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Saudi Arabia will chair a U. N. commission on women, drawing condemnation from human rights groups, who say the kingdom has an “appalling” record on women’s rights.
By Vivian Neréim
Reporting from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia won an undisputed bid to lead a UN framework committed to women’s rights by the 2025 session, drawing condemnation from human rights teams who said the kingdom had an “appalling” record on women’s empowerment.
On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UN, Abdulaziz Alil, was elected chairman of the Commission on the Status of Women, a United Nations body whose goal is to protect and promote women’s rights around the world.
The official Saudi Press Agency wrote that the country’s new presidency “confirmed its interest in cooperating with the foreign network for women’s rights and empowerment” and highlighted the progress the country has made towards greater social and economic freedom for women.
But the move drew harsh complaints from human rights groups. Amnesty International’s Deputy Advocacy Director, Sherine Tadros, said in a statement that Saudi Arabia has an “appalling record of protecting and selling out women’s rights. “He argued that there was a “big gap” between the aspirations of the UN commission and the “lived truth of women and women in Saudi Arabia. “
The commission, established in 1946, has forty-five members selected on the basis of geographical quotas. No selection procedure is required for a country to be elected to the commission, nor is it necessary to meet certain gender rights criteria to join.
Saudi Arabia was expected to win the presidency, which lasts two years, and its candidacy would not have provoked dissent from other member states.
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