Press release

29 Jul 2010

Beirut

ESCWA Held a Regional Workshop on Women for Arab Parliaments

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Beirut, 29 July 2010 (UN Information Service) — The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) ended today a Regional Workshop for Arab Parliaments on implementing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and ending violence against them. Held between 27 and 29 July at the UN House in Beirut, the workshop was organized by ESCWA in cooperation with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Lebanese Parliament and the United Nations Development Programme-Parliamentary Development Initiative in the Arab Region (UNDP-PDIAR). The opening session was attended by Lebanese MP Gilbert Zouein who represented House Speaker Nabih Berri, the Secretary General of IPU Anders Johnsson, the Chairperson of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe José Mendes Bota, Programme Coordinator of UNDP-PDIAR Karima El Korri, Lebanese MP Bahia El Hariri and ESCWA Executive Secretary Badr AlDafa. Members of parliaments and parliamentary staff from all 14 Arab member countries of ESCWA also attended. AlDafa pointed out in his speech that a large number of ESCWA Member Countries adjusted some of their laws that do not comply with CEDAW, “those concerning the nationality, work, parliamentary election, family and criminal laws." These countries are Algeria, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco and Syria. He also noted existing cooperation between ESCWA and such international bodies as IPU and UN Division for Women Empowerment in organizing a series of workshops for parliamentarians in order to strengthen efforts to amend national legislations in the Arab region in line with CEDAW. Lebanese parliamentarian Zouein stressed the need to enforce this convention, indicating the importance of sharing experiences among Arab countries to overcome difficulties facing the process of modernization and change. She informed participants that a draft law on “Protecting Women from Domestic Violence in Lebanon” was finalized and included on the agenda of the Lebanese Parliament and that it will be approved in the near future. Johnsson outlined a campaign launched by IPU in cooperation with UN organizations to support parliaments in their efforts to end violence against women. He explained that this campaign aims to develop an effective legal framework, secure the implementation of this legislation, and reinforce awareness of violence against women. The head of IPU stated that the global average percentage of women in parliaments is 19 percent, compared to 11.3 per cent 15 years ago. He added that this progress was being made at a very slow pace so that the ratio was not expected to exceed 30 percent in 2025. El Korri of UNDP-PDIAR emphasized that parliaments are playing an important role in monitoring the implementation of CEDAW and were holding governments accountable for reporting to the committee concerned. “But several factors prevent parliaments from implementing their roles, such as the fact that decision-makers are the governments during the development of strategies and their implementation and also during the preparation and review of the reports that highlight successes and challenges in achieving gender equality and women empowerment.” Bota of the European Parliamentary Association, who delivered the keynote speech, presented a European case study explaining how actions by the Council of Europe to combat violence against women are linked to the elimination of all forms of discrimination against them. He pointed out that across the European continent violations of human rights can be said to affect almost 80 million women. “This prompted the Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe member states to launch a campaign called 'Stop Domestic Violence against Women' from 2006 to 2008,” he added. This campaign aimed to draft a new legally binding convention, which will come out at the end of 2010, on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. Bota stressed the need to develop gender-balanced societies, starting in the political and public life. The leading European parliamentarian finally maintained that “more efforts are required and a strong political will is needed at European and national levels to introduce measures to achieve real gender equality and tackle the roots of violence against women.” The workshop aimed to inform participants about the contents and monitoring body of CEDAW and to highlight the role of parliaments in the reporting process to the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It was tasked to also assess progress made and address remaining challenges. The workshop was set to help identify parliamentary mechanisms and means to ensure and oversee the effective implementation of CEDAW at the national level and key actions that parliaments and their members can take to contribute to the process * *** *
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