Women's Views on News |
| Award for Professor Christine Chinkin Posted: 31 Oct 2016 03:33 PM PDT
The United Nations Association – UK (UNA-UK) has awarded this year’s Sir Brian Urquhart Award for Distinguished Service to the UN to Professor Christine Chinkin, who served on the 2009 Human Rights Council Fact Finding Mission on Gaza, and on the Kosovo Human Rights Advisory Panel. Professor Christine Chinkin, is Emerita Professor of International Law at the London School of Economics (LSE), where she is also Founding Director of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security. A barrister, and member of Matrix Chambers, Professor Chinkin has made a tremendous contribution to the UN and its principles in numerous capacities, including as an academic – with influential works on human rights, and women's rights in particular – and as a practitioner, especially in the areas of justice and accountability. In her role on the 2009 Human Rights Council Fact Finding Mission on Gaza, she contributed to the investigation into alleged violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law in the Palestinian territories. The report accused both the Israel Defense Forces and the Palestinian militants of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity. It recommended that each side openly investigate its own conduct, and to bring the allegations to the International Criminal Court if they failed to do so. Her work on the Human Rights Advisory Panel for the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has spanned the past six years. The panel was one of the first human rights complaints mechanisms to examine alleged violations by an international mission, and it has been vital in its work to ensure that international human rights standards are upheld at all times by UN personnel. After considering over 500 cases, Professor Chinkin and her colleagues concluded that the UN had failed to comply with human rights standards and recommended it pay adequate compensation to the complainants. The award was presented at UNA-UK‘s annual United Nations Day reception on 24 October, hosted at the Danish Embassy in London this year by UNA-UK’s Executive Director Natalie Samarasinghe. Named in honour of a former UN civil servant whose service to the UN spanned four decades, UNA-UK's Sir Brian Urquhart Award recognises the outstanding service to the UN of a British citizen. The Centre for Women, Peace and Security is a leading academic space for scholars, practitioners, activists, policy-makers and students to develop strategies to promote justice, human rights and participation for women in conflict-affected situations around the world. And as a founder of the Centre for Women Peace and Security at LSE, Christine Chinkin has not only been central to raising the issue of gender-based violence in conflict as a threat to international peace and security, but also the lack of accountability for crimes of sexual exploitation and abuse.  |
| Istanbul Convention: one hundred MPs needed Posted: 31 Oct 2016 02:56 PM PDT
The Association SOS Help-line for women and children victims of violence and the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities from Slovenia hosted an international conference on monitoring and implementing of the Istanbul Convention on 28 October 2016 in Ljubljana. The conference was organised within the framework of the international project “Coordinated efforts – to the new European standards for the protection of women who experience gender-based violence” co-funded by the European Union. The Istanbul Convention – or to give it its full name: the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence – is the most comprehensive legal framework that exists to tackle violence against women and girls. The Istanbul Convention sets minimum standards for governments to meet when tackling violence against women. When a government ratifies the Convention, they are legally bound to follow it. So, if the UK government – which has signed it but not ratified it – did ratify the Istanbul Convention, they would have to take all necessary steps it sets out to prevent violence, protect women experiencing violence and prosecute perpetrators. The UK government would also have to ensure that there is sufficient monitoring of violence against women. It is a pragmatic law that does not just sit on paper, but translates into real actions. UN Women have named the Istanbul Convention 'a gold standard' for tackling violence against women, Human Rights Watch have called it 'ground-breaking', and it has already won awards for its brilliance. And on 16 December 2016, there will be a major opportunity for the United Kingdom to move one step closer to ratifying the Istanbul Convention. If 100 MPs attend the parliamentary debate in December, the government will be under huge pressure to finally ratify the Convention – which was signed by the UK in 2012. As part of the WAVE Step Up! Campaign, launched in May this year, the four Women's Aid Federations in Wales, England, Northern Ireland and Scotland are renewing pressure on the government to ratify the comprehensive international treaty on combatting violence against women and domestic violence. Specialist domestic abuse services, such as those provided by local Women's Aid groups, have been providing support and shelter for survivors of domestic abuse for decades, but their expert and life-saving network services is currently under severe threat from funding cuts. The ratification of the Convention, which enshrines the right of women survivors of violence to specialist and quality support, is an urgent priority in all four nations. Welsh Women's Aid, Scottish Women's Aid, the Women's Aid Federation Northern Ireland and the Women's Aid Federation of England are backing the IC Change Campaign to ensure the House of Commons debate on 16 December is successful, and calling on the UK government to protect specialist services and the women and children who depend on them. And you can take action too, and change herstory. Please ask your MP to commit to attending the Second Reading of the Istanbul Convention Bill on 16 December and vote in favour of it. If your MP commits to attending, please let IC Change know via info[at]icchange.co.uk so they can thank them and you You could also Tweet your MP to tell them why it's important to support the Private Member's Bill on the Istanbul Convention. You can use this website to help you find your MP on Twitter. You can write to your MP and tell them why you want them to support this Bill. IC Change have drafted a template letter that you can download here which sets out reasons you might want them to support this bill but they do encourage you to make it personal. MPs are more likely to be persuaded by a small number of personal interventions – a tailored email, a handwritten letter, or even better – a supporter attending their MP surgery – so it's best to be creative and personal for impact. And you could organise a local craft session with IC Change’s #ChangeHerstory paper dolls. IC Change have a created a variety of template paper dolls that you can download here and print off for a local Change Herstory craft session. The idea is that you get together with others in your local constituency to decorate the dolls and add messages for your MP about why making the Istanbul Convention law matters to you. You don't always have to use words either – images can speak loudly. Make sure each doll has the name and address on the back of the person who made it so the MP knows they are each from their constituents and can write back to each person. Once everyone has finished their paper doll, link them together so that you can create a paper doll chain. Then send the paper doll chain to your local MP with a covering letter that you can base on our template MP letter here. Even better, deliver the paper doll chain to your MP in person. Arrange to go to the next surgery in your area by calling or emailing your MP. See our top tips for 'Meeting your MP' here. Other ideas: Before you send it to your MP, why not hang it up somewhere public so people can ask questions and get involved too? Share pictures on social media using #ChangeHerstory and @ICChangeUK on #ChangeHerstoryFacebook or Twitter to help build support. Why not tell the local press about your event and ask them to feature your story and feature the image of your huge paper doll chain? You can do this by writing a letter to the Editor or contacting their features desk. If you need support with this, please get in touch with IC Change. We need to end violence against women and girls, and the Istanbul Convention if not only ratified but followed up, would go a long way towards that goal.  |
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