Malta: First visit by UN experts on discrimination against women and girls

GENEVA (23 June 2023) – A UN expert group on discrimination against women and girls will conduct its first official visit to Malta from 26 June to 7 July 2023.

During the visit, the experts will assess progress and challenges in achieving gender equality and eliminating discrimination against women and girls in the country, including legislative reforms and policies that have been implemented to promote women’s and girls’ rights and substantive gender equality and address structural discrimination.

The experts will visit Valletta, Gozo, Cospicua, and Birżebbuġa where they will meet with national and local authorities, women and girls, civil society organisations, academics, journalists, elected women leaders, UN entities and other international stakeholders.

The delegation will include Dorothy Estrada-Tanck and Elizabeth Broderick, respectively Chairperson and Member of the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls.

The experts will hold a press conference at 15:00 (local time) on Friday 7 July 2023 at the Conference Room of the Grands Suites Hotel, Triq Ir-Rebha, Gzira, GZR 1321, Malta. Access will be strictly limited to accredited journalists.

The Working Group will present a full report on the visit to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2024.

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 Dorothy Estrada Tanck (Mexico), Chairperson; Ms Ivana Radačić (Croatia); Ms Elizabeth Broderick (Australia); Ms Melissa Upreti (Nepal); and Ms Meskerem Geset Techane (Ethiopia).

In its work, this Group of Experts looks at all aspects of women’s life: political and public; economic and social; family and cultural life; health and safety, including violence against women and girls as a manifestation of gender-based discrimination; and barriers to access to justice. They pay particular attention to women and girls who encounter multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, including migrants, refugees, religious and ethnic minorities, LBTIQ+ persons, and women and girls with disabilities.

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.