Romania: first visit by UN experts on discrimination against women and girls

GENEVA (21 February 2020) – The UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls will undertake its first official visit to Romania from 24 February to 6 March 2020 to assess progress in achieving gender equality in the country.

"We are particularly interested in legislative and policy measures and their impact in practice on the realisation of human rights of women and girls in Romania," the experts said.

"We will be looking at all aspects of women's life: political and public, economic and social, family and cultural life, health and safety, including gender-based violence against women and girls as a crosscutting issue. We are interested in achievements and good practices, as well as existing gaps and challenges."

The experts, who were invited by the Government, will hold meetings in Bucharest, Vrancea and Bacau County, Cluj and Sibiu.

They will pay particular attention to women and girls who encounter multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, including those living in rural areas, migrants, refugees, minorities such as Roma, LBTI (lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex), and women and girls with disabilities.

They will meet with national and local Government officials, representatives of State institutions, women and girls, civil society organisations and UN agencies.

The visiting delegation will include Meskerem Geset Techane and Ivana RadačIć, respectively chairperson and member of the Working Group.

The experts will present their preliminary observations at a press conference at 11:30 on Friday 6 March at the United Nations House at the Bulevardul Primăverii 44, Bucharest. Access to the press conference will be strictly limited to journalists.

The Working Group will submit its full report to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2021.

ENDS

The UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls 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. 

The Working Group is composed of five independent experts: Ms Meskerem Geset Techane (Ethiopia), Chairperson; Ms Elizabeth Broderick (Australia); Ms Ivana Radačić (Croatia); Ms Alda Facio (Costa Rica),; and Ms Melissa Upreti (Nepal).

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.

For further inquiries and media requests, please contact: wgdiscriminationwomen@ohchr.org

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts: The Media Unit (+ 41 22 928 9855 / mediaconsultant2@ohchr.org)

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