mechanisms, that ensure the full realization of all human rights of women and girls on the basis of equality and non-discrimination, including their right to be free from violence, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, other instruments related to human rights and international law; · Take steps, including a gender-sensitive review of national legislation, to revoke any laws or legal procedures and eradicate practices – national or customary – that promote discrimination on the basis of sex; · Ensure that women and children have full and equal access to effective legal remedies for violations, including domestic mechanisms, which are monitored and revised to ensure that they function without discrimination, and international mechanisms that address human rights as provided, inter alia, under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;33 · Promote changes that ensure that women enjoy equal opportunities in law and in practice to claim their rights through the national legal systems, including through educating them on these rights as well as ensuring availability of measures such as free or affordable legal aid, legal representation and court appeals procedures, and support existing programmes of non-governmental organizations and other agencies. C. Policies, mechanisms and machineries Actions to be taken by Governments: · Ratify and accede to and ensure implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women34 so that universal ratification of the Convention can be achieved by the year 2000; · Limit the extent of any reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: formulate any such reservations as precisely and as narrowly as possible; ensure that no reservations are incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention or otherwise incompatible with international treaty law and regularly review those reservations with a view to withdrawing them; and withdraw reservations that are contrary to the object and purpose of the Convention or that are otherwise incompatible with international treaty law; · Create channels of communication to promote information exchange between national institutions that address the human rights of women, and non-governmental organizations and relevant policy-making bodies of Government; 33 General Assembly resolution 34/180, annex. 34 Ibid. -23-