ID :
14479
Thu, 07/31/2008 - 19:25
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http://m.oananews.org//node/14479
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Indira Jaising elected to UN committee on women discrimination
Dharam Shourie United Nations, July 31 (PTI) India's Indira Jaising, an eminent Supreme Court lawyer and rights activist, has been elected to the UN's Committee on the Elimination ofDiscrimination Against Women (C..E.D.A.W.).
Jaising, 68, secured the highest number of votes--149out of 181 -- in a keen contest.
This was the first time India had fielded a candidate for this 23-member committee and the State parties chose 11candidates from 18 nominees in the field.
Jaising, who became the first woman to be designated as a Senior Advocate by the High Court of Bombay in 1986, hasbeen elected for a four-year term beginning Jan one.
She fought several landmark cases focusing on human rights and protection of rights of women and was awarded thePadma Shree in 2005 for her service.
She has represented the victims of the Bhopal tragedy in the Supreme Court in their claim for compensation againstthe US giant Union Carbide Corporation.
Jaising also was the founder secretary of the Lawyers Collective, an organisation that provides legal help to thepoor and the needy.
The C.E.D.A.W. has independent experts charged with considering progress made in implementing the UN Convention onthe Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
Also elected to the Committee were Magalys Arocha DomÃnguez (Cuba), who got the same number of votes Jaising, Nicole Ameline (France); Niklas Bruun (Finland); Xioaqiao Zou (China); Silvia Pimentel (Brazil); Victoria Popescu (Romania); Barbara Evelyn Bailey (Jamaica); Violet Awori (Kenya); SoledadMurillo de la Vega (Spain); and Rasekh Zohra (Afghanistan).
Daniel Carmon (Israel), Chairperson of the fifteenth Meeting of States Parties, said the experts had been selected on the basis of equitable geographical distribution, and that consideration had also been given to equitable representation of "different forms of civilisation" and principal legalsystems.
They would be replacing experts whose terms were dueto expire on December 31.
Jaising, 68, secured the highest number of votes--149out of 181 -- in a keen contest.
This was the first time India had fielded a candidate for this 23-member committee and the State parties chose 11candidates from 18 nominees in the field.
Jaising, who became the first woman to be designated as a Senior Advocate by the High Court of Bombay in 1986, hasbeen elected for a four-year term beginning Jan one.
She fought several landmark cases focusing on human rights and protection of rights of women and was awarded thePadma Shree in 2005 for her service.
She has represented the victims of the Bhopal tragedy in the Supreme Court in their claim for compensation againstthe US giant Union Carbide Corporation.
Jaising also was the founder secretary of the Lawyers Collective, an organisation that provides legal help to thepoor and the needy.
The C.E.D.A.W. has independent experts charged with considering progress made in implementing the UN Convention onthe Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
Also elected to the Committee were Magalys Arocha DomÃnguez (Cuba), who got the same number of votes Jaising, Nicole Ameline (France); Niklas Bruun (Finland); Xioaqiao Zou (China); Silvia Pimentel (Brazil); Victoria Popescu (Romania); Barbara Evelyn Bailey (Jamaica); Violet Awori (Kenya); SoledadMurillo de la Vega (Spain); and Rasekh Zohra (Afghanistan).
Daniel Carmon (Israel), Chairperson of the fifteenth Meeting of States Parties, said the experts had been selected on the basis of equitable geographical distribution, and that consideration had also been given to equitable representation of "different forms of civilisation" and principal legalsystems.
They would be replacing experts whose terms were dueto expire on December 31.
