Guide to the Travaux Preparatories of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

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The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women - as other international instruments - was negotiated in an international and multicultural context by diplomats and politicians from a number of countries. It dealt with a highly sensitive issue, the position and role of women in society and in the political decision-making process. The vast number of extensive reservations to the Convention bear witness to the fact that this is possibly one of the most contentious topics at the international level. Few other core universal human rights conventions have attracted a comparable number of reservations.This unique "Guide" is an attempt to create a picture of the legal--political background to the Convention. Its basic layout follows the style of a classical commentary with annotations to the individual provisions. These annotations draw on documentary sources from the years of preparatory discussions and negotiations (the "travaux" "priparatoires").It primarily covers the genesis of the Convention, i.e. the drafting and negotiating process up to its adoption in 1979. To enhance the "Guid