Qatar Becomes the 186th Nation to Ratify CEDAW!

What do Sudan, Somalia, Iran, and the United States have in common? They are just a few of the states that have yet to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women [CEDAW]. The United States remains the only developed nation in the world to not have ratified CEDAW. The state to ratify CEDAW most recently was Qatar. On April 26, 2009, Qatar ratified CEDAW without any reservations to the Convention. This Convention is necessary for the promotion of the rights of women and girls throughout the world. Ratification would give the United States leverage and positive influence in the field of international women's rights. U.S. criticism of human rights abusers can be rejected because the U.S. has not ratified this fundamental human rights treaty. The time to ratify is now because the support is there! When Vice President Biden was Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee he was one of the leading proponents of the treaty. President Barack Obama has expressed his support for treaty ratification. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is even quoted as saying, "The CEDAW treaty [is] the most authoritative UN negotiated treaty to protect women around the world from discrimination. The United States signed this agreement in 1980. It is past time that we became a party to this convention." It is almost 30 years since President Jimmy Carter signed the Convention, let's not let it go any longer without being ratified.