CEDAW General Recommendation No. 24: Article 12 of the Convention
(Women and Health)
Adopted at the Twentieth Session of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women, in 1999
(Contained in Document A/54/38/Rev.1, chap. I)
1.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women,
affirming that access to health care, including reproductive health, is a basic right
under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women, decided at its twentieth session, pursuant to article 21, to elaborate a general
recommendation on article 12 of the Convention.
Background
2.
States parties’ compliance with article 12 of the Convention is central to the
health and well-being of women. It requires States to eliminate discrimination against
women in their access to health-care services throughout the life cycle, particularly in
the areas of family planning, pregnancy and confinement and during the post-natal
period. The examination of reports submitted by States parties pursuant to article 18
of the Convention demonstrates that women’s health is an issue that is recognized as a
central concern in promoting the health and well-being of women. For the benefit of
States parties and those who have a particular interest in and concern with the issues
surrounding women’s health, the present general recommendation seeks to elaborate
the Committee’s understanding of article 12 and to address measures to eliminate
discrimination in order to realize the right of women to the highest attainable standard
of health.
3.
Recent United Nations world conferences have also considered these
objectives. In preparing this general recommendation, the Committee has taken into
account relevant programmes of action adopted at United Nations world conferences
and, in particular, those of the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights, the 1994
International Conference on Population and Development and the 1995 Fourth World
Conference on Women. The Committee has also noted the work of the World Health
Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other
United Nations bodies. It has collaborated with a large number of non-governmental
organizations with a special expertise in women’s health in preparing this general
recommendation.
4.
The Committee notes the emphasis that other United Nations instruments
place on the right to health and to the conditions that enable good health to be
achieved. Among such instruments are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.