Although Indonesia has ratified CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women), this does not guarantee that the issue of discrimination against women in Indonesia has been resolved. The numerous issues of discrimination against women in Indonesia remain a concern for the UN CEDAW Committee. The implementation of the CEDAW Convention in Indonesia, including CEDAW’s Concluding Observations, needs to be promoted by various parties, including civil society.
One role that civil society can play is to monitor the state’s obligations for CEDAW implementation. Monitoring CEDAW implementation is crucial for civil society in Indonesia to conduct regularly and continuously to measure the progress of the CEDAW Convention, including the progress of implementing the Concluding Observations by the executive, legislative, and judiciary branches.
The results of this monitoring can be used as advocacy material to urge the state to fulfill its obligations for the protection and fulfillment of women’s rights, as well as the elimination of discrimination against women. The results of this monitoring can also be used as material for preparing independent reports (alternative reports) to the UN CEDAW Committee.
The series of activities initiated by CWGI officially began in August 2022, with the CEDAW Implementation Monitoring Workshop held on August 18-19, 2022, at Hotel Akmani, Jakarta.
This activity was attended by 50 participants representing civil society (women’s organizations) from Aceh to Papua. This activity is fully supported by IPAS Indonesia Foundation, as well as other CWGI activities to be held in the future.
Considering the objectives of the workshop, several achievements have been made, one of which is the discussion of CEDAW implementation monitoring tools, which CWGI has possessed for quite some time, since 2011. The involvement of civil society groups or women’s organizations from various regions in Indonesia also provided evolving discourse and information, which were then integrated into the CEDAW monitoring tools.
The joint CWGI project aims to support relevant ministries in developing work plans that respond to the 2021 CEDAW Committee’s Concluding Observations Recommendations on Women’s Reproductive Health, as a result of strong civil society advocacy. It is crucial to collectively reflect on CEDAW implementation in Indonesia and to review CEDAW monitoring indicators, considering that over the past 11 years, many forms of discrimination against women have been identified which CWGI had not previously been able to accommodate. These CEDAW monitoring indicators are expected to serve as a guide for civil society organizations and other relevant parties to analyze the extent to which state policies and programs comply with the Convention’s provisions, and to assess the state’s accountability and responsibility in implementing the CEDAW Convention at both local and national levels. (*)