On 18 December 2004, the United Nations marks the 25th Anniversary of its adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
The Convention was adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly and is often described as an international bill of rights for women. States Parties to the Convention are obliged under the Convention to submit periodic reports to the Committee on measures taken to comply with the Convention. Singapore acceded to the Convention in 1995.
Singapore has submitted its third and latest report to the UN Committee for CEDAW on 1 November 04.
In her foreword to the Report, Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, Minister of State for the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, notes the key advances made by Singapore, particularly, in the citizenship laws. She says, ''Today, in our globalised world, our women do work and live overseas. The change in our citizenship laws now allows a child born overseas to a Singaporean mother to acquire Singapore citizenship by descent, rather than in the previous manner where the mother has to register her child. This is an important step to recognize the changing role and contributions of Singaporean women.''
Outlining her vision for women, Mrs Yu Foo adds, ''MCYS wants to adopt the many helping hands approach in addressing issues concerning women. Issues today are complex and cross-cutting, and cannot be tackled well if we adopt a silo mentality. Instead, we, whether in the people, public or private sectors, need to come together to strengthen the foundation of our society and the advancement of women.''
Singapore's Third Periodic Report to the UN Committee for CEDAW can be accessed at MCYS' website. The Report highlights significant areas of progress made on issues concerning women during the reporting period of 2000 -2004. Apart from the change in citizenship laws mentioned above, other highlights included the removal of the intake quota for female medical students and the equalization of the medical benefits for male and female civil servants.
As with the Initial and Second Periodic Reports, inputs of government ministries and agencies were obtained through the Inter-Ministry Committee (IMC) on CEDAW in preparing this latest report. The IMC on CEDAW also received inputs from women's groups through a closed door session with them on 20th October 2004. The session was jointly organised with the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO). The IMC also received views of the larger women's groups such as The National Trades Union Congress Women's Committee (NTUC WC) and the People's Association Women Integration Network (PA WIN).
The President of SCWO, Ms Tisa Ng, said ''CEDAW is one of the most important instruments available to the women of States Parties to the Convention in their efforts to achieve equality. While the Singapore Government has been conscientious in submitting its report to the UN Committee and removed some of the contraventions pointed out by the local women's organisations, more can be done, for example in the public education of its citizens of the provisions of the Convention. As such, putting the Third Periodic Report on MCYS' website is a welcome move.'' The comments of the CEDAW Committee can be found on the UN Website and local NGO critique of previous reports can be accessed at www.scwo.org.sg