The year 2010 marks the 35th anniversary of the first World Conference on Women, held in Mexico City, Mexico, in 1975.  This conference and others that followed in 1980,  1985 and 1995 complemented what the United Nations had initiated in 1946 with the establishment of the Commission on the Status of Women, dedicated to gender equality and the advancement of women. The culmination of the Commission’s work to promote women’s rights and to monitor the situation of women was the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women by the UN General Assembly on December 19, 1979. This convention went into force as an international treaty in 1981.

In its preamble the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) while acknowledging various international human rights covenants and instruments, firmly states that “extensive discrimination against women continues to exist.”  For this reason TransAfrica Forum has chosen to dedicate its Arthur R. Ashe, Jr. Foreign Policy Library 2010 Calendar to the improvement the advancement of women. Themes covered in the calendar include: human rights, trafficking, discrimination, health, education, maternal mortality rate, women’s reproductive rights, disempowerment, forced marriage, feminization of poverty, domestic violence, and HIV/AIDS.

Sample page of calendar.

For more information or to order the  2010 Calendar for $15.00 each email info@transafricaforum.orgor call 202.223.1960 ext. 137 or send your payment payable to TransAfrica Forum to TransAfrica Forum, Public Affairs, 1629 K Street, NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20006 and clearly denote 2010 Calendar. You can also pay online (on designation select publications).