UNITED NATIONS updates
51st Session of the Commission on the Status of Women CSW

The fifty-first session took place from 26 February to 9 March 2007 at the UN in New York. In accordance with its multi-year program of work for 2007-2009, the Commission considered "the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child" as a priority theme.
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Asha-Rose Migiro, UN Deputy Secretary-General, opened the session by stressing that "much work remains to be done before goals of gender equality - and their resulting positive impact on primary-school enrolment, maternal mortality rates and women's economic independence - are reached". She continued to explain that "the two international legal instruments most linked to the rights of girls, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) are inadequate to address the problem for two reasons. First, neither codifies laws that consistently address the plight of girls, while the failure of States to incorporate provisions from the two treaties has also lead to the persistence of violence and discrimination. Ending this pandemic will require our individual and collective commitment. It will require us to create an environment where such violence is not tolerated; to work for the full implementation of existing legal norms and policies; to make focused efforts to prosecute and punish perpetrators; to dedicate sufficient resources; and to fully involve men and boys in changing stereotypical attitudes and behaviour..."

Ms Asha Rose Migiro also informed participants that last November the Secretary-General's High Level Panel on System-Wide Coherence recommended that the current UN agencies dealing with gender issues be merged into one unit.

Human Rights Council concludes its Fourth Session - Geneva

Round-up 30 March 2007 - UN Press Release Adopts Ten Resolutions and Four Decisions www.unhchr.ch The Human Rights Council concluded its regular session, having considered a large number of reports from its Special Procedures, on the high-level missions mandated during earlier special sessions, and on a wide range of issues, including racism and racial discrimination, freedom of religion or belief, indigenous peoples, violence against women, human rights defenders, and follow-up to earlier resolutions on Darfur and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

It also adopted its report to the General Assembly. In his closing statement to the Council, Luis Alfonso de Alba, President of the Council, said the Council should feel satisfaction at the high level of participation and interaction taking place. The level of commitment shown is very encouraging. It demonstrates the priority that should be attached to the institution building process, convergence and follow-up, seeking consensus, the need to clearly identify and focus on outstanding issues. The time has come to begin negotiating, to reduce the distance between positions and to take account of different concerns. Link to Resolutions and Decisions taken:
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UN High Commissioner, Louise Arbour, stressed in her report to the Council that

•  The importance of Universal Review of Countries' Records must be applied impartially and objectively, and in such a way as to answer any criticism of selectivity
•  Two essential themes guided the work of her office: economic, social and cultural rights, and the issue of equal rights for women.

Child Rights Special Event during the Human Rights Council - 19 March

Prof. Paulo Pinheiro, the UN Independent Expert on Violence against children, outlined his recommendations for a global focus on eliminating violence against children, asserting that further progress depends on States' commitments to the recommendations of his Study on Violence against Children which was officially launched at the UN General Assembly in October 2006. He repeated, "No violence against children is justifiable and all violence against children is preventable".
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UN Secretary-General's Study on All Forms of Violence against Women

Mandated by a General Assembly resolution and prepared by the Division for the Advancement of Women of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs in 2006, the study identifies ways to close the gap between States' obligations under international norms, standards and policies and calls for efforts to eradicate violence against women. This must become a higher priority at the local, national and international level.

Violence against women has far-reaching consequences for women, their children, their community and society as a whole. The report notes that States have an obligation to protect women from violence, to hold perpetrators accountable and to provide justice and remedies to victims. This requires "clear political will, outspoken, visible and unwavering commitment at the highest levels of leadership of the State and the resolve, advocacy and practical action of individuals and communities." The Secretary-General's report is available online www.un.org