Date of Award
12-31-2025
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Global Inclusion and Social Development
First Advisor
Sindiso Mnisi Weeks
Second Advisor
Terza Lima-Neves
Third Advisor
Susanne Zwingel
Abstract
The UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979. To date, it is the most comprehensive international treaty for women’s rights. Cabo Verde, a small island developing state located off the west coast of Africa, ratified CEDAW in 1980. As an archipelago, Cabo Verde serves as a unique case study for treaty implementation, particularly, as literature on small island developing states has established that these states face unique challenges when it comes to implementation of laws, policy, and to governance overall, all of which heavily intersect with the processes required for full realization of an international treaty.
The literature also articulates that these challenges often derive from small island developing states having centralized governments, geographic divides, limited resources and unequal distribution of those resources. This case study therefore sets out to explore Cabo Verde’s efforts to implement CEDAW across the archipelago. This study narrows analysis to specific criteria to measure CEDAW implementation such as legislative reform, CEDAW dissemination and the status and work of the gender machinery.
Ultimately, analysis of findings indicates that there are indeed unique challenges to CEDAW implementation that can be linked directly to the particularities of Cabo Verde’s context as a small island developing state. Some challenges are associated more so with the economic/development aspect of Cabo Verde’s context, such as limited resources, which has far-reaching impact for government sectors and programs that aim to target and eradicate discrimination against women. Other challenges to CEDAW implementation can be tied to the geographic context of Cabo Verde, wherein land divisions create real barriers to access, transportation, free movement and opportunities for women. However, these challenges are juxtaposed alongside notable advances that Cabo Verde has made to implement CEDAW and end the various forms of discrimination against women.
Recommended Citation
Landim, Lydia, "The Implementation of an International Treaty Across a Small Island Developing State: The United Nations Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW) in Cabo Verde" (2025). Graduate Doctoral Dissertations. 1125.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/doctoral_dissertations/1125
Included in
Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence Commons, Human Rights Law Commons, International Law Commons, Law and Gender Commons, Other Geography Commons
Comments
Free and open access to this Campus Access Thesis is made available to the UMass Boston community by ScholarWorks at UMass Boston. Those not on campus and those without a UMass Boston campus username and password may gain access to this thesis through Interlibrary Loan. If you have a UMass Boston campus username and password and would like to download this work from off-campus, click on the “Off-Campus Users” button.