PHL reinstated to UN body tackling discrimination vs women
AMBASSADOR Rosario G. Manalo, the Philippines’s expert-candidate to the United Nations’ (UN) Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), was reelected for another term starting January 1, 2021 until 2024.
A secret balloting was held during the 21st Meeting of States-parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on November 9 at the UN General Assembly Hall. Nineteen candidates vied for 11 vacant seats. Other successful contenders were those from The Netherlands, Bahamas, Nepal, Lithuania, Ghana, Australia, Mexico, Lebanon, France and China. Some 188 states-parties cast their votes during the election.
One of the country’s most seasoned diplomats, Manalo has made important contributions to various international efforts for the advancement of regionalism, trade policy, gender and development, as well as culture and human rights. She is widely recognized as a champion of women’s rights in the Philippines, in the region, and in the international community. In the years of her service, the ambassador has acquired invaluable knowledge and vast expertise in various capacities both in the bloc and the UN.
Manalo’s advocacies in her reelection include the continued promotion of women’s rights, particularly in the fields of politics and decision-making, diplomacy and development, inclusion of the contexts of climate change, culture, way- of-life, as well as the rights of indigenous peoples.
“Ambassador Manalo’s first-hand experience on the work of CEDAW [as well as] her steadfast advocacy for the promotion and protection of the rights and welfare of women and girls in the world, among others, have been her truly remarkable contributions to the international community,” Ambassador Enrique A. Manalo, permanent representative of the Philippine Mission to the UN, averred.
CEDAW is the body of independent experts monitoring the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The convention is considered the most important human-rights treaty for women. Adopted by the UN in 1979, it has 189 states-parties aimed at protecting and promoting the human rights of women under all circumstances.