Columbus Day Shenanigans at the UN

By Stefano Gennarini, J.D. | October 12, 2011

On Monday we witnessed an unusually colorful morning at the Third Committee general discussion on GA Agenda Item 28(a)-(b): The Advancement of Women. A packed house was there to hear three very powerful UN women. The UN Press Office account of the meeting left out the color. This is what we saw.

Ms. Puri from UN Women was unsurprisingly asking for more funding through voluntary donations in order to increase the presence of UN Women on the field. She told the third committee that she envisions UN Women as the implementing arm of CEDAW.

Ms. Pimentel, the CEDAW Committee Chair, spoke of a growing CEDAW Optional Protocol Jurisprudence, and the recognition it is gaining. The use of the term “jurisprudence” is alarming to those worried that CEDAW is misconstruing the treaty to create a new fundamental right of access to abortion. “Jurisprudence” translates roughly like “case law”, and is a term used by countries from the civil law tradition, as opposed to the common law tradition. This suggests Pimentel does not see CEDAW as a consultative body, but a lawmaking-adjudicatory body. She also mentioned the need for reforms in the CEDAW Committee working methods in order to increase efficiency. Presently the committee is lagging behind nearly two years on responding to country reports. When the floor was opened for questions, the representative of Algeria challenged her on the issue of lagging responses and mentioned that, after having complied with the reporting requirements close to two years ago, any recommendation Algeria were to receive presently would be outdated.

Ms. Manjoo, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, gave a summary of her recent inspection of the US, and unabashedly called on the US to enact comprehensive legislation at a national level to protect women. When the floor was opened for questions, the US Delegate at the Third Committee meeting, Laurie Shestack Phipps, must have felt duty bound when she reminded Ms. Manju that the US Constitution sets up a federal system where state and federal governments have special competencies.

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