Womens Intercultural Network Inc

The Civil Society/ Non-governmental Organization Cities for CEDAW Campaign is being led by the Women’s Intercultural Network (WIN), an NGO Consultative to the UN Economic and Social Council since 1998. We believe that an implemented CEDAW -the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women - can help to create a more civil society in the world and safe, healthy, sustainable cities. We invite you to join with us to “bring the global local “ – to bring CEDAW to the grassroots of America for implementation.

In 1998, the combined city and county governments of San Francisco adopted a breakthrough ordinance implementing and enforcing the provisions of CEDAW within municipal government. As a result public safety has improved and domestic violence has decreased with zero domestic homicides over the 44 month period ending December 2013.

Money donated to the Cities for CEDAW Campaign will enable WIN to provide support to women in cities and towns across the country as they push for local CEDAW implementation ordinances. We've estimated that a successful campaign to establish 100 CEDAW Cities will cost quite a bit; the money provided during this phase of the campaign will enable WIN to approach institutional donors committed to women's human rights with confidence and good results. If you have ideas for future fundraising or are interested in making a major gift to the campaign, please write to us at citiesforcedaw@gmail.com or visit citiesforcedaw.org.

To learn what the Citiies of San Francisco, Los Angeles and others are  doing to implement in their cities and to help promote this campaign among mayors and elected officials, get INVOLVED  http://citiesforcedaw.org/get-involved/

WHAT IS CEDAW?
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, a United Nations treaty for all women’s equality. The only international human rights treaty that focuses on women’s rights and provides a universal definition of discrimination against women so those who would discriminate on the basis of sex can no longer claim that no clear definition exists. It also calls for action to eliminate discrimination in many areas including politics, law, employment, education and health care. 

WHAT IS THE CITIES FOR CEDAW CAMPAIGN:
A national campaign with peer leaders WIN and the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women (SFDOSW) culminating in strong public commitments to enforceable CEDAW ordinances in 100 US cities supported by a Resolution (pdf) at the US Mayor’s Conference in San Francisco, June, 2015.

WHY DO WE NEED A CITIES FOR CEDAW CAMPAIGN:
The US signed CEDAW in 1979, but the US Senate has not ratified it despite on-going advocacy in favor of ratification from diverse civil society organizations working at the national level. Los Angeles has since adopted a similar ordinance to San Francisco. Mayors of both San Francisco and Los Angeles believe that the CEDAW ordinances have materially improved the lives of women in their municipalities and fostered more transparent and accountable governance.

There are now 56 cities engaged with ordinances or resolutions. By engaging 44 additional U.S. cities in implementing CEDAW, this campaign hopes to increase awareness of, strong support for CEDAW implementation and demonstrate its usefulness as a tool for achieving gender equity: in political participation and representation, in income and earnings, in access to healthcare throughout the life cycle and in public and personal safety. This mobilization of civic engagement for Mayoral action in 2017 should create conditions under which the U.S. senate will ratify CEDAW.