EXPERT ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN TO VISIT AFGHANISTAN

8 July 2005

Yakin Ertürk, the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on violence against women, its causes and consequences, will visit the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 9 to 19 July 2005..

The Special Rapporteur is scheduled to visit Kabul, Kandahar and Herat to gather first-hand information on the question of violence against women in the country. During the visit, she will meet with representatives of the Government, national human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations, United Nations officials and individuals engaged in human rights work, specifically work on violence against women.

After the visit, Ms. Ertürk will present a report containing her findings and recommendations to the sixty-second session of the Commission in 2006. Ms. Ertürk, Professor of Sociology at Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, was appointed Special Rapporteur in 2003.

For more information about the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and copies of available reports, please consult the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: http://www.ohchr.org/english/women/rapporteur