrimination faced by young women in the Pacific region as well as how CEDAW can address these young women's concerns.

“Young women are doubly discriminated—for being both young and female. And young women living with disabilities face three-fold discrimination,” said Susan Naidu, research officer of the Fiji Women's Rights Movement.

Naidu spoke on behalf of the young women's caucus, at a workshop on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) on November 19-21, 2007 in Port Vila, Vanuatu.  The workshop focused on the implementation of concluding observations delivered by the UN CEDAW Committee to Pacific states.

“This discrimination is not always obvious. For us, CEDAW provides a framework for identifying discrimination. It is a living document which needs new interpretations inclusive of young women's realities,” Naidu pointed out.

The workshop presentation highlighted Pacific young women’s experiences, particularly from Samoa, Fiji, the Cook Islands and Vanuatu, based on the thematic areas of Violence Against Women, Sexual Reproductive Rights and Health, Women in the Workforce, and Women's Participation in Politics.

Pacific young women’s issues include:

• increasing rate of sexual abuse and commercial sexual exploitation;
• equality in political participation and decision making;
• importance of maternity protection provisions; and
• teenage pregnancies as a cause of young women’s discrimination not only from men, but also from many of the older women in their communities.

At the end of the discussion, the caucus then made the following recommendations:

• Recognise the double discrimination faced by young women because they are both young and female. Participants emphasised the need for state parties to include the active participation of young women in the implementation of CEDAW to ensure that their experiences and realities are truly reflected;
• Note the importance of nurturing young people to become future leaders. Participants called on states and local, regional and international organisations to support current leadership programmes in both formal and informal education and to establish new methods of developing young women leaders;
• Urge states parties to support innovative leadership programmes and existing efforts for the advancement of young women at all levels; and
• Encourage state parties to review the voting age to empower young people to contribute in decision-making.

Source:
“We have the same issues – we only experience it differently!” by Susan Naidu, Fiji Women's Rights Movement.