The NGO Committee on the Status of Women and the undersigned organizations
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: January 8, 2006
Attached please find a letter addressed to various
UN Officials urging:
1) a mandate be issued requiring the SR on
VAW to annualy report to
and participate in the UN CSW
2) the UN CSW to officially schedule VAW as one of the thematic
issues
to be considered a the 51st Session in 2007.
i am seeking the
support of NGO organizations. if your organization is
interested in
endorsing this letter, please send a written confirmation
with the full name
of the NGO and the UN Rep to both myself and NGO CSW
chair, jackie shapiro
at the emails:
jacci007@aol.com
you may
also provide a written consent to jackie at the upcoming
monthly NGO CSW
meeting which will be held on 19 January in the UN
Church Center from
noon-2:30 pm.
feel free to forward this message to anyone who would be
interested in
providing their support. you may also contact me
directly with any
questions you may have. many thanks for your
cooperation and support
in this effort.
best wishes
denise
scotto
vice-chair, NGO CSW
Dear
Honorable:
Chair, UN Commission on the Status of Women, Ambassador
Gallardo-Hernandez
Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement of
Women, Rachel Mayanja
Director, UN DAW, Carolyn Hannan
Executive Director UNIFEM, Noelleen Heyzer
Secretary General, KA
DESA, Ocampo,
High
Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour
Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Dr. Yakin
Erturk
GA
President Jan Eliasson
Executive Director, UNFPA, Thoriya Obaid
Dear:
The NGO Committee on the Status of Women and the undersigned
organizations,
are
writing to you about two matters of great concern. The first issue relates to the role of
the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women. The second relates to the mandate of the
Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women–the thematic issue of violence
against women itself.
We are deeply troubled that the Special Rapporteur on
Violence against Women is not participating at the upcoming 2006 session of the
United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and that there exists no
official mandate for her to annually report to and participate in the United
Nations Commission on the Status of Women sessions.
It is clear that the work of the Special Rapporteur on Violence against
Women relates directly to the central issues before the United Nations
Commission on the Status of Women.
While the Special Rapporteur’s role is to report on the current global
reality of violence against women to the Commission on Human Rights, the issues
being considered by the Special Rapporteur are of utmost importance to the work
of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. The Special Rapporteur’s expertise on
the substantive thematic issues serves the United Nations Commission on the
Status of Women with crucial leadership as it undertakes its work.
In addition, the participation of the Special Rapporteur
on Violence against Women in the 2006 Session of the United Nations Commission
on the Status of Women will provide an important contribution to the Secretary
General’s study on violence against women as well as guidance to the United
Nations Division for the Advancement of Women which is currently conducting the
study. Her participation and
leadership would also be invaluable to, “Violence against Women: From Critical Concerns to Collective
Action,” the one day conference that the NGO Committee on the Status of
Women is holding Saturday, 4 March at the New York County Lawyer’s
Association.
Further, the regular participation of the Special Rapporteur on Violence
against Women before the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
ensures that there is a United Nations system-wide approach to the issues
relating to violence against women, advancement of women and women’s human
rights and development. At a time
of United Nations reform, the importance of institutionalizing the work of and
the close collaboration between the Office of the High Commissioner on Human
Rights and the United Nations Secretariat cannot be underscored.
We therefore urge that a mandate be issued requiring the Special
Rapporteur on Violence against Women to annually report to and participate in
the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women sessions.
At the same time, we also urge the United Nations Commission on the
Status of Women to officially schedule Violence against Women as one of the
thematic issues to be considered during the 51st Session in 2007. By
taking up this issue immediately after the Secretary General’s study on violence
against women which will have been released during the 2006 General Assembly
session, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and all member
states will show their good will in truly reaffirming their commitment to the
prevention and elimination of violence against women and to the promotion of
human rights of women worldwide.
Jackie Shapiro
Chair, NGO Committee on the Status of Women
Zonta International
Denise Scotto, Esq.
Vice-Chair, NGO Committee on the Status of
Women
International
Federation of Women
Lawyers
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