Every U.S. citizen needs to know about the UN women's rights treaty named CEDAW -- the United Nations Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Nearly every country has ratified it except for the United States. Where does the Obama administration stand on women's rights and ratification of CEDAW?
This is the fourth in a five-part series of interviews with international women's rights expert and CEDAW advocate Kavita N. Ramdas, President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women, the largest grantmaking foundation in the world focused exclusively on supporting international women’s human rights.

Below, Ramdas explains why the Obama administration is hesitant in pushing for ratification, despite appearing supportive of the idea.

Is the Obama administration friendly to CEDAW? Who have been and/or will be the key players in pushing ratification forward? What are the current prospects for ratification?

In theory the Obama administration is very friendly to CEDAW and Secretary of State Clinton has clearly said that CEDAW should be something that we ratify. They’ve stated clearly that they believe in women’s equality so in theory they should be in complete agreement on CEDAW.

In reality we’re seeing that they’re reluctant to push it forward because it’s seen as something they will receive a lot of push back on by Republicans. And at the moment, they don’t appear to have the stomach right now to do that.

The key players in pushing ratification forward will be a good number of senior senators, preferably a bipartisan leadership. The administration does need to take a much bolder stance and say that it’s a priority for the administration in this first term to get CEDAW ratified and these are the reasons why.

The current prospects are bleak unless the administration is much more assertive about its ratification. That’s the reality.

Next: What You Can Do to Push for Ratification of CEDAW