The CEDAW Index
The United Nations (UN) treaty body system is a powerful mechanism for promoting human rights. The UN influences government action through monitoring, programs, and country-specific recommendations.
In the context of women’s rights, the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) influences government action by periodically reviewing 189 countries every four years. Governments report on their progress ahead of each review, and civil society organisations offer grassroots perspectives to the Committee in the form of ‘shadow reports’ which validate or challenge government narratives.
The problem
A significant challenge limiting the potential of the UN treaty body system is that the CEDAW Committee lacks clarity on the implementation of its recommendations, and their overall effectiveness in achieving health and social outcomes.
Despite its 40-year history, CEDAW lacks a systematic monitoring tool to track implementation. Government
Impact story – Sravanthi’s journey to a healthy pregnancy after losing a baby to preeclampsia
Sravanthi's story
Sravanthi lost her first baby in the eight month of pregnancy due to pre-eclampsia. When she became pregnant again, she was enrolled in the SMARThealth Pregnancy program. This time, an ASHA worker diagnosed her high blood pressure and helped her manage her condition through to the birth of her baby boy.
“My health improved, my blood pressure stabilised, and I was able to carry the pregnancy to term. I feel much better now, both physically and mentally. I no longer live in fear.By: SravanthiSMARThealth user
Sravanthi's story
Struggling to make a living on low wages and handouts from family members, life got even harder for newly married Sravanthi when she became pregnant for the first time and had to give up her part time job processing tobacco leaves.
During the fifth month of her pregnancy, she started to experience some worrying signs that something was wrong – her legs, face, and whole body swelled up.
"At the hospi
Why do we need to #SwitchTheSalt?
Why do we need to #SwitchTheSalt?
Almost everyone eats salt and almost everyone eats too much of it. Eating too much salt increases blood pressure, leading to heart attacks, strokes and deaths. Despite the efforts by governments and medical organisations over the last decade to reduce population salt intakes, little progress has been made. This is because people have become accustomed to the taste and dietary habits are hard to change. Salt is also a widely used ingredient in food manufacturing, and progress towards lowering levels in packaged foods has been slow.
Find out more about our work to scale up the use of potassium-enriched salt across the global food supply.
What is potassium-enriched salt?
Potassium-enriched salt is a practical and scalable approach to lowering blood pressure and with it, the risk of strokes, heart attacks and death. Salt is made up of 100% sodium and chloride. A potassium-enriched salt, however, has some of the harmful sodium chloride replaced wi
Sex and gender equity
When it comes to our health the story isn't balanced. But it should be. We are committed to achieving health equity through our sex and gender initiatives.
We consider how sex and gender influence health and medical research because it is sound science and promotes the health of everyone.
Discover how The George Institute is leading efforts to close the sex and gender health gap in a video by our Founding Director, Prof Robyn Norton, and a blog from our Chair in Global Women’s Health, Prof Jane Hirst.
The George Institute's Sex and Gender Initiatives
Centre for Sex and Gender EquityThe Centre for Sex and Gender Equity in Health and Medicine brings together researchers across Australia with an interest in the effects of sex and gender on health outcomes.Learn more
The MESSAGE ProjectThe Medical Science Sex and Gender Equity project aims to improve the integration of sex and gender considerations in biomedical, health and care research in the United Kin
