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

GENEVA (20 October 2016)  – The record of Burundi on women’s rights will be examined by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on 26 October. Burundi 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 Burundian Government are: 

• Heightened levels of violence and discrimination against women, including towards refugee and internally displaced women, amidst the current political instability;
• Ill-treatment of women in detention and their access to a fair trial;
• Low participation of women in decision-making processes;
• Low enrolment and retention of girls in school;
• Prevalence of child labour, including commercial sexual exploitation;
• High prevalence of malnutrition and HIV/AIDs  among women and girls;

The review will take place in Room XVI at Palais des Nations in Geneva from 10:00 – 13:00 and 15:00 - 17:00 and will be webcast live at http://webtv.un.org/.

The Committee will also hear from NGO representatives. More information about the review, including Burundi’s 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 Burundi and the other countries being reviewed – Canada, Bhutan, Belarus, Argentina, Switzerland, Honduras, Armenia, Bangladesh, Estonia, and 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

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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