The objective of this paper is to provide an inventory of the national efforts towards the realization of women's equal rights. The paper identifies how women have progressed within economic, political and social spheres through national programs, legislation and awareness campaigns. The paper discusses the institutional and structural strengths and weaknesses of the status quo and the opportunities, limitations and threats of strategies targeted to improve the status of women. The paper then analyzes how state and NGO actors have prioritized women's issues and recommends future strategic interventions to encourage and remove obstacles to women's empowerment. The analysis is conducted through the prism of CEDAW and the Istanbul Ministerial Conclusions, where the cross-cutting principles of both are analyzed within the national context.