The EDVAW Platform: cooperation among UN, global and regional women’s rights mechanisms

EDVAW stands for Independent Expert Mechanisms on Discrimination and Violence against Women

In her vision-setting report from 2016 (A/HRC/32/42), the Special Rapporteur announced her intention to develop strong cooperation and synergies among independent UN and regional mechanisms on violence and discrimination against women and girls. She led an initiative to develop institutional links and thematic cooperation among mechanisms, with a view to improving  implementation of the existing international legal and policy framework on violence against women.

The initiative, known as the EDVAW Platform, was formally launched on 12 March 2018 (see the concept note).  

The EDVAW Platform is made up of the following expert mechanisms:

• UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls
• UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) 
• UN Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women (WGDAW) 
• Committee of Experts of the Follow-up Mechanism to the Belém do Pará Convention (MESECVI) 
• Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO) 
• African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa (A SRWHR) 
• Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Rapporteur on the Rights of Women (IA RWHR) 

The EDVAW Platform's contributions to the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action

In the context of its 25-year review, the EDVAW Platform launched two e-booklets during a high level panel on 17 March 2021, in the margins of the 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women:

1. Beijing Platform for Action: Contributions of the Platform of independent expert mechanisms on the elimination of discrimination and violence against women (EDVAW Platform) towards its implementation (2020); and 
2.  EDVAW Platform and the Commission on the Status of Women: call for a human rights based approach in the implementation of strategies for the elimination of discrimination and violence against women.

You can find both publications, in combined form, at the following link.

Key activities of the EDVAW Platform

Meetings and events

• Panel "A journey to strengthen cooperation between the international and regional mechanisms on women's rights", 61st session of the Commission on the Status of Women, March 2017
• Meeting of independent global and regional experts on women's rights and violence against women with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, March 2017
• Panel "Regional and International Mechanisms for an integral approach to violence against women and girls", organized in Washington, DC by MESECVI in November 2017 (concept note and video)
• CSW High Level Panel on "Strengthening Cooperation between Global and Regional Independent Mechanisms dealing with Violence and Discrimination against Women", 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women, March 2018 (flyer and concept note)
• First Official Meeting: Consultation between Global and Regional Mechanisms on Violence and Discrimination against Women, 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women, March 2018 (agenda)
• Expert group meeting on violence against women in politics at the headquarters of UN Women, March 2018 (news release and SRVAW report)
• Meeting of the mechanisms with UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, March 2018

• Official Regional Meeting of the Platform of independent international and regional mechanisms on violence against women and women's rights, during the 169th session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, in Boulder, Colorado, United States of America, October 2018 (report)
• Meeting with the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, in Washington, DC, USA, November 2018
• Informal Meeting of the Platform of independent mechanisms during the 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women, March 2019
• Official Regional Meeting of the Platform of independent international and regional mechanisms on violence against women and women's rights hosted by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, May 2019 (report)
• Meeting of the Platform of independent international and regional mechanisms on violence against women and women's rights under the leadership of the UN Special Rapporteur and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights Special Rapporteur on Rights of Women in Africa and in collaboration with the Secretariat of Gender Is My Agenda Campaign (GIMAC) and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for Eastern Africa (EARO) (report)
• Online Meeting of the Platform of Independent Expert Mechanisms on Discrimination and Violence against Women (EDVAW Platform), May 2020 (report)
• 9th Meeting of the Platform of Independent Expert Mechanisms on Discrimination and Violence against Women (EDVAW Platform), held online in October 2020 (meeting notes)
• 10th Meeting of the EDVAW Platform, held online in October 2021 (meeting notes)

Statements and press releases

• International Day on the Elimination of Violence against Women – Joint call by UN Rapporteur on Violence against Women and all other global and regional mechanisms to end femicide and gender-based violence (November 2016) (statement)
• Joint statement by independent UN and regional women's human rights mechanisms on the consideration of Sustainable Development Goal 5 by the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (July 2017) (statement)
• End the global epidemic of femicide (*NiUnaMenos) and support women speaking up against violence against women (*MeToo) (November 2018) (statement)
• Independent women human rights mechanisms are part of the solution to "push back the pushbacks and keep pushing back" (March 2019) (statement)
• Intimate partner violence against women is an essential factor in the determination of child custody, say women's rights experts (May 2019) (statement)
• Violence and harassment against women and girls in the world of work is a human rights violation, say independent human rights mechanisms on violence against women and women's rights (May 2019) (statement)
• Absence of consent must become the global standard for definition of rape, say experts (November 2019) (press release and statement)
• Elimination of discrimination and violence against women and girls, including its root causes, must be integrated in all efforts to silence the guns before, during and after conflict (February 2020) (press release and statement)
• Urgent action needed to end pandemic of gender-based violence, say women’s rights experts (July 2020) (press release and statement)
• The Platform of independent expert mechanisms on the elimination of discrimination and violence against women (EDVAW Platform) calls on the UN Commission on the Status of Women to use women's human rights instruments and expert mechanisms to accelerate the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (March 2021) (statement)
• All forms of violence against women and girls must stop - experts (November 2021) (statement)
• Using the international and regional legal framework to stop all forms of violence against women and girls (March 2022) (statement)

Access the full report of the platform's activities (2017-2020).