text: UNITED NATIONS Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women UN UBRARY Committee on the Elimination o-f' Dise.tt~d,7J.33-i;iQn Against(~~en ( CEDAW) Second session · ' CEDAW Distr. GENERAL CEDAW/C/5/Add.l l2 November 1982 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE l8 OF THE CONVENTION Initial reports o-t' States Parties GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC -V.82 34355 Ref. Note SO 3012/8 dated 2/3/1982 from the UN Secretary-General 1. The establishment of a socialist society in the GOR entailed the abolition of those social relations which were based on the exploitation ·and oppression of man by .. manr deprivation of righ~s, and discrimination against ~,omen. At the same time, the r~ots of the opp~ession and exploitation of other peoples and races were destroyed. The Constitution of the Ger-man Democratic Republic p·ro.vide~ for-the principle of equality of the sexes i~ this broader sense, dealing with equal. rights for wo.men not in isolation but in the context of a general prohibition of discriminat_ion. Article 20 of the Constitution reads as follows: "(1) Every citizen o.f the German· Democratic Republic has the ~ame rights and duties, irrespective of .. . nationality, race, philosophy or religious confession, social ~rigin or position. Freedom of conscience and freedom of belief are guaranteed. All citizens are equal before the law. (2) Men and women have equal rights and hav~ the same legal status in all spheres of social, ~tate and personal lif~. The promotion of women, particularly with regard to vocational qua~ification, ~s a t~sk of society and the state." Th~ tasks the Convention on the El~mination_of All For~s of Discrimination Against ~omen has set are not fundamentally new for the GDR. The German Democratic Republic's socialist Cohstitu~ion not only embodies the principle of equality as - 2 -
analysis: The text appears to be a report submitted by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The report discusses the GDR's socialist constitution and its provisions on equality, particularly in relation to women's rights. The text does not mention any specific economic, environmental, or technological issues, but rather focuses on the country's social and political framework.