CEDAW/C/NZL/CO/7 6. The Committee welcomes the appointment of the first Asian woman Minister and three Māori women Ministers. 7. The Committee commends the State party for a number of positive legislative and policy reforms for the advancement of women since the adoption of its last concluding observations in 2007, including: (a) The Campaign for Action on Family Violence (The “It’s Not OK Campaign”) launched by the Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families in 2008 aimed at changing attitudes to family violence; (b) Legislative changes passed in 2009 which enabled criminal courts to issue protection orders on behalf of victims in cases where a perpetrator is sentenced for a domestic violence offence. (c) The Employment Relations (Breaks, Infant Feeding, and Other Matters) Amendment Act of 2008 which promotes breastfeeding in the workplace; (d) A national education campaign launched in 2007 aimed at encouraging women to screen themselves for cervical cancer which has increased testing for all groups of women; and (e) The 2008 “Indicators for Change” developed by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs which tracks the progress of women’s rights issues in New Zealand. Principal areas of concern and recommendations 8. The Committee recalls the obligation of the State party to systematically and continuously implement all the provisions of the Convention and views the concerns and recommendations identified in the present concluding observations as requiring the priority attention of the State party between now and the submission of the next periodic report. The Committee notes with concern a number of challenges that continue to impede the full implementation of the Convention in the State party, including the recourse to gender neutral language with respect to gender based violence, including domestic violence; pay inequality and pay equity; the status of vulnerable groups of women, including women with disabilities and minority women; the impact of the 2011 earthquake on women; the impact of policy changes such as the financial cuts in legal aid schemes; adequacy of targets and benchmarks to advance women’s rights; and the insufficient dissemination and promotion of the Convention. Consequently, the Committee urges the State party to focus on those areas in its implementation activities and to report on actions taken and results achieved in its next periodic report. The Committee calls upon the State party to submit the present concluding observations to all relevant ministries, to the Parliament, and to the judiciary, so as to ensure their full implementation. Parliament 9. While reaffirming that the Government has the primary responsibility and is particularly accountable for the full implementation of the obligations of the State party under the Convention, the Committee stresses that the Convention is binding on all branches of Government, and it invites the State party to encourage the Parliament, in line with its procedures, where appropriate, to take the necessary steps with regard to the implementation of the present concluding observations and the Government’s next reporting process under the Convention. The Committee notes the limited distribution of its previous concluding observations and recommendations contained therein to Parliament and the lack of systematic Parliamentary oversight to ensure accountability on women’s rights and gender equality. The Committee 2

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