Singapore acceded to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (UN CEDAW) on 5 October 1995.
20th Anniversary Commemorative Brochure
2015 marked the 20th anniversary of Singapore’s accession to UN CEDAW. MSF produced a commemorative brochure which contains key statistics to highlight the progress of women in Singapore over the decades. It also comprises government policies and initiatives that have benefitted women in Singapore over the years. Click here to see the brochure.
20th Anniversary Commemorative Video
MSF also commissioned a special video that highlights what women can achieve when given equitable access to opportunities. Click here to watch the video.
CEDAW Forum 2015 – See Doors Open Celebrating 20 years of CEDAW
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On 3 October 2015, the three mega women’s groups - the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO), People’s Association Women’s Integration Network Council (PA WIN) and the NTUC Women’s Development Secretariat (NTUC WDS) - organised a forum to commemorate Singapore’s 20th anniversary of accession to CEDAW. Entitled “See Doors Open Celebrating 20 years of CEDAW”, the CEDAW forum focused on Singapore’s progress from past to present and aspirations for the future. The event was strongly supported by MSF’s Office for Women’s Development, and attracted more than 200 participants. The Guest-of-Honour was Ms Low Yen Ling, Mayor of South West District and Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Participants were treated to a delightful opening dance performance by the PA WIN council members. Entitled “Our Women, Many Roles”, the performance depicted the transformation of women through the decades. The Guest-of-Honour delivered a welcome address, which set the tone for the morning’s event. The Guest-of-Honour also launched the CEDAW 20th anniversary commemorative video. Following the video screening, two cast members made a special appearance and talked about their personal lives, their experience filming their video and their aspirations for the future.
The programme line-up included a fire-side chat with Dr Anamah Tan, facilitated by Ms Malathi Das (President of SCWO), Dr Tan shared her experience as a former UN CEDAW committee member. This was followed by an interactive quiz segment with the audience, facilitated by Mr Martin Tan, Executive Director of the Institute of Societal Leadership at the Singapore Management University and Co-founder of Halogen Foundation Singapore. Through the informative quiz questions, participants learned more about CEDAW and the progress of women in Singapore.
The programme also boasted an interesting and perceptive panel discussion with Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, former Minister of State of the then Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports Ms Thelma Kay, former Chief of the Social Development Division of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and Ms Tan Yan Ru, a young speaker from Soroptimist International. The panel discussion was facilitated by Mr Martin Tan.