The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this morning opened its sixtieth session, hearing a statement from James Heenan, Chief of the Groups in Focus Section, Human Rights Treaties Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and adopting its agenda and programme of work for the session. The Committee elected a new Bureau, including Yoko Hayashi (Japan) as the new Chairperson.
Mr. Heenan said that 2015 would be a challenging year for the treaty bodies system, with the implementation of General Assembly resolution 62/268 and a particular focus on reducing backlogs, increased harmonization of working methods across treaty bodies and tracking of the progress in the implementation. Resolution 62/268 reduced the number of working languages of the Committee, which had indicated English, French and Spanish as its standing languages and had requested on an exceptional basis the use of Arabic. Mr. Heenan updated the Committee on the developments in the elaboration of the Sustainable Development Goals within the post-2015 agenda, and said that Member States were now embarking on negotiations towards its adoption at the United Nations General Assembly Heads of State Summit in September 2015. The Commission on the Status of Women would review in 2015 the progress made in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 20 years after its adoption at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995.
Nicole Ameline, outgoing Chairperson of the Committee, welcomed the new Members and said that since the last session, the ratification status of the Convention and the Optional Protocol had not changed and remained at 188 and 105, respectively. Twelve States parties had submitted their periodic reports, of which seven had been returned because they had exceeded the limit of 21,200 words established by General Assembly resolution 62/268. In January 2015, the campaign for the candidature of the Committee for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize had been launched at the French National Assembly. The Chairpersons of the human rights treaty bodies had adopted two joint statements, on the post-2015 development agenda and on human rights against violence, during their informal meeting held in January 2015 at Wilton Park, United Kingdom.
Photo: Lena Stein
In 1995, at the historic United Nations 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing, governments from around the world agreed on one of the most progressive plans to advance women's rights and achieve gender equality – the Beijing Platform for Action. In it States committed to "revoke any remaining laws that discriminate on the basis of sex." 20 years later, this goal is far from being met.
Progress
There has been progress in removing legal discrimination against women. Equality Now is pleased to report that more than half of the countries highlighted in all three previous reports have repealed or fully or partially amended the discriminatory laws indicated. Among these countries are:
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women this afternoon met with representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of Azerbaijan to hear information on the situation of women in Gabon, Azerbaijan, Ecuador and Tuvalu, whose reports will be considered by the Committee this week.
Representatives of civil society organizations from Gabon expressed concerns about persistent gender-based discrimination in laws and practice, gender-based violence and access to justice for women. Women in Gabon undertook 95 per cent of farm work and yet there were persistent legal barriers for women in realizing their equal rights to land and property. Within the family, the Civil Code provided that the husband was considered the head of the household, while discriminatory provisions in domestic law, specifically dealing with inheritance, existed.
Violence against women in Azerbaijan was still persistent and perpetrators enjoyed impunity. Prison conditions for females needed to be improved in line with international and European standards. Early marriages under the pretext of religious practices were widely practiced, and the rate of use of reproductive health and family planning services was very low; 47 per cent of pregnancies in Azerbaijan were terminated by abortion, largely due to sex-selection and the preference for boys.
Geneva / Brussels (16 February 2015) – United Nations Special Rapporteur Urmila Bhoola will carry out her first official visit to Belgium from 19 to 26 February 2015. The human rights expert will gather information on the legislative, policy and institutional framework to tackle contemporary forms of slavery in the country, and ensuring protection of human rights of the victims.
As an independent expert, Ms. Bhoola is tasked by the United Nations Human Rights Council to monitor and report on contemporary forms of slavery, which include forced labour, domestic servitude, worst forms of child labour and forced marriage.
“I look forward to engaging with representatives of the authorities, civil society organizations, the national human rights institution and other relevant parties,” the Special Rapporteur said ahead of her mission, which will also look at possible good practices in fighting contemporary forms of slavery, as well as challenges Belgium may face in this regard.
“Most importantly, I will meet with victims of modern forms of slavery to hear from them about their experiences and what support they need,” the rights expert stressed.
School girls say #IDONT. Photo shared by Action Health Incorporated, a Nigeria-based youth organization.
UNITED NATIONS, New York – This Valentine’s Day young people around the world are harnessing the power of social media to raise their voice against child marriage.
New estimates show that, this year alone, 13.5 million girls under the age of 18 – that’s 37,000 daily – will marry. And almost one third of them will be under 15. In the developing world, 1 in 3 girls are married before turning 18.
To show the world how much they care about ending this damaging practice, young people are using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media to underline the urgent need for renewed national and global efforts to root out child marriage.
