New Database Additions  Short Summary Title Producing Shadow Reports to the CEDAW Committee: A Procedural Guide Author International Women’s Right Action Watch (IWRAW) Publication Date January 2009 Publisher International Women’s Right Action Watch (IWRAW) Summary How can non-governmental organisations (NGOs) ensure governments are implementing international law to protect women's rights? This is a practical guide for NGOs who wish to use the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to hold their governments accountable for upholding and enforcing women's rights. CEDAW is enforced through a reporting mechanism, and the submission of shadow reports by NGOs can help ensure that governments are held accountable to their own constituents as well as to the UN. This manual offers a proposed timeline for NGO activity and guidelines on how to organise the shadow report. The manual outlines how the report should be presented, and how NGOs might work with the CEDAW Committee. Key recommendations include: - Once the government has ratified the CEDAW Convention, urge them to ratify the Optional Protocol to CEDAW as well - Establish contact with the OHCHR - cedaw@ohchr.org - Organise NGO coalition and prepare a list of issues, organised according to articles of the CEDAW Convention, and write shadow report. Complete Document http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/iwraw/proceduralguide-08.html