means of ensuring the full enjoyment of human rights. It encourages States parties to make use of positive measures, including preferential treatment, to advance the status of women and their ability to participate in decision- making in all spheres of national life – economic, social, cultural, civil and political.
States parties to the Convention agree, inter alia, to integrate the principle of the equality of men and women into national legislation; to adopt legislative and other measures, including sanctions where appropriate, prohibiting dis- crimination again women; to ensure through national tribunals and other public institutions the effective protection of women against discrimination; and to refrain from engaging in any discriminatory act or practice against women in the private sphere.
Article 17 of the Convention establishes the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to oversee the implementation of its provi- sions. When the 1999 Optional Protocol enters into force, the Committee’s functions will be expanded (see part 3). As at March 2000, 165 States were parties to the Convention.