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

The Human Rights Council this morning held its annual discussion on the integration of a gender perspective in the work of the Human Rights Council, with a focus on institutional implications of gender integration.

Laura Dupuy Lassere, President of the Human Rights Council, said she wished to say a few words as a woman and the first female President of the Human Rights Council. It was very important to spend time thinking about women’s rights and gender equality. Discrimination against women must be fought in legislation and practice. Discrimination and violence against women did not just affect women but had repercussions on women’s families and their communities and the development of a country. The Human Rights Council had established a working group on the elimination of discrimination against women in legislation and practice.

Bacre Ndiaye, Director of the Human Rights Council and Special Procedures Division of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, introducing the discussion, said that the Human Rights Council had established a new mechanism, a Working Group on discrimination against women in law and practice, to strengthen the Council’s work to promote women’s rights and contribute to an analysis which would underpin further gender integration. The first session of the Working Group took place in Geneva in June 2011, and had sought to develop knowledge and tools on best practices used by human rights actors in the elimination of laws and regulations that were directly and or indirectly discriminatory to women.

Christin Chinkin, Professor of International Law at London School of Economics, moderating the discussion, said the commitment of the Human Rights Council to the process of gender integration, evidenced by its annual debate on the integration of the gender perspective and the mechanism on discriminatory laws, was exemplary. Ms. Chinkin noted that gender equality required that the institutional structure and all relations between men and women be re-evaluated for women’s full empowerment.

Savitri Goonesekere, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Colombo Sri Lanka, and member of the Advisory Committee, International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific, said that using a human rights based approach to increasing gender equality was often more relevant and critical to national and regional initiatives and noted that the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the work of Special Procedures had created a broader understanding of gender equality and its linkage to rights.

Aparna Mehrotra, Focal Point for Women in the United Nations System, United Nations Women, said that United Nations Women had become a legal entity in January 2011 with a special status as a composite entity reporting both to the General Assembly and its own Executive Board. The mandate of United Nations Women was to coordinate the accountability of the United Nations system on working toward equality and stressed that the competency of gender equality could not be sidelined, or limited to gender departments.

Reine Alapini Gansou, Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, said that the establishment of the Special Rapporteur on Women in Africa had contributed significantly to improving gender equality by working closely with all stakeholders in civil society as well as with Member States. Ms. Gansou suggested a greater stress on the need to incorporate gender issues in the Universal Periodic Review process and said there was less of a need to create new mechanisms as much as to strengthen existing ones.

Hala Ghosheh, Director of the Gender Social Fund Jordan, said one of the challenges in Jordan was to build on the strategies to manage resistance as part of the gender mainstreaming process. Gender mainstreaming policies had to be specific to the challenges faced in each county and Ms. Ghosheh said one of the major challenges in the Arab world was the status of women, notably their ability to engage in political and economic life.

Marcos Nacimiento, former Executive Director of Promundo (Brazil) and Expert on gender and masculinity, drew attention to the importance of being invited to the panel to discuss the role of men and the specific contribution that men could make at all different levels in the work concerning gender equality. Mr. Nascimiento reiterated the need to have a very clear vision that gender equality could only be built through partnerships which involved a number of different actors, including men’s groups and groups working on children rights.

During the panel discussion, speakers said it was important to think not only about legislative frameworks but also institutional perspectives and that there was a need to work together with other agencies and build synergies. United Nations Women had a key role to play in this area as it was now the single recognized driver to direct United Nations activities on gender equality with a mandate to lead and coordinate work in gender equality. Speakers asked how the relationship between United Nations Women and regional bodies could be strengthened. Speakers noted that despite significant achievements in the implementation of human rights instruments, violence and discrimination remained a concern. Gender balance and development were essential to ending inequality, particularly in countries in the South. Speakers asked how the Council could contribute to eliminating laws which promoted discrimination against women and about other issues that particularly affected women, such as the impact of food security on women and girls. Speakers asked if the Council would consider brief country reports on the situation of women during the Universal Periodic Review, particularly in countries which had not ratified the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

Chile, Pakistan speaking on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Cuba, Slovenia, Argentina, the Russian Federation, Belgium, Azerbaijan, Finland, Switzerland, France, the European Union, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Maldives, Paraguay, India, Brazil, Croatia, Turkey, Canada on behalf of Australia and New Zealand, United Nations Population Fund in a joint statement with the United Nations Children’s Fund and Indonesia made statements. Representatives of the Worldwide Organization for Women and Sudwind also took the floor.

The Council will reconvene at 3 p.m. this afternoon when it will begin its consideration of its agenda item on the human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories. It will have before it the report of the Secretary-General on the progress made in the implementation of the recommendations of the Fact-Finding Mission by all concerned parties, including United Nations bodies, and the report of the High Commissioner on its implementation.

Annual Discussion on the Integration of a Gender Perspective in the Work of the Human Rights Council: Institutional Implications of Gender Integration

LAURA DUPUY LASSERRE, President of the Human Rights Council, said she wished to say a few words as a woman and the first female President of the Human Rights Council. She wished to pay tribute to the broader participation of women in the Human Rights Council. It was very important to spend time thinking about women’s rights and gender equality. Discrimination against women must be fought in legislation and practice. Discrimination and violence against women did not just affect women but had repercussions on women’s families and their communities and the development of a country.

Discrimination against women could be seen in health as the major cause of death in women was maternal mortality. It was important for a lot of work to be done on women’s health. Women’s choices were important and the right to obtain employment was important. Through employment women obtained self esteem, dignity and full participation in daily life. Women should be fully represented in the political sphere. They were half of the sphere. If there was full participation of women no doubt there would be improvements. The Human Rights Council had established a working group on the elimination of discrimination against women in legislation and practice. The work of the Human Rights Council needed a universal scope. The Human Rights Council also needed to raise awareness. Certain issues remained invisible. The Special Rapporteur on violence against women noted that one in three women suffered from violence. Harmful traditional practices continued to affect women’s health and well-being. The President hoped the panel would help all move forward with respect for women rights.

BACRE NDIAYE, Director of Human Rights Council and Special Procedures Division of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, introducing the discussion, recalled that the Council in its resolution 6/30 had constantly reaffirmed its commitment to effectively integrate the human rights of women as well as a gender perspective in its work and that of its mechanisms. The self-scrutiny of the Council had over the past years focused respectively on Special Procedures, the Universal Periodic Review, and a thematic discussion on lessons-learned, shortcomings and future challenges 2007-2010. This year, the focus was on promoting gender equality as an institutional practice, from policy to action. The panel discussions held by the Council over the past three years had touched upon a series of important challenges and opportunities which if explored further could contribute to narrowing the inequality gap between women and men, girls and boys in realizing rights and accessing resources. The Council had decided to establish a new special mechanism on discriminatory laws and practices to further step up and strengthen the Council’s work to promote women’s rights per se, and contribute to an analysis which would underpin further gender integration. The first session of the working group on discrimination against women in law and practice took place in Geneva from 6 to 20 June 2011. The working group sought to develop knowledge and tools on best practices used by human rights actors in the elimination of laws and regulations that were directly and or indirectly discriminatory against women, processes which had led to the introduction of equality provisions and access to justice. The working group would focus on discrimination against women in public life and citizenship, economic life, family life, and health and safety. The method of work would be through the conduct of communications and country visits with a view to soliciting dialogue with governments. The Council had also made some progress on gender integration in its recent resolution and the consideration of Universal Periodic Review submissions. Noting for instance, in the case of Sierra Leone, women remained vulnerable in society as patriarchal customary laws were prevalent and traditional views of women’s role in society meant that widespread inequality and gender-based violence were largely tolerated.

It was important that while looking at how the Council was implementing resolution 6/30, the Office shared its efforts at fulfilling its responsibilities. Since the submission of the High Commissioner’s report to the Council in 2009 on integrating the human rights of women through the United Nations system, the Office had made great strides in fostering gender integration, with particular attention to recommendations by the Office for Internal Oversight Services and those made by the external evaluation. The High Commissioner had recently signed off her Office’s Gender Equality Policy, which provided internal guidance on how the Office would ensure that a gender perspective and the integration of women’s human rights were reflected throughout policy formulation, programme development and activity implementation, including project monitoring and evaluation. In the coming days, the Office would hold the second meeting of regional gender advisers with a view to consulting on the framework and content of the future strategy. The Office would be holding information sessions with Member States, United Nations agencies and civil society organizations. The Office had also pursued bilateral cooperation with United Nations Women in compliance with the Chief Executives Board for Coordination’s endorsed system-wide policy and strategy on gender equality and the empowerment of women adopted in 2006. As the Council pursued the review of its work and functioning, it was expected that more attention would be given to efforts by the Council’s subsidiary bodies in integrating a gender perspective into its own activities. The Office stood ready to enhance its assistance for the collective benefit of rights holders and duty bearers.
CHRISTIN CHINKIN, Professor of International Law at London School of Economics, acting as moderator, said the commitment of the Human Rights Council to the process of gender integration, evidenced by its annual debate on the integration of the gender perspective and the mechanism on discriminatory laws, was exemplary. Gender integration as an institutional practice was a tool directed toward the broader objective of achieving gender equality on the ground. To achieve gender equality on the ground interaction between the Human Rights Council, other international organizations and civil society was crucial and involved three major steps: looking critically at the past; looking at both what worked and mistakes and looking at future steps for institutional integration. Ms. Chinkin noted that this was the first year of operation for United Nations Women and also the thirtieth anniversary celebration of the 1981 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. United Nations Women coordinated policy initiatives across all United Nations bodies toward gender integration. Successful gender integration in institutions remained a daunting task with numerous societal and cultural obstacles. The concept of gender required that the institutional structure and all relations between men and women be re-evaluated for women’s full empowerment which was more than simply participation, or the colloquial ‘adding women and stirring’ but was also aimed at seeking to ensure that women could take their rightful place as partners in all aspects of life, including cultural, social and political spheres. Ms. Chinkin stressed that the Human Rights Council had to integrate women’s rights without allowing women to become invisible in the mainstream.

Savitri Goonesekere, emeritus Professor of Law, University of Colombo Sri Lanka, and member of the Advisory Committee, International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific, speaking in answer to questions on the concrete impact in the field of the United Nations institutional commitment to gender integration and the role of civil society, particularly non-governmental organizations, in working with and challenging United Nations institutions on making gender integration a reality, said International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific used a human rights based approach and this was often more relevant and critical to national and regional initiatives. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was adopted 30 years ago but only recently had there been a broader commitment to gender equality and human rights matters. International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific worked at a country level on specific issues such as reproductive health and gender participation. These were often cross cultural issues not to be discussed in society.

International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific had established a strong data base of information in some countries and this information could be used in law reform and programmes. United Nations work at major conferences had contributed with results such as the Beijing Platform for Action. There was an important and critical need to understand gender inequality. The Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the work of Special Procedures had been working to create a broader understanding of gender equality and the need to create linkage between rights. This had helped civil society organizations to develop gender expertise and promote women’s rights. It had strengthened the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women’s shadowing reporting. The process had helped the Committee to raise in concluding comments issues concerning the actual situation. Adequate progress still needed to be made. The new focus on development goals did not necessarily integrate a gender perspective and sometimes this impacted to undermine gender equality. Lack of leadership, lack of capacity and technical expertise was reflected in country offices in United Nations mechanisms. These organizations often did not have a holistic gender integration. This lack made it harder to obtain commitments from governments to integrate gender approaches. Adopting an human rights based approach required a democratic approach. This was crucial but not always available.

APARNA MEHROTRA, Focal Point for Women in the United Nations System, United Nations Women, responding to the question of men working at United Nations Women as the United Nations coordinating body for gender mainstreaming and the issue of key lessons identified in advancing gender integration within the United Nations secretariat, said that United Nations Women had became a legal entity in January 2011 but was still in a moment of transition where many of the administrative policies were still being put in place. It had a special status as a composite entity reporting both to the General Assembly and its own Executive Board. Just like gender had sometimes been a trail blazer in many areas, United Nations Women’s structure was innovative. There were many men working within United Nations Women and Ms. Bachelet had aimed at incorporating men in important positions. In the end success in achieving gender equality necessitated the equal incorporation of men. The commitment was there and yes United Nations Women would have its share of men. Concerning lessons learnt, as an overview, it was a privilege to speak about the institution.

Sometimes it was felt that the United Nations system at large had been working on broad mandates, such as poverty, yet oftentimes it had worked on the outside to take the most disempowered; much was to be done about the role of women who were already successfully integrated into the workforce and institutions. What happened to women in the labour force and institutions was as important as what it took to integrate them in the first place. First of all, senior sponsorship at the highest level should be consistent and the message must be constant. It was important to have women in senior positions. However the results were mixed. Special policies to address women’s inequality were necessary. It was necessary to change the understanding and apply special measures. For example, the presence of women at D1 and D2 levels was lower than in previous years. At the most senior level, the Secretary-General had made an important effort to increase the presence of women. However, at the levels where the system took over, levels were much lower. Public reporting was necessary and dedicated resources with people and budgets, as well as internal policies which covered harassment, abuse of power and domestic violence. Policies were not universal across system entities and not always well implemented. Gender issues should be autonomous and report to senior levels. Finally, Ms. Mehrotra commended the Office of the High Commissioner on creating a network of gender facilitators.

REINE ALAPINI GANSOU, Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, speaking in response to a question on the positive steps that African institutions had taken to integrate gender equality in their structure and functioning, said that in Africa there was a constant effort to improve gender integration through both the adoption of the Optional Protocol on African Women’s Human Rights and the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa. The African Commission had established a gender department which every six months submitted a report on progress made in gender issues across the continent. In addition, the work done by civil society was critical, including an awareness-raising campaign every six months working in parallel with the Pan-African Women’s summit. The establishment of the Special Rapporteur on Women in Africa had contributed significantly to improving gender equality by working closely with all stakeholders in civil society as well as with Member States. The Special Rapporteur worked to ensure that both the Optional Protocol on African Women’s Human Rights and the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa were implemented. Ms. Gansou said that gender equality as an issue had not immediately been taken up by the African Commission but after considerable lobbying by civil society there had been a recognition of the importance of the issue so that today among the eleven members of the African Commission, seven were women and with the upcoming elections there would be ample representation of women.

HALA GHOSHEH, Director of the Gender Social Fund Jordan, said there were quite a few challenges at cultural, conceptual and logistic levels. One of the challenges in Jordan was to build on the strategies to manage resistance as part of the gender mainstreaming process. There was a need to analyze the type of resistance. If there was insufficient analysis of the entities, power relationships and dynamics increased resistance that was set up by aggravating power players in the institution. There were three types of resistance. One was value based where those entering an organization reinforced a mental model of institution, including fear of loss of power and fear of change. Gender equality had a lot of misconception not only from resistance but also in terms of mental models. One thing that was essential was the fact that there was no general blue print. For each organization an analysis was needed to help them make gains that allowed them to move on. Often management would invite you in but there were also sources of resistance. When there were limited resources it was always the case that this was not the priority. A good approach was to focus initially on short term gains that cost less. This allowed groups to prove among the popular groups that mainstreaming made a difference in their performance and quality and made the environment more enjoyable. Often very ambitious goals were set but not implemented. Organizations may not understand how to mainstream. When people left the training room they did not understand how to apply what they had just learned. Prejudices needed to be challenged on a personal level.
MARCOS NACIMIENTO, former Executive Director of Promundo (Brazil) and Expert on gender and masculinity, concerning the assumption that gender and women were synonymous and how it was possible to work with men to make them realize that it was an important issue for both men and women without losing sight of the reality of structural inequalities that devalued women, Mr. Nacimiento indicated the importance of looking at power relations between men and women but also among men, since groups of men were not homogeneous. It was important to be clear about the political agenda of working with men; it was an important step for achieving equality. It was important to have a clear perspective of the political agenda and keep an open dialogue with women’s groups when working on men related issues. It was important to work through the education system, formal and informal, and to try to work with informal groups of men. Among the issues which were dealt with while working with groups of men was the issue of men’s health. Men often died younger than women in many parts of the world. This was certainly linked to violence, violence among men. One of the most interesting and important aspects of working with men concerned the issue of paternity; this issue opened the door to addressing many other aspects, including sexuality and the division of labour among men. Examples of this kind of work included working with men who were fathers of daughters and also addressing the issue of the division of labour amongst men. To conclude, Mr. Nacimiento said that it was possible to do well at this work by building partnerships with other organizations, and working with organizations dealing with women and children issues too.

REINE ALAPINI GANSOU, Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, speaking in response to a question on what actions should be taken to facilitate implementation on the ground, said that one could see that in Africa there was determination to take action on the gender issue although there was still much to be done and considerable challenges that remained. The first issue to be considered was the impact of culture in Africa and the challenge it posed to changing the status of women. Secondly there was a need to continue to train people and keep them informed, with a constant pressure to provide information. The third major challenge was related to resources and ensuring that resources were available to implement gender equality programmes. The African Commission was a body dedicated to protecting and promoting human rights and its primary function was as a monitoring body. The Commission developed strategies and ensured that politicians were made aware of all potential strategies for improving gender equality. The principle subsidiary body of the African Commission was the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women who worked on gender issues and the situation of women and children in Africa. In terms of action, it was important for stakeholders, especially politicians, to implement the decisions taken by governments, especially the implementation of the Optional Protocol on African Women’s Human Rights. Ms. Gansou stressed the need for a continued open dialogue with politicians and civil society on women’s issues.

SAVITRI GOONESEKERE, emeritus Professor of Law, University of Colombo Sri Lanka, and member of the Advisory Committee, International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific, said it was important to keep bodies to the obligations that they had accepted. The Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women had strengthened its work and made specific concluding comments. The Committee linked to other human rights committees and treaties and emphasized the liability of both State and non State actors. The Committee recognized the key role in civil society in carrying forward a review. The Universal Periodic Review should be used to reinforce the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. If gender was a cross cutting issue clear recommendations concerning this should be used in the Universal Periodic Review. Gender integration was often handled by women’s organizations that were not as politically strong as the Foreign Offices that handled the Universal Periodic Review. The Universal Periodic Review could also promote continuity between regimes. The importance of universality was critical and recognized by the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Human Rights Council. Too often the name of culture was used to justify violations of core human rights. It was necessary to explain that culture was transformative and could not be used to prevent advances in women’s rights.

Progress on Millennium Development Goals should not be seen in isolation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Millennium Development Goals could also be used to highlight women’s rights on issues such as the impact of climate change and access to shelter for women. Steps should be made linking development with human rights based approach. Special Procedures could work more closely with women’s groups and make more reference to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in their reports. The new working group was very important. The Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women had focused on law reform issues for decades.

APARNA MEHROTRA, Focal Point for Women in the United Nations System, United Nations Women, concerning the work of United Nations Women coordinating a process for a broad system-wide consultation for the development of a plan of action, said that the mandate of United Nations Women was to coordinate the accountability of the United Nations system on working on equality, leading in some places, promoting everywhere, and coordinating in any place it was allowed to do so. But United Nations Women could not do all the work. The accountability framework was intended to bring coherence within the United Nations system, not as much in contents as in terms of structure. For example, concerning evaluation, this was an area in which the very craft of the High Commissioner had illustrated rather well. It also complemented the work of the Council and its resolutions. For example the report HRC/12/26 which had interesting elements. Moreover, the strategy was truly an excellent document; there was a good chance that the Council would exceed the expectations of the accountability framework in place. The key issue was implementation. Work on accountability must be grounded on the live realities of the constituents. The competency of gender equality could not be sidelined, or limited to gender departments. On the contrary, it should become a competency and a sensitivity of the issue that was present in any staff member. This was the only way to achieve progress in the issue of gender equality and it should not be overlooked in the name of policy and broad programmes. The system should be moved along with each human heart within the system towards progress on the issue.

HALA GHOSHEH, Director of the Gender Social Fund Jordan, speaking in response to a question on what constituted an effective accountability framework, said that the key successful element of any accountability framework was to make it realistic in terms of the capabilities of the organization. Ownership of an accountability framework was critical and was the responsibility of everyone, especially when it came to gender equality. If there was not a broad acceptance of ownership across the organization, then gender equality became someone else’s responsibility. Accountability frameworks should come across as positive frameworks providing an opportunity to learn lessons from objectives not achieved, rather than as penalizing. Although there were specific cases of gender equality that had arisen in United Nations organizations, there was a constant failing across United Nations organizations to integrate gender equality because no one was being held accountable and Ms. Ghosheh stressed the need for a system whereby it was not only the behaviour of individuals in the organization that was taken into account but also an in-depth analysis of what needed to be done to incorporate gender equality.

MARCOS NACIMIENTO, former Executive Director of Promundo (Brazil) and expert on gender and masculinity, said a basic starting point was bearing in mind the gender specificity of every individual, in other words their cultural specificity. There was a question on how to take cultural specificities into account. The law in Brazil involved men not just as perpetrators but also as part of the solution. Parental leave laws in Norway and Sweden were derived from strong and important progress that had been made there. Outcomes could be achieved through listening to men. There was a need to always consider men’s positions as well as women’s.

Discussion

Speakers indicated that the Council’s annual discussion on gender constituted a positive step in highlighting this issue and welcomed the innovative and interactive format. The panel addressed issues related to mainstreaming the gender agenda within the Council, including context and specific outcomes. It was important to think both about legislative frameworks but also institutional perspectives. It was important to work together with other agencies and build synergies. United Nations Women had a key role to play in this area and the Council should feed into this process, but it was important to avoid duplication. Despite significant achievements in implementation of human rights instruments, addressing inequality, violence and discrimination remained of concern. Some argued that it was difficult to attain significant gender balance without a fair global order and the eradication of poverty. Barriers remained that prevented countries from implementing the Beijing Platform of Action and the Millennium Development Goals. Speakers reaffirmed their commitment to existing human rights instruments to promoting equality and gender mainstreaming and shared examples of national efforts and initiatives.

Gender did not mean women issues, speakers said. Gender was about women and men, and constraining values had to be overcome. It was noted that work with men and women was important and that they should be seen not only as beneficiaries, but also as protagonists of change. Gender balance and development were essential to end inequality, particularly in countries in the South. Gender equality was an issue of development effectiveness. Diversity and women from different backgrounds played an important role in efforts to mainstream gender issues in institutional frameworks. Women must be able to contribute. There remained a large number of areas in which discrimination persisted on the basis of culture, tradition or practice. There were countries which had not signed or ratified the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and in which women who had attempted to establish independent women non-governmental organizations and women rights activists had been arrested or harassed for their work.

Speakers said that the Council and United Nations Women played an important role in the promotion of women’s rights. The institutional impact on gender imbalances had not been thoroughly addressed. It was important to identify challenges and to share best practices. United Nations Women provided the United Nations with the possibility of implemented system-wide coordination of integration. Functioning partnerships with other United Nations bodies played a key role to achieving results on the ground; capacity, building and harmonization were crucial. Institutions were important to operationalizing existing commitments. Gender focal points and internal networks were important for institutional monitoring and accountability. Action plans for the implementation of international commitments concerning women rights could clearly support a coordinated implementation of gender across issues. However, focal points on gender were not enough to implement gender policy. The issue had to be addressed by hierarchies in which women were often underrepresented. The questions of women’s rights had to be priorities in order to enhance women’s empowerment and access to decision-making. Structural gender inequalities still existed including violence against women, segregation and discrimination in the labour market.

Speakers asked how the relationship between United Nations Women and regional bodies could be strengthened. What was the role of national human rights institutions in bringing about real gender mainstreaming into policy? How could the Council contribute to eliminating laws which promoted discrimination against women? Besides operationalizing the issue within the United Nations, other issues that particularly affected women should be addressed by the Council, such as the impact of food security on women and girls. Would it be useful to introduce gender quotas in the United Nations system? What other measures could be introduced to achieve gender equality in the institutional setting? How could a better representation be achieved in human rights treaty bodies? Short term contracts in the United Nations could pose challenges for the respect of women’s reproductive rights. How could the protection offered by the international instruments concerning labour standards also apply to the United Nations?

During the Arab spring, women played an important role in bringing about change; how would it be possible to ensure that they were not relegated from decision-making? How could United Nations Women contribute to the gender agenda of the Council? What progress had been made in bringing men into the gender agenda and which challenges remained? What positive experiences could be copied and what actions had United Nations Women undertaken at the local level to improve the gender situation within institutions? What institutional mechanisms should be set up at different levels to ensure gender integration, so that gender equality as an institutional practice was achieved? What role should cultural diversity play in this process? How could non-governmental organizations promote cooperation between men and women? Would the Council consider brief country reports on the situation of women during the Universal Periodic Review, particularly in countries which had not ratified the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women?

Speakers said institutional gender integration was a key factor in making gender equality commitments operational. Some speakers said United Nations women was now the single recognized driver to direct United Nations activities on gender equality issues with a mandate to lead and coordinate the work of the United Nations system on gender equality and women’s empowerment. The establishment of United Nations Women had already enhanced coordination and integration and improved leadership on the issues of gender equality. Some speakers asked the role that United Nations Women would play in implementing Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security.

Some speakers asked how the System-Wide Action Plan for Gender Mainstreaming might support efforts to effectively integrate a gender perspective in the work of the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms. Some asked how the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women could assist the Human Rights Council in mainstreaming issues of gender discrimination.

Chile, Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Cuba, Slovenia, Argentina, Russian Federation, Belgium, Azerbaijan, Finland, Switzerland, France, European Union, Iran, Maldives, Paraguay, India, Brazil, Croatia, Turkey, Canada speaking on behalf of New Zealand and Australia, United Nations Population Fund speaking on behalf of United Nations Children's Fund, and Indonesia took the floor. Representatives from World Wide Organization for Women and Sudwind also made statements.


Concluding Remarks

REINE ALAPINI GANSOU, Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, in concluding remarks, said that the need to integrate the gender perspective into the activities of the Human Rights Council and other United Nations bodies was a given and the question now was about effective implementation. There was a need for accountability and reporting. The Universal Periodic Review was a major step forward and Ms. Gansou suggested a greater stress on the need to incorporate gender issues in the Universal Periodic Review process. Article 26 of the Optional Protocol on African Women’s Rights called on States parties to report on gender equality issues. There was less of a need to create new mechanisms as much as to strengthen existing ones and Ms. Gansou said there should be greater cooperation between the African Commission and other regional human rights bodies, treaties and mechanisms.

SAVITRI GOONESEKERE, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Member of the Advisory Committee, International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific, recalled the question of how the Council could work with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The Universal Periodic Review process was a key element in the case of countries which were parties to the Convention. This was an opportunity to find out whether there had been an integration of the Convention. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women had always emphasized this and the prospect of using comparative jurisprudence. The new Council’s working group could address this issue. A friendly gender group could look at the issue of legal reform and integration. With regards to the comment made by Pakistan on the need to avoid duplication, Ms. Goonesekere agreed that it was important not to duplicate but indicated the need for reinforcement. Concerning quotas, many countries had introduced them to increase women’s participation, particularly in the political arena. This practice needed to be shared. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women had made a recommendation on this issue as part of temporal special measures. Regarding the role of United Nations Women there were several questions. Part of the role of United Nations Women was concerned with the generation of expertise within the United Nations. Moreover, leadership was needed across the United Nations. This was a constant challenge and the question was how senior management would integrate gender issues. Gender sensitivity and leadership at all levels required the inclusion of men, as it had been pointed out, but the impact of institutionalized discrimination on the basis of gender should not be overlooked.

APARNA MEHROTRA, Focal Point for Women in the United Nations System, United Nations Women, said consultation around a framework system-wide action plan had occurred with 36 entities of the United Nations system. The framework was a process that had been consulted on as widely as possible. This converged with some coordination activities. There was a network of gender related professionals working on issues together. As United Nations Women solidified its work, it would expand partnerships in more formal ways. The accountability framework linked with matters at both country and regional level. A decision was made with all North American based entities and European entities and the framework would first be undertaken at the corporate level. At country level similar indicators were already indicated in 20 countries and another 20 would be rolled out in 2012. These national and corporate polices would converge eventually. With respect to the Human Rights Council itself the resolution of 2007 should be commended. The Human Rights Council could support United Nations Women by integrating gender with much more intensity than in the past. The roll out of a system wide action plan would build synergies. United Nations Women was encouraged to see panels where minds were made to meet and as a result of this the machinery of the United Nations would run better. Quotas were a positive experience. Of the 28 countries that had achieved the critical mass of 20 per cent women in government, 23 of them had done so with quotas. United Nations Women could align practices with the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in its support of quotas.

HALA GHOSHEH, Director of the Gender Social Fund Jordan, in concluding remarks, said that in terms of cultural diversity within countries, gender mainstreaming policies had to be specific to the challenges faced in each county. There was a basic minimum standard for gender equality that should be established but approaches adopted should take into account the specific challenges faced in each country. One of the major challenges in the Arab world was the status of women, notably their ability to engage in political and economic life. United Nations Women should do an analysis on the gender dynamics among United Nations bodies on the ground so there were no territorial fights on the implementation of gender mainstreaming policies. Incorporating men in building gender equality was critical to countering resistance.

MARCOS NASCIMIENTO, former Executive Director of Promundo (Brazil), Expert on gender and masculinity, in concluding remarks, drew attention to the importance of being invited to the panel to discuss the role of men and the specific contribution that men could make at all different levels in the work concerning gender equality. Working with the United Nations, governments as well as civil society, Mr. Nascimiento said it had been important to work with different agencies and different actors. Mr. Nascimiento reiterated the need to have a very clear vision that gender equality could only be built through partnerships which involved a number of different actors, including men’s groups and groups working on children rights. This work had led to a historic moment in Brazil which brought together representatives from many countries and organizations to talk about and move ahead in the involvement of men in the work on gender equality. It was important to remember men when thinking about gender equality, along with underlying power relations, and this dimension should not be left aside.

CHRISTIN CHINKIN, Professor of International Law at London School of Economics, said in concluding remarks that it was important to go away remembering the questions asked and to continue asking and answering them as an ongoing process. The Human Rights Council could ensure a human rights based approach strengthening the normative framework of gender equality and new areas of assessment. It was important to ensure an analysis was made of the customs of each country as well as the institutions. Alongside plans of gender integration an analysis of the culture in an institution needed to be undertaken. This could be a two-way process with the use of the advantages of the culture in human rights institutions. The issue of resources had been raised. The big advantage of working with United Nations Women and the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was drawing on the resources available to United Nations Women to feed in to other aspects of the work to prevent discrimination. The current economic climate may impact on the human rights of women. Challenges to women’s human rights must be kept under constant appraisal by the Human Rights Council.


For use of the information media; not an official record

HRC11/127E