HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.C.R. NO.15          
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION
URGING THE UNITED STATES SENATE TO RATIFY THE UNITED NATIONS
   CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION
   AGAINST WOMEN.



 1      WHEREAS, The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of
 2   All Forms of Discrimination Against Women was adopted by the
 3   United Nations General Assembly on December 18, 1979, and
 4   became an international treaty on September 3, 1981; and
 5   
 6      WHEREAS, the convention established a comprehensive
 7   framework addressing women's rights within political, cultural,
 8   economic, social, and family contexts, that serves to
 9   strengthen the existing body of standards respecting
10   fundamental human rights by providing a uniform and universal
11   definition of discrimination; and
12   
13      WHEREAS, the convention has already demonstrated its value
14   by serving as the instrument by which women in Sri Lanka and
15   Zambia have improved their status; and
16   
17      WHEREAS, in 1992 Sri Lanka adopted a charter that was based
18   on the convention and which guaranteed women equal status, and
19   in 1985 Zambia ratified the convention and in 1991 extended its
20   Bill of Rights to cover sex discrimination; and
21   
22      WHEREAS, as of June 1997, 161 nations had ratified the
23   convention's provisions; and
24   
25      WHEREAS, although the United States is considered a world
26   leader in the protection of basic human rights, supports and
27   has a position of leadership in the United Nations, and was an
28   active participant in the drafting and is a signatory of the
29   convention, the United States is one of the few nations that
30   has not ratified the treaty; and
31   
32      WHEREAS, although women have made progress in the struggle
33   for equality in the political, cultural, economic, social, and
34   family contexts, there is much more to be accomplished; and
35   through its support, leadership and prestige, the United States
36   can help create a world where women are no longer discriminated
37   against and have achieved one of the most fundamental of human
38   rights, equality; now, therefore,

 
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 1       BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
 2   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
 3   of 1999, the Senate concurring, that the United States Senate
 4   is urged to ratify the United Nations Convention on the
 5   Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and to
 6   support the convention's continuing goals; and
 7   
 8       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this concurrent
 9   resolution, signed by the Governor, be transmitted to the
10   President of the United States, the Secretary of State, the
11   President Pro Tem of the United States Senate, every member of
12   the United States Senate and every member of the Hawaii
13   congressional delegation.
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