Johannesburg: The Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Thoko Didiza, has called on parliaments to strengthen their oversight of governments and ensure that commitments to end discrimination against women translate into tangible improvements in the lives of women and girls. The Speaker emphasized this during her participation in an Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) webinar focusing on parliamentary engagement and oversight of the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

According to African Press Organization, nearly five decades after CEDAW was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979, issues such as discrimination, inequality, and violence continue to impact millions of women and girls globally. The webinar highlighted that simply adopting laws and making international commitments are insufficient if they do not lead to significant change.

Parliaments play a critical role through their legislative, oversight, and budgetary responsibilities in bridging the gap between commitments made under CEDAW and their implementation. The discussions stressed the need for parliamentarians to scrutinize governmental progress, identify implementation gaps, examine national CEDAW reports, and follow up on recommendations from the international reporting process.

The webinar emphasized that CEDAW reporting should not be regarded merely as an international reporting obligation but as an essential accountability mechanism. Through this mechanism, parliaments can assess whether commitments are yielding measurable improvements for women and girls.

For South Africa, this responsibility is reinforced by the Constitution's commitment to equality, human dignity, and freedom from discrimination. Parliament thus has a central role in ensuring that legislation, public policy, government programs, and public spending advance substantive equality and the rights of women and girls.

The webinar also offered parliamentarians from IPU member countries the chance to exchange experiences and strengthen parliamentary approaches to monitoring the implementation of CEDAW.