(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Irfan Bukhari | The Peninsula
Doha: Praising Qatar's role in protecting human rights, Nicole Ameline, Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has said that countries must invest more in the empowerment of women as they are the 'leading force for peace.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is a body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
The CEDAW Committee consists of 23 experts on women's rights from around the world. Qatar acceded to the Convention in April 2009. 'It was a great honour for me to speak at the international conference on ‘National, Regional and International Mechanisms to Combat Impunity and Ensure Accountability under International Law' representing CEDAW Committee. It is a very important event and thanks to Qatar and Qatar's National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) for organising the conference, she said.
Talking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of a recently-held two-day conference, Nicole Ameline said that Qatar's role in protecting and promoting women's rights was an example for the region. 'Qatar has also introduced many reforms.
She said that the CEDAW Committee was ready to support Qatar to go further for accelerating the change. She said that everywhere in the world women were the first victims of crises and conflicts. 'Meantime they are also the leading force for peace.
In the region, she said, the CEDAW Committee has the hope to see change. 'Not only women are the victims as they are being targeted in wars and in lots of other conflicts, situations but at the same time they are strong, intelligent and courageous therefore we are helping the world for making them leader of the future.
Ameline said that the CEDAW Committee was fully committed and was observing rights violations being made against women in terms of torture, rape, or any other kind of rights' violation in conflict zones and other countries. She said that it was the duty of the States to organise relevant response against those violations and deliver swift justice.
Ameline noted that a large number of women in the world were also facing different kinds of barriers in way to get justice like cultural or sometimes linguistic barriers. 'We also ensure that justice is totally independent and transparent. 'As women are not only the victims but also the leaders of peace, therefore, countries must invest on the empowerment of women. When you are rebuilding a country (post conflict), you should totally integrate women in new political framework. Their integration is necessary in the electoral system, design and implementation of development programs.
The Vice-Chairperson of the CEDAW Committee said that the committee was on ground everywhere to support countries to achieve set goals. 'We are very active and operational to make women new forces of sustainable change and peace.
She said that women were also facing rights violations in many countries which were not in the grip of wars or conflicts. 'To stop these violations, sufficient institutional response is needed. We supervise the implementation of the Convention to prevent the creation of crisis like situation.
She said that strong institutional framework and effective national machinery was a must for implementing the Convention. 'We are supporting countries by providing help to develop such required responses.
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