Handbook for Parliamentarians on the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against women at the UN

(From left to right) Senator J. Fraser (Canada), Mrs F. Gaspard (ex-French MP), Mrs C. Hannan (UNDAW), Mrs K. Jabre (IPU) and Senator L. Madero (Mexico).

Making use of the Handbook Some Parliaments have ensured that: each of their members received a copy of the handbook; submitted the Handbook to the parliamentary committee(s) concerned; organised a public launch of the Handbook that would include the participation of representatives of competent government authorities and of the various sectors of civil society concerned by the subject; organised a parliamentary debate on the subject;

On the occasion of the 29th session of the UN CEDAW Committee in New York, the UN Division for the Advancement of Women and the IPU organised on 14 July 2003 a panel to present the IPU/UN Handbook for Parliamentarians on the CEDAW and its Optional Protocol, with the participation of more than 90 participants.

Panellists including Senator Lydia Madero (Mexico), Senator Joan Fraser (Canada) and Mrs Françoise Gaspard (former MP and French member of the CEDAW Committee) stressed the role of parliaments and their members in the implementation of the Convention and in the reporting mechanism. The Handbook was welcomed by members of the Committee and other UN entities and NGOs in attendance. Participants stressed the need to ensure that the Handbook was translated in as many languages as possible and widely disseminated. The production of the Handbook was seen as a useful tool in strengthening Parliament's role in ensuring respect for women's rights. They also highlighted the need to ensure adequate follow up - the next step being to make use of the tool!

A seminar for MPs

On 4 October 2003, the IPU and the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women organized a training seminar for members of Parliament whose country report has recently be studied or will be examined by the UN CEDAW Committee. The seminar identified opportunities for strengthening parliament's role in both the reporting process, including preparation and presentation of reports, and follow-up to the Committee’s concluding comments in regard to the reporting State. Photo: IPU/UN Panel in New York on the CEDAW

Supporting Rwandan women candidates

After years of transition, Rwanda held its own elections to the National Assembly and the Senate in September 2003. The equal participation of men and women, as both voters and as candidates, was clearly vital to the legitimacy of the new parliament and the democratic process.

In meeting the challenge, the IPU and the United Nations Development Programme, together with the Transitional National Assembly of Rwanda and the Forum of Rwandan Women Parliamentarians (FFRP), organised a seminar on "Rwandan Women and the Electoral Campaign", in Kigali (Rwanda), from 30 to 31 July 2003.

On the eve of the launch of both presidential and legislative electoral campaigns, the seminar came at a timely moment in the Rwandan electoral process. 80 women leaders with a different backgrounds discussed a variety of subjects : gender and the Constitution, funding of electoral campaigns, relations with the media and the electorate. They benefited from the input of national and international experts from France Kenya and South Africa.

The seminar proved that women in Rwanda have what it takes to be leaders, to ensure a balanced representation in the parliament, and to articulate the views of the distinct groups they represent. The elections in Rwanda serve as a test-case for the stability and effectiveness of these institutions, and the guarantee, enshrined in the newly-created Constitution, of equality between men and women.

The Rwandan Constitution was the subject of an earlier seminar organised by the IPU in 2001 which aimed to provide a unique opportunity for Rwandans to consider practical ways and means of ensuring that Rwanda's Constitution would be gender-sensitive. Today, Rwanda has one of the most gender-sensitive Constitutions in the world. It is hoped that this first success will be followed by the arrival of an important number of women in the new Rwandan Parliament.

"MPs mobilise to combat trafficking of children"

MPs mobilise to combat trafficking of children

Men and women MPs took up the problem of trafficking of children in Santiago de Chile in April 2003, at a panel organised jointly by the IPU, UNICEF, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), following an initiative by the IPU's Coordinating Committee of Women Parliamentarians. The panel was presided over by the Speaker of the Chilean Chamber of Deputies, Mrs. Isabel Allende.

It is estimated that 1.2 million children fall prey every year to this form of trafficking. Their fate is prostitution, begging and other forms of work, particularly mining, farming and household duties. These children suffer multiple violations of their human rights, including the right to education, the right to health and the right to protection against ill-treatment and exploitation.

The panellists recalled that parliaments were strategically well placed to help drive the programme to combat trafficking in children nationally, regionally and internationally. Given that countries are at different stages with regard to advocacy, legislation, prevention and inter-regional cooperation relating to trafficking in children and adolescents, parliaments, with the backing of the international organisations concerned, should deploy joint leadership efforts to work towards a solution to this problem.

The participants stressed the need to ensure the cooperation of all sectors that must work towards its prevention and elimination, at the national, regional and international levels. Public and private efforts adopted under many different strategies (legal, legislative, awareness-building, assistance to victims and cooperation between countries) must target the countries of origin, transit and destination, where such practices exist. The panel ended with the presentation of a series of concrete recommendations for parliaments. The detailed text may be found at the Web site of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

The IPU welcomes overturn of Amina Lawal sentence

The IPU welcomes the decision by the Sharia Court of Appeal in Nigeria to overturn the death sentence of Amina Lawal and free her of all charges. Ms Lawal had been accused of adultery and sentenced to execution by stoning by the Sharia Court of Bakori in Katsina State (in northern Nigeria). The world organisation of parliaments condemned the practice of stoning to death in a previous case, that of Ms Safiya Husseini, and mobilized its membership to oppose it. It has done the same for Ms Lawal's sentence. The IPU has consistently argued against the death penalty and affirmed its conviction that women and men must be equally treated before the law as required under international human rights law.

While the IPU welcomes the fact that Ms Lawal has been freed, it reiterates the need to put an end to the practice of death by stoning, and the death penalty in general, and condemns any cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment of women or men.