Women’s representation at the international level: empirical analysis of the implementation of arts. 7 and 8 of the CEDAW

Gender equality is a fundamental human right and a prerequisite for achieving sustainable development. Despite significant progress in recent decades, women remain underrepresented in diplomatic and other leadership positions at the international level, facing systematic barriers and gender-based discrimination.

The project “Gender Equality in the Mirror (GEM): Clothing the Invisibility of Women at International Level” deals with women’s participatory rights in human rights law and investigates whether and to which extent articles 7 and 8[1] of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) have been implemented by providing the first comprehensive analysis of measures adopted by Member States of the CEDAW. Based on this, the project aims to understand the role of affirmative action and other legal measures and policies in accelerating participatory equality.

Against this background, the project focuses on three key areas: a. legal provisions adopted at the domestic level for domestic representation; b. legal provisions adopted at the domestic and international level for international representation; c. soft law and interpretive mechanisms from human rights monitoring bodies. This approach aims to provide a comprehensive picture of women’s participatory rights, considering constitutional and legal provisions and their practical implementation.

 Based on the analysis of the mentioned documents, a database was created, accompanied by two tools for navigation. The first is an interactive map showing the global evolution of CEDAW implementation and offering country-specific information. The second is a graphical tool that provides a comparative overview of women’s participatory rights and CEDAW committee’s recommendations in this area.[2]

In addition, an empirical investigation was undertaken to assess the concrete implementation of women’s participatory rights at the international level, where limited research, reports, and recommendations from human rights bodies are available. Interviews were conducted with international judges, members of human rights bodies, and diplomats. The focus was on areas where women are traditionally underrepresented, aiming to uncover regulatory, political, and societal barriers that hinder women’s representation and identify best practices. Notably, one interview was conducted with a member of the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) committee, traditionally composed predominantly of women. This provided an opportunity to examine the existence of biases that characterize women’s representation at the international level.

The interviews revealed obstacles beyond legal frameworks that hinder gender equality, highlighted connections between gender equality at domestic and international levels, and offered valuable insights into good practices implemented in various countries.

The paper aims to offer an overview of the main insights that one can draw from the conducted empirical analysis. In addition, it offers some brief considerations on whether and to which extent the recently adopted CEDAW Committee’s General Recommendation No. 40 has addressed the issues mentioned in the interviews and incorporated some of the views and solutions proposed by the respondents.