UN Committee to review Belarus’ record on women’s rights

GENEVA (26 October 2016)  – The record of Belarus on women’s rights will be examined by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on 28 October. Belarus has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and so is reviewed regularly by the Committee on how it is implementing the Convention. 

Among the possible issues for discussion between CEDAW and a delegation from the Belarusian Government are: 
·    Persistence of stereotypes concerning the roles and responsibilities of women and men in the family and in society;
·    Sexualisation and commercialisation of women in the media;
·    Prevalence of violence against women, marital rape;
·    Prevention of trafficking and provision of adequate assistance to trafficked women and girls;
·    Gender stereotypes in education, lack of academic and vocational choices for women;
·    Continuing wage gap between men and women;
·    Measures taken to prohibit and prevent sexual harassment in the workplace;
·    Human rights situation of women belonging to disadvantaged groups, such as older women, migrant women, Roma women and lesbian women.

The review will take place in Room XVI at Palais des Nations in Geneva from 10:00 – 13:00 (11:00 – 14:00 in Minsk) and 15:00 - 17:00 (16:00 – 18:00) and will be webcast at http://webtv.un.org/.

The Committee will also hear from NGO representatives. More information about the review, including Belarus’ written report, here:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1027&Lang=en

The Committee’s findings, officially known as concluding observations, on Belarus and the other countries being reviewed – Canada, Burundi, Bhutan, Argentina, Switzerland, Honduras, Armenia, Bangladesh, Estonia, Netherlands – will be published on 21 November here:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1027&Lang=en

ENDS

More information: Jakob Schneider - + 41 (0) 22 917 9301 /  jschneider@ohchr.org

Media requests: Liz Throssell +41 (0) 22 917 9466/ +41 79 752 0488 ethrossell@ohchr.org

Media accreditation for the Palais des Nations:   http://unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpPages)/70991F6887C73B2280256EE700379C58?OpenDocument

Read the media advisory online: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20711&LangID=E

Background

CEDAW is composed of 23 independent human rights experts drawn from around the world. They serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. The Committee’s concluding observations are an independent assessment of States’ compliance with their human rights obligations under the treaty. More information:
http://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/cedaw/pages/cedawindex.aspx

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