Pakistan, Iran elected to UN commission on women, 2 other bodies

Pakistan has been elected to three key UN bodies including the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, the Commission on the Status of Women and the Commission on Population and Development.

Pakistan will assume the membership of these three commissions from Jan 1, next year for a term of four years, Dawn newspaper reports.

The voting for seats on the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) took place on Tuesday at the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), a 54-member UN body empowered to fill leadership posts in a range of UN agencies.

Of 53 votes cast, Pakistan received 50 votes and Iran received 43 in the secret ballot.

China, Japan and Lebanon were also elected to the panel.

Three weeks earlier, Pakistan and Iran ranked near the bottom of the World Economic Forum’s latest “Global Gender Gap”, an annual survey examining differences between men and women in four specific areas – political empowerment, economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, and health and survival.

Of the 156 countries featured in this year’s World Economic Forum report, Iran was in 150th place and Pakistan in 154th.

The only countries doing worse on gender equality were in conflict zones – Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Syria.

Pakistan last served on the Commission on the Status of Women, which is dedicated to the promotion of gender equality empowerment of women, from 2013 to 2017.

The country’s election to this body is considered to be in recognition of its role in promoting gender mainstreaming and advancement of women at a national and international level.

Pakistan’s foreign office spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said that Pakistan’s simultaneous election to the three important commissions is a reflection of the international community’s confidence in Pakistan’s active role and constructive contributions at the UN.

“These commissions play a pivotal role in enhancing international cooperation on various social and economic issues,” he said. “Pakistan will continue to foster international cooperation to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.”

Pakistan’s election to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and the Commission on Population and Development was by the unanimous endorsement of all council members.

This is the sixth time Pakistan has been elected to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

Qatar, Thailand, India and Bahrain were also elected to the panel.

The third panel, the Commission on Population and Development conducts demographic research, supports intergovernmental processes in the area of populations and development, and assists countries in developing their capacity to produce and analyse population data and information.

Others elected to the panel included Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and China.