Palestine & the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: Implications of Ratification declarations and treaties that safeguard human rights. The Palestinian Basic Law of 2002 does not include any provisions regulating the mechanisms for ratifying or acceding to international treaties. In light of this situation, the highest authority within the State of Palestine is appropriate for locally ratifying the Convention and then depositing the ratification instrument with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Once the State of Palestine ratifies the Convention, it must respect its provisions, especially ensuring that Palestinian Basic Law is consistent with it in terms of gender equality and non-discrimination. It is important to bear in mind that the Convention is considered to be the most important international document to date which is committed to women’s rights. It addresses discrimination against women inclusively and broadly in order to effect genuine change in the situation of women. It also sets forth the solutions and measures that States Parties should take in the different areas of women’s rights. This is also what other conventions in the past have not included, as each one of them was limited to addressing a specific component or area of women’s issues. The Convention also grants States the right to make reservations during ratification or accession to it, but provided that they present these reservations to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. In addition, these reservations must be compatible with the object and purpose of the Convention. States are also granted the right to withdraw their reservations at any time by sending a notification to this effect to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Considering the provisions of the Vienna Convention, the State of Palestine would be included here in that it would also be permitted to make reservations about any article within the Convention. However, any reservation about a substantive article of the Convention could run counter to its object and purpose to achieve gender equality and eliminate gender based discrimination. The State of Palestine should, following its ratification of the Convention, prepare several different reports relating to the Convention and its own circumstances, such as an initial report presenting a comprehensive and accurate view of the social and political legal framework of the State. It would also describe the circumstances of women in Palestine through carefully selected indicators covering the many fields that help measure the progress made in the different fields. Subsequent periodic reports might cover these fields separately, comparatively and over time. The State of Palestine should consider committing itself to presenting periodic 35