In the recently concluded Women’s Conference in Palau, CEDAW which has been translated into Palauan language was among those exhibited.
“My Ministry has translated it into Palauan just in time for the Women’s Conference for the benefit of women who don’t speak English,” said Minister Marugg.
The minister said their goal is simply to raise awareness. “The whole idea is just to raise awareness because women in Palau have heard about CEDAW and wondering why is Palau not ratifying the convention,” said Minister Marugg. She added that yes, women in Palau traditionally already have their full rights being a matriarchal society. “But we also need to look at today’s situation and address the modern day Palau,” she said.
The CEDAW, which is often referred to as an international bill of rights of women, was adopted in 1979 and came into effect in 1981. It consists of a preamble and 30 articles that define what constitutes discrimination against women and provides an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.
The Convention defines discrimination against women as “…any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.”
By accepting the Convention, the countries commit themselves to undertake a series of measures to end discrimination against women in all forms, which includes incorporating the principle of equality of men and women in their legal system, abolishing all discriminatory laws and adopting appropriate ones prohibiting discrimination against women, among others.
According to Minister Marugg, countries that have ratified the Convention are bound to put its provisions into practice. “You need to report to a commission to see what has changed, whether the women have full rights to education, full rights to health, employment,” she explained. Family and domestic violence should also be looked at.
“Because there really are problems, so women will not be afraid to speak up and say that they have been hurt.”
In a separate interview, Bilung Gloria Salii said that it may take a while for Palau to ratify the convention “because we don’t want to enter into some kind of agreement to join other nations and then it will have a conflict with our culture. We will support that, but we are not yet ready to sign it.” She said women in Palau no longer needs some of the articles in CEDAW. “But we are willing to support the other women in the world for their rights.”
The Minister agrees with Salii. “When you read the articles, it really talks about women, men, children, family, the right of women to education, health,” said Minister Marugg. “There is no problem in Palau for that, people here are free to pursue whatever they want, whether they’re a man or a woman. Women in Palau already have a place in the political arena.”
But eventually, said the minister, they need to look at all the articles to see which ones are not really agreed to by Palau. “I just want to make sure that as part of the world, we need to work with women of other places, with the global community,” she said.
Next week, the minister will be meeting with another group of women who are interested in talking about CEDAW. “Different groups of women are interested,” she said. “We will talk and discuss it, see which articles apply to women in Palau and which ones are questionable for us.”
A lot of young women, common women who are mothers want to know about it, she said. “It’s a good sign. I think eventually we will ratify it.
But first before that happens, we need to discuss and talk about it.”
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