PHA-Exch> Human Rights Council concludes Panel discussion on integration of a gender perspective in its work programme

[Claudio Schuftan]

 From:    marcybloom at comcast.net
 UNITED NATIONS Press release
Human Rights Council
21 September 2007

The Human Rights Council this morning concluded its panel discussion on the
integration of a gender perspective in its work programme.

The panellists, Kyung–wha Kang, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for
Human Rights, Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the
Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and Miloon Kothari,
Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, and the Moderator,
Maria Nzomo, Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations Office
at Geneva, heard from speakers before making concluding remarks about
mainstreaming the gender perspective in the work of the Human Rights
Council, a debate that started yesterday with the aim of building a platform
for the long-term process of integration of the issue in the Council's work
programme.

In the general discussion, delegates raised numerous points including that
the gender perspective could be important for the work of the Council, in
particular with regards to the rights of women and children. As over half
the world's population was female, human rights would never be protected if
the human rights of over 50 per cent were ignored. The Special Rapporteur on
violence against women should not be the only Special Procedure focusing on
women's rights - all of them should include the gender perspective in their
work. When electing the Council's Advisory Committee, due consideration
should be given to the gender balance. As there was as yet no reference to
structures and systems for dealing with the gender perspective it would be
advisable to wait for the High-Level Panel in New York to reach its
conclusions.

Ms. Nzomo, in summing up, said that integrating gender into human rights
work could have a significant impact on the life and death of women and
girls across the world. It was only through having a gender-specific
analysis that there could be an accurate picture of the gender situation in
many countries. The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action made the
gender perspective into a priority for the United Nations system as a whole.
Mandate-holders should give great importance to integrating the gender
perspective into the work of the Council as a whole. The Council should be
guided by the work already being done by the Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights and various other United Nations agencies, including the
United Nations Development Fund for Women.


When the Human Rights Council reconvenes  it will hear Radhika Coomaraswamy,
the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed
Conflict, present her report.

*Concluding Remarks*

KYUNG-WHA KANG, *United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights*,
said that concerning how States could be encouraged to include a gender
perspective in their reporting in the Universal Periodic Review, at the
beginning of the preparations for the Review process, Member States would be
encouraged to closely consult and work with the gender machineries and
women's groups in their countries. This was a peer review process, however,
and therefore it all boiled down to the political willingness of the Member
States to integrate gender into this important new mechanism of the Council.
Given the clear new voices in support of this that had been registered
during the meeting, it was hoped that this would be included in the process.


On the effectiveness of the gender-mainstreaming strategy, at the moment
there was more talk about integration rather than implementation, as there
was a limited amount of effectiveness, and there was therefore a need to
integrate the concept further into the United Nations system. The Office was
giving higher importance to gender mainstreaming, but there was a need for
increased human and financial resources to really do the work properly.

The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action made the gender perspective a
priority for the United Nations system as a whole. Mandate-holders should
give great importance to integrating the gender perspective into the work of
the Council as a whole.

The Council should be guided by the work already being done by the Office of
the High Commissioner for Human Rights and various other United Nations
agencies, including the United Nations Development Fund for Women. Various
United Nations organizations could use the methodology devised by these
agencies. On follow-up measures, including that the Universal Periodic
Review process mainstreamed gender, the Council should monitor
implementation at the national levels of the recommendations contained in
the reports of the Special Procedures and the country reports. The
commitment of States to gender equality should be translated into real
improvements. The Council should take up this issue in a crosscutting
manner, and take up strategies and mechanisms to ensure that it was
integrated into all Special Procedures.
HREA - www.hrea.org

Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) is an international
non-governmental organisation that supports human rights learning; the
training of activists and professionals; the development of educational
materials and programming; and community-building through on-line
technologies.
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