15th Session of UN Human Rights Council
The UN Human Rights Council held its 15th Session from 13 September to 1 October 2010. WILPF Geneva participated in a number of ways in this session by making several strategic interventions to progress human rights issues of women, peace and security.
In this report -
Summery of pertinent meetings in the Council
*Women's Equality Before the Law: Key Resolution
*Preventable Maternal Mortality and Morbidity: Key Resolution
*HRC 15 discussions and debates attended by WILPF
Update: Recent Mass Rapes in DRC:
WILPF is deeply concerned by the recent incident of mass rape in the DRC, which became public through many news sources and through a UN statement about two weeks prior to the beginning of the HRC session 15. From July 30th through August 3rd, it is estimated that approximatly 500 women and children were raped in eastern DRC. This incident is not isolated. Rape as a tactic of war occurs far too often in the DRC, and in many other countries throughout the world with persistant insecurity and conflict. WILPF is increasingly disheartned by the persistence of insecurity in the region and by the constant threat that this poses to women and children. WILPF participated in a round table discussion facilitated by the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue and attended by many NGO's and UN agencies. The goal of this discussion was to try to determine how the peacekeeping mission, the largest peacekeeping mission the UN has depolyed to date, could be more successful at attaining its primary goal of civilian protection in the DRC. From the meeting, came a succinct analysis of the possible reasons for such acute and persistant inefficientcy on the part of the mission and what needs to change if it is to improve. For a summery of the meeting please click here: For a summery of these recent attacks, please click here.
Summery of pertinent meetings in the Council:
The 15th session of the Human Rights Council included some very interesting discussions and debates. WILPF attended a number of these discussions and was able to engage with them in a number of valuable ways.
Womens Equality Before the Law: key Resolution
WILPF supported the adoption of the Resolution on Discrimination against Woman in Law and Practice A/HRC/15/L.15 in a number of key ways. This resolution was adopted by consensus by the Council, and marks a huge step in the promotion of the equal participation of women and the protection of woman's rights. In support of this resolution, WILPF attended a half-day Discussion on Discrimination against Women in Law and Practice. This disscussion included expert panalists on the issues of discrimination against women. During this panel discussion, WILPF co-signed an oral statement with Equality Now and 31 other NGO's, urging the acceptance of this resoultion. For the report on Women's Equality Before the Law, please click here. If you would like to see a summery of the discussion please click here. In addition, WILPF followed the the process of negotiations that Mexico and Columbia had with other member states and the various other work that they did to get this resolution passed. The process of negotiation was long and tiresome, and Mexico and Columbia did a great job holding their ground on the essential parts of the resolution, while incorporating States' reccommendations when they could. WILPF urges all sections to activly commend Mexico and Columbia for their hard work and their dedication to women's equality in law and practice. For a summery of the process of negotiation on this resolution please click here.
Preventable Maternal Mortality and Morbidity: Key Resolution
Another key resolution that passed with consensus during the 15th session of the Human Rights Council was the resolution on Preventable Maternal Mortality and Morbidity and Human Rights A/HRC/15/L.27. The passing of this resolution is the product of the hard work and dedication of WILPF and a large network of NGO's who have all worked tirelessly towards its adoption. The adoption of this resoultion follows on from advocacy work done by WILPF and many other NGO's during the 14th session as well, in particular through the Joint Statement..
HRC 15 discussions and debates attended by WILPF
WILPF attended the Annual Discussion on Integration of Gender Perspectives in the Work of the Council. This meeting sought to evaluate how the council could better monitor and implement gender equality compliance within States, as well as incorporate women more into the work of the council. For a summery of this meeting please click here. Given WILPF's involvment in Gaza and the recent Flotilla attacks during the last session of the council, it is no surprise that we remained involved during the 15th session as well. WILPF attended discussions about the reports issued by the Fact-Finding Missions of both the Flotilla incident, and the human rights situation in Palestine and other Arab Occupied Territories. The report made by the Fact-Finding Mission on the Flotilla incident can be found here. The summery of this discussion can be found here. The report written by the Fact-Finding Mission on the Human Rights in Palestine and other Occupied Arab Territories can be found here, and the summary of this discussion can be found here. WILPF also attended the General Debate on Human Rights in Sudan, where we gave an oral statement on Behalf of UK WILPF's Voices of African Women's Campaign.
Universal Periodic Review: Sweden
The Council validated several Universal Periodic Reviews from countries including Kenya, Armenia, Spain,Guinea-Bassau, Sweden, Grenada, Turkey, Guyana, Kuwait, Belarus, and Lesotho.
WILPF gave an oral statement, WATCH IT HERE during the UPR for Sweden. This statement discussed, amoung other things, Sweden's supply of weapons to Pakistan.
Many other countries will be reviewed under the UPR process, including USA and Australia. The Universal Periodic Review is an opportunity for you to report issues within your country on human rights. WILPF Geneva encourages all countries to be active in this process. Check out when your country is due for review and contact us, rights@wilpf.ch, for more information.
WILPF organised the following side event as part of the 15th Session of the Human Rights Council.
· Reality of Post- Conflict and its Link to 1325: Debrief NGO Recent Events
Please use the hyperlinks through out this update to find out more information.
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