Hungary: UN expert group launches first official visit to assess women’s rights and gender equality

Hungarian

BUDAPEST / GENEVA (12 May 2016) – The United Nations Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice* will undertake its first official visit to Hungary from 17 to 27 May to assess progress towards achieving gender equality and good practices in the protection and promotion of women’s human rights in the country.

“We are particularly interested in any legislative reforms and policies to promote women’s rights and gender equality and the extent of their implementation,” said human rights expert Frances Raday, who currently heads the expert group.

The expert group will focus on aspects of law and practice which affect women’s representation in public and political life, rights in family, in culture, labour and social services, and access to justice.

“We will also pay specific attention to women’s rights to health and safety, looking at measures to ensure women’s access to health care, including reproductive and sexual healthcare,” Ms. Raday added.

During its ten-day visit, the Working Group will meet with Government officials at national and local levels, representatives of civil society organizations and of the UN system, as well as academic experts and individual women.

Ms. Raday will visit Budapest, Pécs, Eger and Bicske to gather first-hand information on issues related to discrimination against women in various contexts, including women victims of multiple forms of discrimination.

A press conference to share the expert group’s preliminary findings will be held on Friday, 27 May at 12 am in the Garden & River conference room at Art’otel Budapest, Bem rkp. 16-19, 1011 Budapest. Access to the press conference is strictly limited to journalists. Interpretation in English and in Hungarian will be available.

Following its visit, the Working Group will present a report with its conclusions and recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2017.

(*) The Working Group is composed of five independent experts: the Current Chair-Rapporteur is Ms. Frances Raday (Israel/United Kingdom), Vice-President: Ms. Alda Facio (Costa Rica), Ms. Eleonora Zielinska (Poland), Ms. Kamala Chandrakirana (Indonesia) and Ms. Emna Aouij (Tunisia).

The UN Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice was created by the Human Rights Council in 2011 to identify, promote and exchange views, in consultation with States and other actors, on good practices related to the elimination of laws that discriminate against women. The Group is also tasked with developing a dialogue with States and other actors on laws that have a discriminatory impact where women are concerned. Learn more, log on to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/WGWomenIndex.aspx

The Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms. Special Procedures mandate-holders are independent human rights experts appointed by the Human Rights Council to address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. They are not UN staff and are independent from any government or organization. They serve in their individual capacity and do not receive a salary for their work.

UN Human Rights, country page – Hungary: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/ENACARegion/Pages/HUIndex.aspx

For more information and media requests, please contact:
During the visit (in Budapest): Ms. Hannah Wu (+41 79 444 4917 / hwu@ohchr.org)
Before and after the visit (in Geneva): Ms. Hannah Wu (+41 22 917 9152 / hwu@ohchr.org) or Ms. Claire Mathellié (+41 22 917 9151 / wgdiscriminationwomen@ohchr.org)

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts:
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)  

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