UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to review Gabon, Azerbaijan, Ecuador, Tuvalu, Denmark, Kyrgyzstan, Eritrea, Maldives
February 10, 2015 (Geneva) – The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) announced that the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is meeting in Geneva from 16 February to 6 March to review women’s rights in Gabon, Azerbaijan, Tuvalu, Denmark, Kyrgyzstan, Eritrea and Maledives.
The Committee will also hear briefings from NGOs and national human rights institutions.
Eritrea’s delegation will be lead by by the president of the National Union of Eritrean Women Ms Tekea Teklemichael and her team.
According to CEDAW documentation, the National Union of Eritrean Women has been spearheading the coordination of gender equality issues in general and has been mandated by the Government to oversee the implementation of the Convention on its behalf.
List of issues and questions in relation to the fourth and fifth periodic reports of Eritrea include the empowerment of women to assure their representation in decision-making positions across all government structures, including in the parliament and the foreign service.
Measures taken by the government in tackling gender stereotypes and harmful practices and efforts made to address the deeply entrenched patriarchal social norms and stereotypical attitudes that discriminate against women on grounds of sex, ethnicity, age, disability or other characteristics.
Legislation brought forward criminalizing violence against women and indicating whether it addresses physical, psychological, economic and sexual- and domestic violence.
Other questions to be addressed include trafficking in women and exploitation of prostitution, participation in political and public life, education, employment, health, rural women, women in detention, displaced women, asylum seekers and refugees, marriage and family relations.
The above mentioned countries are among the 188 States Parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and so are required to submit regular reports to the Committee of 23 international independent experts that monitors the implementation of the Convention, OHCHR said.