Iran falls short in bid for UN Women panel - Summary

Wed, 10 Nov 2010

New York - Iran, often criticized for violating human rights of its citizens, on Wednesday lost in the election of 41 countries that will serve on the executive board of UN Women, a newly established umbrella organization in the United Nations.

Iran's candidacy had been challenged by human rights advocates, including Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. The US also opposed Iran's joining the board.

Until the last minute, Iran was one of 10 candidates for Asia's ten seats on the board, raising expectations it would be a shoe-in for the board. But East Timor came forth as a candidate in the 11th hour and received enough votes to unseat Iran's bid.

Iran received only 19 votes while other Asian countries elected won more than 50 votes in the ballots conducted by the 54-member UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

US Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters following the vote that Iran "lost, and they lost handily."

"Several countries with less than stellar records on women rights and human rights were elected," Rice admitted when asked why the focus was on Iran while other countries, which abuse women rights, including Saudi Arabia, were elected.

Saudi Arabia joined the board, along with Norway, Spain, Britain, the United States and Mexico, in the traditional donor group of candidates.

Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian rights activist and 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said Tuesday it would be "a joke" if Iran were elected to the panel.

"How can a country that handles women as second-class citizens and discriminates against them ... speak for the rights of women?" she asked at a press conference.

The board is comprised of 10 African countries, five Western European countries, 10 Asian countries, four from Eastern Europe, six from Latin America and the Caribbean, five from Western Europe and the six donors.

Asian countries elected are: Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Korea and East Timor.

African countries are: Angola, Cape Verde, Congo, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Libya, Nigeria and Tanzania.

From Eastern Europe, Albania, Hungary, Estonia and Russia were elected.

The six Latin American and Caribbean nations are Argentina, Brazil, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada and Peru. The Western Europeans are Denmark, France, Italy, Luxembourg and Sweden.

The 41 executives will serve from January 1, 2011, for two- or three-year terms, decided by drawing lots.

The election by ECOSOC was one of first steps to launch UN Women as the sole entity dealing with gender equality. The new agency, called UN Women, brings together four separate UN women-related organizations including UNIFEM (UN Development Fund for Women) and the office of the special adviser on gender issues.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/352958,women-panel-summary.html.