PLATFORM NEWSFLASH
The Northern Ireland Women’s European Platform
Working towards
equality and peace for women on a local, national European and international level
58 Howard Street, Belfast BT1 6PJ
niwep@btconnect.com
www.niwep.org.uk
October 2
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NIWEP’s CEDAW Shadow Report and Training
The Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an
international bill of rights for women. Consisting of a preamble and 30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination
against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.
Countries that have ratified
or acceded to the Convention, including the UK,
are legally bound to put its provisions into practice. They are also committed to submit national reports, at least
every four years, on measures they have taken to comply with their treaty obligations.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, due to the number of countries acceding and ratifying the UK government’s report due in 2003 will now be heard in 2008.
Northern Ireland Women’s
European Platform has been preparing and updating a ‘shadow report’ from Northern Ireland to the CEDAW Committee since 2003.
The report was compiled using a consultative process of questionnaire and a number of round table discussions which
resulted in the women’s sector and other interested groups agreeing the issues and content of the report. The report has been updated regularly in order to reflect the changes in Northern Ireland for women politically, socially and economically.
As the date now has been
set the NIWEP has been working closely with the NI Human Rights Committee and has contacted the Equality Commission to ensure
no duplication in any reports being submitted in 2007/8.
There will be a NIWEP updated
version sent out soon to those groups who responded to the past consultation process and there will be an opportunity for
future consultation at a conference NIWEP is holding in partnership with Women into Politics on International Women’s
Day (8 March) 2007. Please put this date in your diary.
NIWEP members have been
trained by CEDAW at the United Nations and were given the resources in which to aid in the learning of the process and the
potential impact of the Convention.
If your organisation wants
to find out more about CEDAW or training on CEDAW please contact niwep@btconnect.com - You can find the UK government’s
report submitted in 2003 at:
http://www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/eu_int/un.htm
European Women’s Lobby – EWL
General Assembly
The General Assembly of
the European Women’s Lobby (EWL) is taking place from the 20-22 October in Prague. Northern Ireland, along with its sister organisations from Scotland, Wales and England,
who form the UK Joint Committee for Women (UKJWC), will be present to form the work of the EWL and network with its sister
organisations in the 24 ratified European countries.
Annette Lawson from England
(NAWO) who has been the UK member to the Board and EWL Executive Member
will step down this year with Scotland taking the Board seat of the EWL
for the UKJWC and Northern Ireland as
its alternate. This post held by Liz Law the elected UKJWC/EWL representative.
On behalf of NIWEP we would
like to thank Annette for all her hard work and dedication to promoting the issues of the UK Joint Committee at the Executive
of the EWL.
A report of the GA will
be available on NIWEP’s website at a future date.
VIOLENCE
AGAINST WOMEN
As we approach International day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
on the 25 November a number of events, publications and reports have been prepared and sent to NIWEP as an organisation with
UN Special Consultative Status to circulate to its members and interested groups for information.
Kosovo: UN Goodwill Ambassador Kidman hears chronicles of
violence against women
Visiting Kosovo on
her inaugural trip as a Goodwill Ambassador with the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Nicole Kidman heard
first-hand about the impact of gender-based violence and war, and said today that women must be central to any decisions reached
during the current talks over the province's final status.
"I was very moved by
the many women I met during my Kosovo trip," Ms. Kidman said after her two-day visit to the province with Executive Director
Noeleen Heyzer. "I learned so much from the experiences that they were willing to share - they spoke about how violence has
disrupted their lives and the lives of their children.
"They talked to me about the tragedy of losing sons and husbands,
but they also inspired me with their determination to build a better future for themselves and their families, and to claim
their rights as individuals and citizens."
Ms. Kidman and Ms.
Heyzer met women leaders, representatives of civil society, war widows, female victims of sexual violence and women still
searching for family members since the end of the war in 1999.
They said the strong message
they received from Kosovo's women was that they want to be central to the final status talks, which are still at the technical
stage.
The Albanian-majority
province of Serbia
has been under UN administration since NATO forces drove out Yugoslav troops amid fierce ethnic fighting in 1999. Independence and autonomy within Serbia
have been among options mentioned for the province, where ethnic Albanians outnumber Serbs and others by nine to one.
Ms.
Heyzer added that she and Ms. Kidman were calling for governments and armies to stop using rape as a weapon of war, for all
rape victims in war and conflict to be compensated and for greater justice for women, including support for witnesses who
testify against the perpetrators of crimes against women.
Vacancy
Announcement – Violence against Women
An EU funded and UNFPA implemented project on "Promoting Gender Issues in Turkey - Combating Domestic Violence Against Women" is looking for project team
which will consist of:
- Project Coordinator(VAW PC-2006);
- Training Advisor (VAW TA-2006);
- Communication Expert (VAW CE-2006);
- Financial Officer (VAW FO-2006);
- Secretary (VAW SE-2006) and
- Interpreter (VAW INT-2006)
who will be based in Ankara at the General Directorate of Women's Status premises. For the
details of the vacancy announcements for the 24 months project please visit www.unfpa.org.tr.
UN Officials urge global backing for Annan's report on violence against women
Painting a grim picture of the extent of violence against women in
all parts of the world, senior United Nations officials today urged everyone to fully support Secretary-General Kofi Annan's
recent in-depth report on the problem, which lays out legislative and other recommendations to combat the scourge. "Violence
against women as the report says is not a characteristic of some countries. It's really a global problem that has to be addressed.”
According to the quantitative
estimates, which certainly underestimate the
amount of violence that occurs, at least one out of three women experienced
violence at some stage in their lives," said Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs José Antonio Ocampo at
a joint press conference in New York.
He highlighted some
of the main points of Mr. Annan's 139-page study, which was presented to the General Assembly's Third Committee yesterday,
emphasising in particular the importance of its legal recommendations and also spoke of the key role of women's groups. The report can be viewed at:
http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.aspm=A/61/122/Add.1">study
World Wide Domestic Violence Awareness Month
The Women's Edge Coalition,
in partnership with Amnesty International USA and the Family Violence Prevention Fund, is proud to announce its new campaign
to increase U.S. leadership to end gender-based
violence globally. Approximately one in three of the world's women will
experience violence in her lifetime, with rates reaching 70 percent in some countries. The campaign seeks to mobilise a wide
cross-section of American society in support of stronger US
policy to help end this gross violation of women's human rights.
Read more:
http://www.womensedge.org/index.phpoption=com_content&task=view&id=280&Itemid=4
Violence plagues women around the world, study finds
Partner violence affects
women across the globe, according to a study released this week by the World Health Organization. Encompassing interviews
with nearly 25,000 women in 10 countries, the report found violence committed by spouses or live-in partners is widespread
across both the developed and developing world, in rural and urban areas alike. Women's rights groups emphasised the importance
of the study. For information
on the article by the International Herald Tribune http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/eBjkhMrCBXkypJooFi
Appointment of the New UN Gender Secretary –
Ban Ki-moon
Last Friday, the United
Nations General Assembly appointed South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon as the UN's next Secretary-General. Mr.
Ban will spend the next two months preparing to succeed Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who steps down on December 31.
Read
more about Ban Ki-moon
http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jspkey=208958004&url_num=2&url=http://www.betterworldcampaign.org/issues/General_Assembly.asp
Mr. Ban will assume this post at a crucial time for the UN and the world. Just this past weekend, the
UN Security Council imposed sanctions on North Korea,
following their claims to have conducted a nuclear test. Mr. Ban has asserted his willingness to take an active role
in working between parties on this issue.
