April 19, 2017 – the UN Economic and Social Council issues press release announcing Saudi Arabia’s election to the Commission on the Status of Women.
April 22, 2017 – UN Watch publishes statement on its website condemning election of Saudi Arabia to Commission on the Status of Women: No Joke: UN Elects Saudi Arabia to Women’s Rights Commission.
Huffington Post Canada: Michelle Rempel: Trudeau Should Decry Saudi Arabia’s Election To UN Women’s Rights Commission
Quoting UN Watch:
UN Watch, a Geneva-based group critical of the organization, released a statement condemning that the “world’s most misogynistic regime” will serve on the UN’s women’s rights commission, starting in 2018.
“Electing Saudi Arabia to protect women’s rights is like making an arsonist into the town fire chief,” Hillel Neuer, executive director of the group, said in a press release.
Neuer noted that in addition to the ban on driving, every Saudi woman “must have a male guardian who makes all critical decisions on her behalf, controlling a woman’s life from her birth until death.”
Canadian politicians discuss the vote:
Alex Lawrence, a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, told The Huffington Post Canada in an email: “Our government is clear: we will never hesitate to defend human rights — including women’s rights — and promote gender equality around the world.”
Tory leadership contenders Lisa Raitt and Kellie Leitch also took to Twitter to weigh in.
“The members of the UN who voted to elect Saudi Arabia to the UN women’s rights commission must be insane,” Leitch wrote.
Raitt similarly called on the prime minister — who she referred to only as “Justin” — to act.
“Some think that it’s ok for guys to ‘mansplain’ women’s equality. I don’t. Here’s a chance to really step up Justin. Condemn the UN for this,” she said online.
Le Journal de Montréal: Un pyromane à la tête des pompiers
Quoting UN Watch:
D’ailleurs Hillel Neuer, qui est à la tête du gourpe UN Watch (que je vous recommande grandement de suivre sur Twitter) est arrivé avec cette comparaison très juste : « C’est comme nommer un pyromane à la tête des pompiers ».
