Ireland will be appearing before the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in New York on Wednesday next, 13th July, when the state’s combined fourth and fifth periodic reports will be examined. Ireland ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1985.
The Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) will be sending a delegation to attend the examination of Ireland’s combined reports. There will also be a number of NGOs in attendance in New York. The IHRC delegation will draw the Committee’s attention to a number of areas where the IHRC believes the Government’s efforts to promote and protect the rights of women has been inadequate. The IHRC made its own submission to the CEDAW Committee in January 2005 commenting on a number of issues covered in Ireland’s Combined 4th and 5th Reports.
"The aim of the IHRC in compiling this submission is to provide the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women with an alternative and supplementary source of comprehensive and critical information. Our submission contains a list of suggested questions for the Committee, as well as a set of recommendations for future reform in these areas. We hope that our contribution will help to inform the discussion and dialogue and contribute to a more fruitful outcome for women in Ireland and for the development of a truly equal society here" stated the President of the Human Rights Commission, Dr. Maurice Manning.
The delegation from the IHRC will also have an opportunity to directly address members of the Committee on Monday, 11th July, prior to the formal examination of the state’s reports. "We welcome the opportunity given to us by the CEDAW Committee to inform them of some of the concerns we have about the position of women in Irish society. In particular we will be emphasising the need to make changes to provisions of the Irish Constitution which ascribe a limited and dependent role to women and fails to embody the principle of equality of women and men", stated the Chief Executive of the IHRC, Dr. Alpha Connelly, prior to her departure to New York.
“We will also be highlighting the scale of inequality experienced by groups of women marginalised by being older, living in poverty and being disabled" stated Dr Katherine Zappone, Commissioner and Convenor of the IHRC’s Gender and Equality Committee. "We see an explicit link between the unacceptable view of women’s role that is endorsed in the Constitution and Ireland’s lack of progress with regard to eliminating discrimination between women and men."
A copy of the IHRC’s Submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women is available from the following link: http://www.ihrc.ie/_fileupload/publications/CEDAWFinal.pdf
For further information, please contact:
Mary Ruddy
Senior Human Rights Awareness Officer,
Irish Human Rights Commission.
Jervis House,
Jervis Street,
Dublin 1.
Tel. 01 8589 601
Mobile: 087 2400695
E-mail: info@ihrc.ie
Website : http://www.ihrc.ie
Note for Editor
The Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) is an independent statutory body established in 2001 to advise on the protection of human rights in Ireland. It has its origin partly in the Good Friday peace agreement which provided for the establishment of Human Rights Commissions in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and mandated them to work closely together.
Ireland acceded to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women on 22 December 1985. Ireland submitted its first periodic report in February 1987 and its combined second and third periodic reports in March 1997. Ireland’s combined fourth and fifth periodic reports under CEDAW were submitted to the UN Committee in June 2003 and the state’s report will be examined by the Committee on Wednesday 13th July 2005 in New York. It is a part of the procedure under the Convention that each State Party submit a 5-yearly periodic report on the measures it has taken to implement its Convention obligations. Subsequently representatives of the State Party attend before the UN Committee and are examined on the State’s report.
The three member delegation from the IHRC will comprise of the following:
Commissioner Katherine Zappone who is convenor of the IHRC’s Gender & Equality Committee
Dr. Alpha Connelly, Chief Executive of the IHRC
Ms. Roisin Hennessy, Assistant Legislation and Policy Review Officer.