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THE SENATE                           S.R. NO.              S.D. 1
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  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
 2   of 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
18   based on the convention and which guaranteed women equal
19   status, and in 1985 Zambia ratified the convention and in 1991
20   extended its 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
36   States can help create a world in which women are no longer
37   discriminated against and have achieved one of the most
38   fundamental of human rights, equality; now, therefore,
39   
40        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature

 
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                                  S.R. NO.              S.D. 1
                                                        
                                                        


 1   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 1999, that the
 2   United States Senate is urged to ratify the United Nations
 3   Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
 4   Against Women and to support the convention's continuing goals;
 5   and
 6   
 7        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
 8   Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United
 9   States, the Secretary of State, the President Pro Tem of the
10   United States Senate, every member of the United States Senate,
11   and every member of the Hawaii congressional delegation.