Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women was adopted by General Assembly on October 6, 1999. By ratifying the Optional Protocol, a State recognizes the competence of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
The optional protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women includes:
- The Communications Procedure which gives individuals and groups of women the right to complain to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women about violations of the Convention.
- An inquiry procedure that enables the Committee to conduct inquiries into serious and systematic abuses of women’s human rights in countries that become States parties to the Optional Protocol.
