HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL HOLDS ANNUAL DISCUSSION ON THE INTEGRATION OF A GENDER PERSPECTIVE IN THE WORK OF THE COUNCIL

The Human Rights Council this morning held its annual discussion on the integration of a gender perspective in the work of the Council, with a focus on civil society’s contribution to the integration of a gender perspective in the work of the Council and its mechanisms.

Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in her opening statement, said that the Council had made impressive progress with the integration of a gender perspective. Civil society actors provided the crucial link between policy and action to integrate a gender perspective into the work of the Council and its mechanisms and brought new trends and emerging themes to the attention of the Council. Friends, partners and allies in civil society needed their help. Too often, women human rights defenders were targeted, often even physically attacked, when perceived as challenging socio-cultural norms and traditions related to their status as women.

Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, Secretary-General of the World Young Women’s Christian Association and Moderator, said that she was pleased that global voices were engaged in the gender mainstreaming of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Questions to be asked included: what were their practical experiences of gender mainstreaming? What more could be done? This was a very important discussion for which quality time had to be assigned.

The panellists were: Penny Williams, Global Ambassador for Women and Girls, Australia; Neha Sood, Deputy Executive Director, Action Canada for Population and Development; Chaloka Beyani, Chair of the Coordination Committee on Special Procedures and Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons; and Mozn Hassan, Executive Director, Nazra for Feminist Studies, Egypt.

Penny Williams, Global Ambassador for Women and Girls, Australia, said that as a career diplomat she sat within the Foreign Ministry of Australia but also worked with the national human rights bodies in the country. In this role she made the case for women’s empowerment across her nation, region and internationally. Engaging with civil society was important, including with faith-based groups and groups such as the Girl Guides, as well as single-issue human rights alliances and coalitions such as groups for migrants to highlight empowerment issues.

Neha Sood, Deputy Executive Director, Action Canada for Population and Development, said that efforts made by civil society organizations had played a critical role in placing emphasis on previously marginalized issues. Much greater commitment was required on the part of States to collaborate with civil society in order to advance all human rights, including those related to gender and sexuality. A gender perspective could not be adequately integrated within the Council’s work without accountability and without committing resources and effort to the endeavour.

Chaloka Beyani, Chair of the Coordination Committee on Special Procedures and Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, said it was important to remember that women were not a homogeneous group and integrating a gender perspective should also allow for issues which confronted individual women and men, such as disability and national or ethnic origin. It was encouraging to note that on several occasions mandate holders had worked closely with civil society actors in integrating the human rights of women and a gender perspective in their work.

Mozn Hassan, Executive Director, Nazra for Feminist Studies, Egypt, said Nazra had decided to highlight the work of women human rights defenders in Egypt locally, regionally and internationally. The first challenge had been the definition of women human rights defenders and it had tried to widen it. It had also tried to not only focus on violations and challenges women faced by the State, but also to see how society was really affecting women. State violations also related to how society itself was seeing gender issues.

In the discussion, speakers noted that States had the major responsibility for human rights but that civil society played a vital role thanks to their on-the-ground experience. Civil society organizations represented the “pulse” of the groups they represented and their voices had to be heard at high-level discussions. Gender equality was a fundamental principle of democracy and formed the basis upon which States were built. Speakers also enquired about how duplication of work could be avoided, as well as enquired as to why there was no specific requirement to include a women’s rights perspective in all mandates of the Special Procedures.

Speaking in the discussion were Chile, European Union, Costa Rica on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, United States, Turkey, Cuba, Bulgaria, Mexico, Maldives, Ireland, Montenegro, Kuwait, Venezuela, Brazil, Austria, Saudi Arabia, Finland on behalf of Nordic countries, Libya, Sierra Leone, Poland, Thailand, Iran, Switzerland, Algeria, Australia, Paraguay, China, Morocco and Spain.

International Service for Human Rights, Centre for Environmental and Management Studies, Servas International, European Union of Public Relations, Indian Law Resource Centre and World Organization Against Torture also spoke.

The Council will resume its work this afternoon at 3 p.m. to hold a clustered interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on justice, reparation and non-recurrence, and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery.

Opening Statements

REMIGIUSCZ A. HENCZEL, President of the Human Rights Council, said that this year’s panel discussion would be on civil society’s contribution to the integration of a gender perspective in the work of the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms.

NAVI PILLAY, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that five years had passed since the Council’s institution building package of 2007 had brought a focus on the full integration of a gender perspective into the work of the special procedures and the Universal Periodic Review. The High Commissioner was pleased to see gender integration progressively becoming a nearly systematic feature in the work of mandate holders. The Council equally made impressive progress with the integration of a gender perspective in considerations and recommendations into the Universal Periodic Review mechanism. Research by the Office showed a gradual increase in resolutions related to women’s rights and gender issues of the last three sessions of the Council, with four being adopted during the twenty-third session alone. However, during the twenty-third session almost half of the resolutions were general, recommending that States ‘integrate a gender perspective’ without more explicit reference that would allow to measure progress and accountability in the follow-up. It was hoped that all agreed that civil society could make a decisive difference in integrating a gender perspective in the work of the Council. It was civil society actors themselves who provided the crucial link between policy and action to integrate a gender perspective into the work of the Council and its mechanisms.

Civil society played an important role to hold States accountable for their commitments in the Universal Periodic Review process, and brought new trends and emerging themes to the attention of the Council. By first-hand familiarity with the lives of rights-holders on the ground and their flexibility of action, civil society actors had the capacity to transform matters where it counted most, at local levels. Friends, partners and allies in civil society needed their help. Too often, women human rights defenders were targeted, often even physically attacked, when perceived as challenging socio-cultural norms and traditions related to their status as women. Some civil society organizations were also male-dominated, reflecting the same gender inequalities in their representation and decision-making that they found in many other structures of society. They also saw far too much occupational segregation in human rights jobs in civil society organizations, with many more women working in traditional fields. They should widen still further the diversity and participation of newly accredited civil society organizations in gender work, bearing in mind that there were still too few that were specialized in political participation or gender integration. Also encouraged was the promotion of gender equality within the civil society movement itself, with increased participation and leadership of women in non-governmental organization management and leadership, and further involvement of women-oriented non-governmental organizations in the field of civil and political rights. It was Member States that shared the important responsibility for integrating a gender perspective into the work of the Council and its mechanisms, but the Office was fully committed to support this task. The Office had adopted a Gender Equality Strategic Plan that spelled out concrete action for systematizing the integration of a gender perspective into its structure and working and strengthening the position of civil society actors and non-governmental organizations within the Human Rights Council framework.

Statement by the Moderator

NYARADZAYI GUMBONZVANDA, Secretary-General of the World Young Women’s Christian Association, Moderator, said that she was pleased that global voices were engaged in the gender mainstreaming of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Questions to be asked included: what were their practical experiences of gender mainstreaming? What more could be done? This was a very important discussion for which quality time had to be assigned. The work of Ms. Penny Williams was well-known: could she share her experience?

Statements by the Panellists

PENNY WILLIAMS, Global Ambassador for Women and Girls, Australia, said that engaging with domestic and international civil society gave her a unique perspective: as a career diplomat she sat within the Foreign Ministry of Australia but also worked with the national human rights bodies in the country. In this role she made the case for women’s empowerment across her nation, region and internationally. Engaging with civil society was important, including with faith-based groups and groups such as the Girl Guides, as well as single-issue human rights alliances and coalitions such as groups for migrants to highlight empowerment issues. For example a broad range of civil society groups was recently involved in a forum on female genital mutilation. Ongoing consultative processes needed to be embedded in the framework, as well as monitoring mechanism. Civil society had to be considered as equal partners in this. In terms of Australia’s Universal Periodic Review process, an innovative non-governmental organizations’ forum was established that enabled ongoing and productive relationships with the Government. As Australia made progress toward achieving greater gender equality, it was recognised that more work could be done but that it would continue to work with civil society to this end.

NEHA SOOD, Advocacy and Policy Officer for Action Canada for Population and Development, said that Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 specifically mandated the Universal Periodic Review to fully integrate a gender perspective into all aspects of the review, but the Universal Periodic Review sessions 1-3 had contained little focus on human rights related to gender and sexuality. Efforts made by civil society organizations had played a critical role in placing emphasis on previously marginalized issues such as gender equality, sexual and reproductive rights, and sexual violence. Action Canada had achieved that through stakeholder submissions, often in collaboration with national and local organizations. So far it had prepared 88 submissions focusing on 70 countries. Action Canada also disseminated information from Universal Periodic Review sessions and advocated with delegates in Geneva to encourage them to integrate difficult issues related to sexual and reproductive rights into their work. It was regrettable that not all Governments consulted civil society during the preparation of their Universal Periodic Review report. Challenges facing the Universal Periodic Review process included general or timid recommendations and lack of attention to issues such as comprehensive sexuality education, women’s sexuality, women’s reproductive rights, and forced sterilization. A gender perspective could not be adequately integrated within the Council’s work without accountability and without committing resources and effort to the endeavour.

CHALOKA BEYANI, Chair of the Coordination Committee on Special Procedures and Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, said that at the time of the Council’s establishment, the institution building package (5/1) included the gender perspective as one of the principles of its programme of work. The full integration of the gender perspective was among the principles of the newly established Universal Periodic Review. The package also gave a prominent role to gender balance as a primary consideration in the selection and appointment of mandate holders, including special procedures mandate holders. It was important to remember that women were not a homogeneous group and integrating a gender perspective should also allow for issues which confronted individual women and men, such as disability and national or ethnic origin. There were currently 36 thematic special procedure mandates, two of which were solely devoted to women’s rights, namely the mandates of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, and the Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice. It was encouraging to note that on several occasions mandate holders, such as the Special Rapporteur on human rights and extreme poverty and the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, had worked closely with civil society actors in integrating the human rights of women and a gender perspective in their work.

MOZN HASSAN, Executive Director, Nazra for Feminist Studies, said that Nazra focused on women human rights defenders and had decided to highlight the work of women human rights defenders in Egypt locally, regionally and internationally. The first challenge that had been faced was the definition of women human rights defenders and Nazra had tried to widen it. Women that were active in the public space, even if not well known in civil society, were human rights defenders. Bringing the issue in the Egyptian context was tough. One of the successes gained was in noting the extent to which militarization and traditional Islamic values were affecting the daily lives of women human rights defenders, and how the patriarchal system was not helping women being active in the public space. On sexual violence, this had increased in Egypt, regardless of whether women were women human rights defenders or not. Nazra had tried to not only focus on violations and challenges women faced by the State, but also to see how society was really affecting women. Conservative societies were not helping women being active in the public space. State violations also related to how society itself was seeing gender issues.

Discussion

Chile said that States had the major responsibility for human rights but civil society played a vital role thanks to their on-the-ground experience working with women and girls. Turkey said gender equality was a fundamental principle of democracy and formed the basis upon which States were built; after this, civil society actors were crucial in the promotion of equality rights. They had the potential to influence the Human Rights Council and intergovernmental bodies.

Ireland added that civil society organizations represented the “pulse” of the groups they represented; their voices had to be heard at high-level discussions. The United States said that civil society organizations could help the Human Rights Council do more. The European Union welcomed the formal and informal engagement with civil society organizations. Many States asked the panel how the relationship between United Nations bodies and civil society actors could be improved and strengthened?
Turning to technical questions, Costa Rica, speaking on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, said that the work of women human rights defenders was vital and their daily experience provided an important means of understanding the impact of the work of the United Nations system, the Universal Periodic Review and the Human Rights Council. Cuba echoed this during its own intervention. Mexico said the crosscutting nature of human rights through the United Nations system, in this case horizontally, raised the threat of duplication of efforts: how could this be avoided? The European Union asked why there wasn’t a specific requirement to include a women’s rights perspective in all mandates of the Special Procedures?

Many States recalled gender equality measures taken in their own countries. Bulgaria said it had benefitted from the inclusion of gender equality non-governmental organizations in its legislative process, including for example in its implementation of its obligations under the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. Maldives said that, while discrimination existed in the country, processes, such as elections held last week, benefitted from consultation with civil society actors, many of them women. Ireland said it had made gender equality a key theme of its presidency of the European Council, and had established a quota system for political candidates in its country. Montenegro said it had benefited from the first and second cycles of its Universal Periodic Review with respect to domestic violence and economic participation. Kuwait recalled that Kuwaiti women were guaranteed equality under its constitution and they had made great progress toward participating in public life.

International Service for Human Rights said reprisals against women human rights defenders continued and this needed to be addressed by the Council. The Centre for Environmental and Management Studies said that gender was a social construct that varied across time and cultures. Servas International said that there was no space in the world for discrimination: peace-building through tolerance was key, and the Human Rights Council had to respect this tenet in its work.

NYARADZAYI GUMBONZVANDA, Secretary-General of the World Young Women’s Christian Association and Moderator, said that during the debate several important issues were raised. She highlighted the following issues on which she invited the panellists to comment: the mainstreaming of gender in the mandate briefs and whether it needed to be explicit or not; ways to improve the Universal Periodic Review, particularly the follow-up and implementation process; linking human rights mechanisms with gender perspectives in situations of conflict; the general contribution of civil society to the integration of the gender perspective into the Millennium Development Goals agenda and the post-2015 agenda; and enhanced accountability for gender-related human rights violations, which was a critical issue.

PENNY WILLIAMS, Global Ambassador for Women and Girls, Australia, said that what mattered the most was the wider recognition that it was essential to fully include women issues in human rights discussions and processes and to acknowledge that without respect of their human rights women were unable to participate fully in the social and economic public life. It was no coincidence that, according to recent reports and studies, the promotion and protection of women’s rights and global economic development were closely linked.

NEHA SOOD, Deputy Executive Director, Action Canada for Population and Development, recommended that there be collaboration and partnership with civil society in country, such as in monitoring and evaluation efforts. Civil society should not be muzzled. Staff should be trained whether in country or at the United Nations on issues related to gender and specific gender experts should be brought in, in order to enhance the work of Government departments and missions. There was a lot of expertise in civil society that could assist with such efforts.

CHALOKA BEYANI, Chair of the Coordination Committee on Special Procedures and Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, said that it would be helpful to integrate gender into all mandates, as some did not, and that this responsibility was with the Members of the Council. It was important to recognize the standing of civil society and its participation in the creation of mandates. There was a huge gap between the Universal Periodic Review, the work of the special procedures and the treaty bodies. The specific linkages between these should be made. It was also noted that there were important regional initiatives that were isolated from the Council to be taken into account.

MOZN HASSAN, Executive Director, Nazra for Feminist Studies, Egypt, said that unless female human rights defenders were effectively protected then progress toward equality would be halted. Additionally, gender mainstreaming was more important than just a couple of lines in the mandate.

NYARADZAYI GUMBONZVANDA, Secretary-General of the World Young Women’s Christian Association and Moderator, said that the gap between high-level bodies and civil society actors had to be bridged. Meanwhile, technology, such as Twitter, was both a facilitator in that it encouraged communication but was also a barrier because of the digital divide. Lastly, the demographic dividend required human rights bodies to listen closely to young women, young mothers and girls, especially those in conflict areas, rather than relegate them to the role of victims.

Venezuela said that the Council needed to examine the participation of women in all its processes. Venezuela fully supported the appropriate integration of the gender perspective in the work of the United Nations and was convinced that the exchange of good practices on that matter was important. Brazil said that the integration of a gender perspective into the work of the Council potentially could have an impact on the lives of millions of women and girls around the world. Civil society and women’s groups organized awareness-raising events in Brazil and made their own contribution to the Universal Periodic Review process. Austria said that civil society played an important role in promoting and protecting women’s rights around the world. In their daily struggle for more equal and inclusive societies, human rights defenders often risked their lives. The international community, therefore, had to act to guarantee the safety of all those persons. Saudi Arabia said that it had been implementing women’s rights as long as implementation did not clash with the country’s cultural traditions and religious practices. The Government had taken a series of measures to include women in society, including a law ensuring that as of 2014 women could set up and run businesses and take up managerial posts.

Finland, speaking on behalf of Nordic countries, said that civil society was an indispensable partner in further integrating the gender perspective into the work of the United Nations and provided valuable information and insights based on their work on the ground. Nordic countries remained committed to promoting civil society participation in human rights fora. Libya said that it remained committed to its social development obligation to promote women’s rights in accordance with the relevant Council resolutions. States and the international community must fulfill their commitment to put an end to violence against women and girls. Sierra Leone said that global gender equality could only be addressed through coordinated action at the national, regional and global level. In that regard, the United Nations system had an important role to play. Civil society voices heard at the Council were instrumental in ensuring meaningful discussion of gender issues at all levels. Poland said that women were shaping the future of their families, societies and countries, so their human rights should be fully respected. Poland would continue to work with all its partners to make those rights a reality. Civil society had an important role to play by actively participating in the Universal Periodic Review and other processes. Thailand said that civil society made an important contribution to the Universal Periodic Review process in terms of helping to integrate a gender perspective into the work of the United Nations. The Council should ensure adequate space for civil society contributions, particularly from groups defending women’s rights. Iran said that it was important to pay attention to the institution of the family as a fundamental unit in society. The United Nations should not overlook the cultural specificities of certain countries and societies. Civil society organizations should not use the Council as a platform for political games.

Switzerland said that it attached great importance to ensuring that women’s rights were observed and gender equality respected at all times. All exchange of information with non-governmental organizations and women’s rights defenders was crucial to United Nations processes, including the Universal Periodic Review. Algeria said that partnerships between Government and civil society organizations were increasingly recognized as an important way of enabling States to fulfill their commitment to promoting women’s rights through the empowerment of women and their fight against inequality. Australia said that the Council must take into account women’s rights in all aspects of its work and should strive to consider, promote and protect the rights of women at all opportunities. Civil society had a key role to play by providing information about conditions on the ground. Paraguay said that today institutions integrated a gender perspective into their work, thus enabling women to fight against social and political marginalization. What types of participation by women would allow a greater integration of a gender perspective into the work of the Council? China said that it consistently consulted civil society organizations in preparing its national report for the Universal Periodic Review and in implementing United Nations treaties. China encouraged non-governmental organizations to enhance advocacy, conduct investigation and research, and promote women’s rights. Morocco said that civil society made important oral and written statements to the Council and submitted valuable recommendations in the context of the Universal Periodic Review process and their role should be strengthened further. Spain said that every day it sought to do away with gender discrimination, which unfortunately appeared in all aspects in societies, and countries needed to review the way in which their organizations worked. Would it be appropriate to create specific mechanisms for dialogue for society related to the gender perspective?

European Union of Public Relations said that the process of sustainable development required the participation of all citizens. That included women, who had been excelling in diverse fields for several generations. Indian Law Resource Centre said that a pandemic of violence was affecting indigenous women and girls around the world. In the United States discriminatory laws offered less protection to indigenous women, such as Alaskan and Indian women who were vulnerable. World Organization Against Torture said the Women Human Rights Defenders Coalition had recently lost Sunila Abeysekera, a Sri Lankan activist who had fiercely fought for women’s rights and for the mainstreaming of the gender perspective in United Nations activities.

NYARADZAYI GUMBONZVANDA, Secretary-General of the World Young Women’s Christian Association and Moderator, said she appreciated the commitment of Member States that were reflected in statements this morning. A number of issues were highlighted during the discussion. On the issue of how to deepen civil society participation and integration of gender perspective in the Universal Periodic Review, it was critical to have quality resource allocation for the implementation of commitments and recommendations. Another important issue had been raised on the restriction of space for non-governmental organizations in the General Assembly. The importance of balancing gender equality discussion and the family had also been highlighted. On integration of human rights within the whole United Nations system and the post-2015 development discussion, this debate was happening at an opportune time and this was the moment to have a stronger commitment to gender equality and stronger linkages between the special mechanisms and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on sexual violence in conflict.

PENNY WILLIAMS, Global Ambassador for Women and Girls, Australia, in concluding remarks said, on how to engage civil society in the Council, that from her national experience it was about embedding a culture of consultation and constantly thinking of how to consult formally and informally across all policy areas, and to have capacity building and training. Sometimes this engagement was difficult and took time. However, the challenges that they all faced and the opportunities they had were all so great, that if they did not consult with civil society, they would not achieve what they had set out to do.

NEHA SOOD, Deputy Executive Director, Action Canada for Population and Development, said there were many tools to ensure gender integration in the Universal Periodic Review process. The work of the Human Rights Council, its resolutions and the work of the Special Procedures could be used in a concrete way by States undertaking the Universal Periodic Review. There was a wealth of knowledge to be tapped. Additionally, the dialogues held around gender perspectives needed to be results-based and specific. States should not be afraid of tackling these difficult issues.

CHALOKA BEYANI, Chair of the Coordination Committee on Special Procedures and Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, said that examples of best practice against the threat or carrying out of reprisals against human rights defenders included hotlines, safe houses, shelters, the establishment of special police units, socio-psychological support and lastly asylum offered to targeted human rights defenders. But “charity begins at home” and national constitutions, if they were amended to reflect gender equality, could establish a baseline upon which the Universal Periodic Review could work.

MOZN HASSAN, Executive Director, Nazra for Feminist Studies, Egypt, said that it was important to show States and Governments the different perspectives on gender issues. She also drew attention to cultural relativism and said that if a certain cultures contained values which did not respect women, then that should be reviewed.

NYARADZAYI GUMBONZVANDA, Secretary-General of the World Young Women’s Christian Association and Moderator, in closing remarks said that the general debate on gender equality, usually held in June, was a very important practice and asked the President of the Council to make sure that it continued. Early and forced child marriage was an issue which needed to be tackled urgently.

REMIGIUSCZ A. HENCZEL, President of the Human Rights Council, thanked the High Commissioner for her statement, the Moderator for her excellent role, and the panellists for their valuable and inspiring presentations. Thanks were also extended to all colleagues representing States as well as non-governmental organizations that took part in the dialogue and enriched it.


For use of the information media; not an official record

HRC13/101E