UN Committee to review the Netherlands’ record on women’s rights

GENEVA (7 November 2016)  – The record of the Netherlands on women’s rights will be examined by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on 10 November. The Netherlands 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 Dutch Government are: 
·    Traditional attitudes and stereotypes on the role of women in the media;
·    Eradication of stereotypes of migrant women;
·    Prevalence of child abuse and child trafficking;
·    Regulation of prostitution and combating abuse in the sex industry;
·    Gender and ethnic stereotypes in education;
·    High incidence of girls over 15 dropping out of school  in Aruba;
·    Eradication of gender pay  gap and ensuring women’s access to full-time and part-time employment;
·    Improving healthcare systems for women, including asylum-seeking and refugee women.

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 at http://webtv.un.org/.

The Committee will also hear from NGO representatives. More information about the review, including the Netherlands’ 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 the Netherlands and the other countries being reviewed – Canada, Burundi, Bhutan, Belarus, Argentina, Switzerland, Honduras, Armenia, Bangladesh, and Estonia - will be published on 21 November here:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1027&Lang=en

ENDS

For more information please contact Jakob Schneider at  jschneider@ohchr.org 
Media requests: Liz Throssell +41 (0) 22 917 9466 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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