What are the Concluding Observations?
After the CEDAW Committee reviews a State party’s progress and the challenges it experiences in implementing the Convention, the Committee issues its Concluding Observations (previously termed Concluding Comments) which provide specific guidance on how this performance could be improved in the national context. They note successful steps that have been taken to achieve gender equality, then identify the most critical measures that need to be taken in the future to implement the Convention. The Concluding Observations are very important resources for gender equality work. Not only do they provide authoritative guidance about what CEDAW requires in individual country contexts, but they are also valuable advocacy tools for use by gender equality advocates to press for needed changes in their countries.
