Feature image left to right: Berthe De Vos, Donatella Benjamin, Stacy Ciulik.
This edition of Our Voice at the UN takes a look at the work of SI’s United Nations Representatives in Geneva. Part 1 introduces SI’s newest UN Representative in Geneva, and brings news from the 48th Session of the Human Rights Council, the 79th session of CEDAW, and World Humanitarian Day.
The United Nations Office in Geneva is the second largest UN Centre, after New York. It is a focal point for multilateral diplomacy, human rights, labour, peace and security. The UN’s Human Rights Council and its human rights review mechanisms are based in Geneva, including the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), the Commission of the Rights of the Child (CRC), the UN’s Refugee Agency, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
For SI’s UN Representatives in Geneva, these human rights mechanisms offer a critical opportunity to provide recommendations to governments to ensure that actions are taken to promote gender equality and women’s and girls’ access to their human rights and fundamental freedoms.
SI Welcomes Donatella Benjamin as SI UN Representative for Geneva!
SI’s current Representatives to the UN in Geneva are Berthe De Vos (Centre Contact), Stacy Ciulik, and Donatella Benjamin – one of SI’s newest recruits. Donatella has recently completed her six-month designate period; a time for new Representatives to grow in their understanding of the UN, and develop their expertise as they undertake new responsibilities within their team. We are delighted to welcome Donatella to the Geneva team!
“I have the honour to be one of the SI UN representatives in Geneva since the beginning of 2021. In this respect, I attend sessions of the Human Rights Council, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Regional Forum on Sustainable Development for the UNECE region. I am particularly interested in the fields of right to education, digital divide, gender equality, child marriage, human trafficking and domestic violence.” – Donatella Benjamin
48th Session of the Human Rights Council
This week saw the opening of the 48th regular session of the Human Rights Council, a key event in the calendar for Geneva. The council is responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights, addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations on them. It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention. During the opening session, the key theme of the discussion was the impact of climate change on human rights. Donatella reports:
“The United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, warned on Monday 13 September of the impact of climate change on human rights, calling on member countries of the Human Rights Council (HRC) to show leadership in global climate action.
With two months to go before COP26, in Glasgow, the UN High Commissioner reiterated the need to address environmental threats, which fuel conflict and inequality. The interrelated crises of pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss are increasing the dangers – amplifying conflicts, tensions and structural inequalities, and making people increasingly vulnerable.
Environmental changes like sea-level rise, higher temperatures, drought, gigantic fires, floods, heatwaves, desertification, are causing hunger, displacement, massive migration. The effects are already seen and impact the rights to food, water, education, housing, health, and development. Many communities are in danger of death. Pollution alone is responsible for one in six premature deaths in the world.
The political and social effects of climate change will impact all countries in the world and particularly hit women and girls, raising the number of those living in extreme poverty. Michelle Bachelet called on states to act quickly and coherently.
The High Commissioner announced a joint UN effort in the coming months to protect environmental defenders and link human rights to the environmental approach.”
The effects of climate change are a catalyst for inequality and a threat to human rights. This is a subject that SI will continue to engage with across all UN centres as we continue to advocate for the rights of women and girls around the world.
Read SI’s Position Paper on Climate Change HERE.
World Humanitarian Day
August 19 has been established as a time to commemorate humanitarians who died or were injured during their tenure. The United Nations General Assembly symbolically chose August 19 as World Humanitarian Day because of the bombing of UN headquarters in Iraq on August 19, 2003. Humanitarian work requires great commitment and physical and intellectual stamina. Extremely satisfying on one side, but often dangerous, unpredictable, frustrating on the other side. Berthe De Vos reports from this years’ ceremony in Geneva:
“Normally this day is coloured with speeches and ceremonies, but unfortunately this years’ ceremony was limited due to Covid 19 restrictions and only a few people were allowed to attend the ceremony. In a video message Mr. Guterres, UN General-Secretary, pointed out that:
“Humanitarian workers are here to help the world’s most vulnerable people when disaster strikes. But around the world, aid workers face growing threats. In the past 20 years, shootings, kidnappings, and other attacks on humanitarian organizations have increased tenfold. This year alone, at least 72 humanitarian workers have been killed in conflict zones. On World Humanitarian Day, we pay tribute to aid workers everywhere, and commit to doing everything possible to protect them and their vital work. This year’s campaign for World Humanitarian Day focuses on the climate crisis, which threatens the homes, livelihoods and lives of some of the world’s poorest people.”
Furthermore, Ms. Tatiana Valovaya, UNOG Director-General and Ms. Michelle Bachelet, OHCHR High Commissioner, gave a short speech during the ceremony with special tribute to Sergio Vierera de Mello, then UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Several flower arrangements were laid at the podium by the High Commissioner and Director General. The High Commissioner underlined the urgency and needs in Afghanistan, and the importance of climate change as well as the work of humanitarian workers from UN agencies and NGO’s, helping in unimaginable difficulties, where and when needed.”
CEDAW 79th session
This year, the CEDAW Committee organised a full day (virtually) on the rights of indigenous women and girls. This allowed the CEDAW Committee to elaborate on a general recommendation for indigenous women’s rights and share the importance of their link to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to the CEDAW Committee’s forthcoming general recommendation. Berthe De Vos reports:
“The Committee had received over 70 written and pre-recorded messages on the issue. Official representatives of UN entities, as well as States Parties and members of the Civil Society approached the problems of Indigenous women and girls from multiple perspectives.
The day was divided into two sessions: the morning session focused on equality and non-discrimination; the afternoon session was on effective participation, consultation, and consent in political and public life.
During the morning session one remark stood out, which shared that “indigenous women and girls are not a homogenous group. They don’t speak the same language, they face different challenges, and they perish multiple forms of discrimination”. Moreover, they are discriminated in a very different way from the majority of the population. These forms of discrimination are concentrated on gender, age, ethnicity, disability, status, poverty, and colonialism. As with other areas of the globe, the pandemic has exacerbated racism against Indigenous peoples, and more specially gender-based violence against Indigenous women.
During the second part of the day, the discussion emphasised that the existing tools aren’t fully reflective of the reality of indigenous women. Central to this is the problem of limited access to political, economic, social, and cultural participation and protection from racism or discrimination.
There is a lot of effort by the States parties to try to involve indigenous women and girls in politics and push to give them the active right to full, equal, and meaningful participation in public life. Allowing indigenous women to work in their own language has proven a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, the experiences many indigenous women have shared whilst in political roles are not without hardship and prejudice.
In conclusion, Ms. Vargas, chair of the committee, said the committee will strive to meet the highest standards when drafting the general recommendation on the rights of indigenous women and girls.”
Keep your eyes on our SI website and social media pages for part two (coming soon!).