Iceland’s record on women’s rights to face review by UN Committee

GENEVA (11 February 2016)  – Iceland’s record on women’s rights will be examined by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on 17 February.  Iceland has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and so is required to be 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 Icelandic Government are:  Prosecution and punishment of those guilty of violence against women; emergency shelters, support services for women victims of violence; decision to dismantle police sex crimes unit in 2010 owing to funding cuts; low representation of women in national police force; persistent gender wage gap; measures to reduce early pregnancies and abortions.

The review will take place in XVI at Palais des Nations in Geneva from 10:00 -17:00 (09:00 – 16:00 in Reykjavik) and be webcast live at http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/.  More information, including Iceland’s written report, at:
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1007&Lang=en

The Committee will hold a news conference to discuss its findings on Iceland and the other States being reviewed – Japan, Sweden, Mongolia, Czech Republic, Vanuatu, Haiti and Tanzania – on 7 March. This will be at 13:30 in Press Room 1, Palais des Nations. CEDAW’s findings will be published on 7 March here: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1007&Lang=en

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact 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. Members 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

For your news websites and social media: Key messages about our news releases are available on UN Human Rights social media channels, listed below. Please tag us using the proper handles
Twitter: @UNHumanRights
Facebook: unitednationshumanrights
Instagram: unitednationshumanrights
Google+: unitednationshumanrights
Youtube: unohchr