Fwd: [CEDAW Taskforce] Nov. 2nd Hearing Recap
Beth Dehghan
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Thank you
Beth Dehghan
June Zeitlin wrote:
Good morning,
The SFRC hearing held last Wednesday, November 2, was a huge success, with a full room of people wearing "Ratify CEDAW" stickers! And while most of the testimony focused on the opportunities and risks for advancing women's rights in the Middle East and North Africa, it was made clear that the United States' ratification of CEDAW would reinforce our country's unequivocal commitment to women's rights and participation in these democratic transitions, both to women activists and the evolving governments in the region.
After Melanne Verveer, Ambassador for Women's Global Issues, reiterated the Administration's strong support for CEDAW ratification, Senator Barbara Boxer declared that she would, "do everything I can to figure out a way to get this done." We encourage you to send thank you notes to Senator Boxer's office for putting on the hearing and her comments on CEDAW, and we look forward to working with her office on next steps.
We also wanted to let you know that in addition to Sen. Boxer, Sen. Casey was present to co-chair the hearing and Sen. De Mint, the ranking minority member was present for the entire hearing. They were joined for some of the time by Sen. Tom Udall and Sen. Shaheen. Each Member expressed strong support for women's rights in the Middle East, though they didn't speak about CEDAW directly. Please also thank them for their interest and support.
Finally, here is a link to a slide show of the hearing and to a CNN story covering the hearing. Witness testimony and written testimony submitted by members of the task force can be found on the CEDAW website.
Again, we want thank you for all your support and will be back to you about how we can all build on this momentum for the ratification of CEDAW.
Warmly,
June
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June Zeitlin
Director, CEDAW Education Project
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
The Leadership Conference Education Fund
1629 K Street, NW, 10th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20006
202-263-2852 - Phone