ESCR-Net Women and ESCR Working Group Steering Committee nominees

Transcription

1 ESCR-Net Women and ESCR Working Group Steering Committee nominees Region: Asia, South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand 1. Melona Repunte Daclan, Defend Job Philippines, Philippines Social Movement Melona Repunte Daclan is the Executive and Campaign Director of Defend Job Philippines- a network and advocacy organization committed to advancing decent jobs, homes, human rights and social justice. Melona co founded Defend Job Philippines in July 2009 and serves for 8 years in the organization as a volunteer. Being the primary leader of the organization, Melona works closely and collectively with workers, urban poor, church people and professionals and other vulnerable sectors in the fight for human rights, social justice and genuine freedom. Right now, two main campaigns of the network that she is involved are the issue of sweatshop workers and the Save Manila Bay Campaign. As a labor rights advocate, actively involved in the campaigns for the implementation of national minimum wage, the abolition of all forms of contractualization of work, women's right s and the strict implementation of labor standards. She heads the secretariat of All Worker's Unity Campaign in the Nationa Capital Region in and also the Church People Workers Solidarity in Melona is also a member of the Steering Board of the Clean Clothes Campaign-an international network of more than 200 organization advancing workers' rights. Since 2012, her organization, Defend Job Philippines has been an active member of the Network. Melona represents her organization in the working groups of the network such as the Social Movement Working Group and the Corporate Accountability Working Group which are important venues of collective learning, sharing and solidarity with people across the world fighting for human rights. She also volunteered and now a member of the Project Advisory Group of the Corporate Capture Project. In the last Global Strategy Meeting, Melona attended the meetings of the Working Group on Women and ECSR to learn the situation and struggles of women in different fields, express the solidarity of Defend Job to other members of the network and their constituents and also to share the situation of sweatshop workers in the Philippines. She also participated in the recent Working Group Meeting of the Women and ESCR where right to work was the focus in the discussion and strategies. To share own experience and at the same time to learn with other and to connect struggles and efforts for the realization of women's human rights are the important motivation to accept the nomination. The impact of the global challenges are so huge and serious which needs a concerted 1

2 work to expose violation of human rights of women. Right to work, labor standards, right to adequate housing, civil and political rights and other hard won rights of workers, women and the people are in retrogression. With high hopes that in the network, the conversation on women and escr will deepen, more strategies will be shared and more victories will be won by women in the ground and by the network. Housing; land and natural resources; women and work 2. Shanti Uprety, International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW-AP), Malaysia Shanti Uprety has been involved in civil society organizations (CSOs) activism at national, regional and international levels since The issues she has worked on include: women s political participation, gender- sensitive democratic governance, child marriage and girl s education, women in conflict and post conflict situations, women s economic rights and empowerment, rights of women migrant workers, women s rights in natural resources, gender and value chains and corporate accountability. She holds a Masters in Sociology (M.A) and Masters in Business Administration (M.B.A) from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Since 2013, Shanti has been working with IWRAW Asia Pacific and currently is a team member on coordinating women s economic, social and cultural rights programs. She is also the co-lead of Women s Economic Rights and Leadership in ASEAN" project. She has coordinated and facilitated regional and international workshops, expert group meetings and trainings on women s human rights, particularly on women s economic rights for CSOs and State agencies in the Asia Pacific. She has contributed for IWRAW Asia Pacific publications: "Handbook on Women, Development and Access to Justice" (2014), "Framework for Women s Economic Rights in ASEAN" (2015), "The Missing Women: Implications of the ASEAN Integration on Women Migrant Workers Rights" (2016). She has co-authored a shadow report guidelines for CSOs on General Recommendation 30 (2016) and contributed to the development of video as a basic tool for understanding the scope and applicability of CEDAW GR 30. She is the focal person to coordinate IWRAW Asia Pacific s work on women in conflict and post conflict contexts and represents the organization in Asia Pacific Women s Alliance on Peace and Security (APWAPS), co-convened by IWRAW-Asia Pacific in Shanti has recently been assigned to be the focal person to represent IWRAW Asia Pacific at ESCR Net. She attended the last meeting organized by ESCR Net in New York in March 2017 where she provided inputs in draft action plan of the working group. She is also a co-lead from IWRAW Asia Pacific to update the shadow report guideline on CEDAW and ICESCR, jointly developed by ESCR Net and IWRAW Asia Pacific. I am interested in being a member of the WESCR WG Steering Committee. I am concerned about women s ESC rights and aspire to engage on women s human rights activism at a global level. Because of my experience at national, regional and international levels on the application of CEDAW framework as well as on diverse issues of women s economic social and cultural rights.

3 To get an opportunity to be working as a steering committee member of a network like WESCR WG, one would get a broader vision, mandate and motivation to strive more for the advocacy and campaigning on advancing the agenda of women s ESCR. Housing, land and natural resources; women and work Region: Europe 1. Judit Geller, European Roma Rights Centre, Hungary I am a senior lawyer at the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), which is a Roma-led international public interest law organisation working to combat anti-romani racism and human rights abuse of Roma through strategic litigation, research and policy development, advocacy and human rights education. I joined the ERRC in November I hold a BA degree in Public Administration and a Master of Laws from the ELTE University Budapest. I studied international human rights law at the Law Faculty of University of Leuven, Belgium and completed a traineeship at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. I am a qualified Hungarian lawyer and passed the Hungarian State Bar exam in April I was a fellow of the Women s Human Rights Training Institute s programme for women s rights lawyers ( ) from which I graduated with Honours, and in 2015 I was granted a research scholarship by the French Government to do research in Paris about Romani children in the child protection system. Currently I am pursuing an LLM on children s rights at the ELTE University. Working as a senior lawyer at the ERRC and taking forward much of the strategic litigation and advocacy work of the organisation have given me a solid understanding and practice of combating discrimination and litigating human rights violations on both domestic and international level, particularly from an intersectional perspective. Consequently, I am fully familiar with the various international human rights treaties and instruments including the work of United Nations bodies as well as the work of regional inter-governmental organizations such as the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the European Union. I have been working on the area of economic, social and cultural rights for about 10 years, in particular pursuing strategic litigation to advance the ESC rights of Romani communities all over Europe. In my work on women s rights I have been focusing mostly on research and strategic litigation in the area of women s rights, in particular on Romani women s access to sexual and reproductive health services and obstetric violence. At the ERRC, I have been leading various pieces of litigation on this area of work, including litigation before domestic and international bodies (such as the European Court of Human Rights, the European Committee of Social Rights, and UN CEDAW) challenging discriminatory practices affecting Romani women in the area of SRHR. I have been involved in the work of the ESCR-NET since November 2016, representing the ERRC as a member of the Women s rights Working Group and as a member of the Strategic

4 Litigation Working Group as strategic litigation and legal advocacy is the main tool that I am (and the ERRC) mostly using to advance women s rights. The ERRC is an international NGO. We have learned over the years that securing results for Roma means not only have substantive expertise, but also good governance, good management, and good strategies that we are able to operationalise. Mechanisms such as the ECSR-Net Steering Committee provide exactly the kind of structure that we want to support, contribute to, and learn from. Roma are Europe s largest and most oppressed minority, and my involvement in the steering committee will also help us to make the connection between the Roma rights movement and other global movements for social and economic rights. We think this is particularly important as assumptions about Europe mean that Romani women are often left out of global discussions on women s social and economic rights issues. (1) housing rights (and right to water especially as related to the vulnerable situation of Romani women facing forced evictions and (2) sexual and reproductive health and rights 2. Elena Triffonova, Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation, Bulgaria Elena D. Triffonova is a political scientist with the professional experience as Project Manager, Expert, Consultant, Evaluator and Trainer in the field of Women s Rights, Gender Equality, Citizen Advocacy, Budget Advocacy and Social Dialogue and Negotiations. Over 19 years she worked on national and international scope project financially supported by USAID, Open Society Fund, UNIFEM, OAK Foundation and EU programs. Elena Triffonova is part of Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation staff since She has experience in the field of human rights, women s rights, gender aspect of human trafficking, policy analyses about energy infrastructure in the Balkan region. During the period Ms. Triffonova acted as a citizen lobbyist women s rights and health rights of people with Alzheimer in UN mechanisms as Universal Periodic Review (2010) and in UN Committee for Economic, Political, Citizen and Cultural Rights in Geneva. Elena was part of official delegation from Bulgaria in 58 and 61 sessions of CSW in New York within the group responsible for organising election campaign of Bulgarian candidate for CEDAW (elections 2014 and forthcoming 2018) Ms. Triffonova has been manager and coordinator of several national and international project initiatives about citizen advocacy, lobbying and human rights protection. Elena has been coordinator of large-scale public-private partnership project about poverty alleviation of Roma community in seven Bulgarian towns within Millennium Development Goals with financial support by USAID. She has experience as advocacy trainer and researcher in the field of citizen advocacy, budget advocacy, coalition building and networking and public-private partnerships in Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, FYR Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 2012 she is a volunteer in Foundation Compassion Alzheimer Bulgaria. Elena has practical experience as lecturer and presenter in many national and international forums.

5 I personally appreciate the core mission and vision of WESCR WG and ESCR Net and I accepted the values and frames of this network years before my actual involvement and I am very glad to be part of it. My professional background and education is directly linked with all topics that WESCR WG and ESCR explore. Personally, I am sensitive toward human rights violation, racism, and discrimination and social and gender inequalities. Last seven years I am working on gender problematic focusing the international mechanisms for women rights protection, gender aspects and human trafficking and also gender dimensions of climate change. I highly appreciate the fact that I am nominated to be part of Steering Committee it is a responsible position and if my application had been approved I will work hard to justify your trust. I will be able to contribute to all strategically important points and all above to contribute to process of working for increasing consideration in public and political sphere toward gender issues and social justice. Women and work Region: Latin America and the Caribbean 1. Ximena Andión Ibáñez, ILSB, Mexico Ximena Andión has over 17 years of experience working in the field of human rights for women and gender equality. She has worked in human rights organizations such as the Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos (CMDPDH) and Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida (GIRE). Ximena has also worked for international organizations such as the Center for Reproductive Rights and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico and Guatemala. For the last five years, Ximena has served as Director of the Instituto de Liderazgo Simone de Beauvoir, a women s rights organization which seeks to advance gender equality, and the human rights of women in Mexico and the Latin American region. Ximena holds an LLM in International Human Rights Law, and is a professor at the Universidad Iberoamericana. She has also written specialized articles on human rights and gender equality. Ximena was also on the Board of Directors for ESCR-Net, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for companies such as OXFAM Mexico and CMDPDH. Ximena has been an active member of the Women and ESCR Working Group since As part of the Group she was closely involved in advocating a vision of substantive equality and economic, social and cultural rights driven by both the CEDAW and ESCR-Net Committees. Additionally, Ximena participated in several briefings with both Committees, and with the United Nations Working Group on Discrimination Against Women in Law and Practice. She has also reviewed and provided input to various Working Group Network publications. In 2014, the

6 organizations co-organizers and the Network joined forces at a regional meeting to discuss the use of CEDAW and its Optional Protocol. Ximena has also represented the Network in forums, meetings and other communication forums. I am interested in serving on the Steering Committee because I have a long history of working with the Network and with the Working Group that would allow me to contribute in the development of this first Steering Committee, and to also contribute to the Working Group s vision and strategy. I have work experience on both a national and international level, therefore I can bring this knowledge to the Working Group and bring their ideas together. My work in the Boards of Directors of the Network, has given me the opportunity to see how the Network operates, and how we can strengthen the implementation of gender perspective in the work done here. Housing, land and natural resources; women and work; sexual and reproductive health and rights. 2. Ida LeBlanc, NUDE, Trinidad and Tobago Social Movement Ms. Ida Le Blanc is the General Secretary of the National Union of Domestic Employees and cofounder of the Service Workers Centre Co-operative Society Limited. She is a trade unionist by profession and is affiliated with several National and International Trade Union Centres and NGO`s. Ms Le Blanc has served on several National Boards and Tripartite Committees representing workers. Ms Le Blanc has worked on behalf of domestic workers and low income workers at the National, Regional and International level seeking protection and equity for them using the CEDAW as a tool in getting the protection they need. She contributed significantly to the achievement of an ILO Convention and Recommendation for Domestic Workers. Ms. Le Blanc was the first Trade Unionist to bring cases before the Industrial Court of Trinidad and Tobago for violations of the Minimum Wages Order. She has spearheaded many victories on behalf of Low Income Workers in cases of Wrongful Dismissal; Retrenchment; and violations of the Maternity Protection Act and the Minimum Wages Act. She has coordinated many programs in collaboration with ILO, UN Women and other agencies to empower domestic workers and other low income workers. As a member I have participated in several groups most recently as a member of the social movement working group that developed the Common Charter, I participated in the strategy meeting held in New York in March, as a member of the Women and ESCR group I worked on the briefing paper on women and work using CEDAW, CESCR and ILO Conventions to make our case. Because of my involvement in CEDAW workshops with the ESCR net I was able to represent NUDE with confidence at the review of the Trinidad and Tobago government by the CEDAW Committee, I ensured NUDE contributed to the shadow report and succccessfully participated in meeting with the Committee at the UN. I was able to communicate with CEDAW Committee members who I knew from meetings with ESCR. In a nutshell I was able to use my experience at

7 the International level to benefit us at a local level resulting in a renewed call for the Trinidad and Tobago government to recognise domestics as workers by the inclusion of domestic workers as workers under the Industrial Relations Act (IRA) and the ratification of 189 ILO Convention on Decent Work For Domestic Workers is now included in the recommendations made to government. As a member of the ESCR net for several years, if given the opportunity to sit on the steering committee, I would bring to the table over a decade of experience working for and on behalf of low income workers in the informal sector, in particular domestic workers. Working closer with organisations of all these diverse struggles could contribute to an infusion of power that can be directed nationally to achieve some of our long argued rights and I would love to be part of that. Networking, Sharing and learning from experiences is always a means of empowering us all as we struggle to challenge the inequalities as a collective chartering a way forward that can benefit all. Women and work Region: North Africa and the Middle East (MENA) 1. Dalia Abd El-Hameed, EIPR (Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights), Egypt Dalia Abd El-Hameed is the Gender and Women's Rights officer at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), an Egyptian human rights organization. She is a co-founder of Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment (OpAntiSH), , a grass-root intervention initiative that resisted mass sexual assaults during protests and demonstrations in Cairo. She holds a masters degree in sociology and anthropology from the American University in Cairo. For years, EIPR has been a member of the ESCR-Net, yet our involvement in the net has been primarily related to the direct social and economic issues. I became more familiar with the net s work during the GSM where I recognized the importance of the social movements perspective in our work as human rights defenders and also how my work on gender and sexuality could benefit more from the strong social and economic analysis of the net. As Gender and Women s Rights Officer at EIPR, I believe I can help with the strategic thinking of the WG. Moreover, I believe there is a need for a more strong feminist ideology to permeate all the net s work, which is something I would be happy to push for along with other members of the steering committee.

8 For years EIPR has been a pioneer on working on sexual and reproductive health and rights issues both on the national and international fronts and since this area is identified as an area of work within the WG, we would be happy to share our experience in this regard and develop, with other members, a framework to advocate for SRHR cross-nationally. Sexual and reproductive health and rights Region: Sub-Saharan Africa 1. Pauline Yao Affoué, Femmes Côte d'ivoire Experience (FCIEX), Côte d'ivoire Biography Born in 1967 in the Republic of Côte d'ivoire, I have been an activist for the social, cultural, environmental and economic rights of rural women since I work as a human rights activist in civil society at the local, national, sub regional and international level. Created in April 1998, Femmes Côte d Ivoire Expérience (FCIEX), where I am the National President, is a network of some fifty rural women and youth organizations in the villages. I participated in several capacity-building trainings in different fields in order to be able to fulfill my mission to work for the integral transformation of grassroots women through my work and involvement with several national and international organizations, including ESCR-Net and the Working Group on Women and ESCR. Women's access to land is a priority in our work because, of the natural resources, land is a major primary resource for women living in rural areas. A statement on your participation in the activities of the WESCR WG and the ESCR-Net more broadly Participation in the 2015 Board voting process, Participation in the elaboration of the ESCR-Net global strategy in July 2015 Participation in the collective elaboration of the ESCR-Net stratigic plan for the coming period Participation in the Global Strategy Meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina in November 2016 And working in the WESRC working group, of which I am also a member Statement on the reason for my application In the light of all these actions, to which I have made a significant contribution both in terms of representation and knowledge, I confirm my involvement, participation and commitment to ESCR- Net in all its diversity and its global dimension. I declare that my involvement in all these processes at various levels, and in the past years of affiliation with the network, is very significant because I know the mission, requirements and vision of the network and the role of the Steering Committee. I submit my candidacy to the Committee to contribute to the construction, consolidation and promotion of our common instrument for the welfare of women in the world in general and that of our respective continents, countries, cities and villages.

9 I would like to also point out that the expertise, competence and capacity of Francophones to ensure a well-informed leadership should be taken into account. If I am appointed, I am committed to fulfilling the role assigned to me by the mission of the Committee as a whole and to fulfilling all my commitments to the WESCR working group and ESCR-Net. WESCR WG area of work Housing, land and natural resources 2. Charlene May, Legal Resources Centre, South Africa Charlene May is a mother, activist and attorney with the Legal Resources Centre in Cape Town South Africa. She is an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa. During her earlier years in practice she focused on issues of access to land, tenure security and restitution of land. In later years she has shifted focus to address issues of equality and non-discrimination in South Africa and the region. She has litigated cases promoting women s rights in customary law and women s access to land and property rights within customary, religious and traditional contexts. In recent years she has litigated to promote the rights of trans and gender diverse persons in South Africa. She has experience in drafting of legislation and advocacy at national, regional and as well as international level. With partner organizations she has participated in drafting submissions, alternative reports and shadow reports to African regional structures, national as well as International treaty bodies. She has produced a number of publications for the Legal Resources Centre on the rights of women. I have been actively involved with the Working Group since October The Legal Resources Centre has been a part of the ESCR Net since the inception of the Network. I have participated in the development of the strategic plans for the working group, and assisted in the planning and development of a number of key activities undertaken by the WG. These activities include parallel and side events at the UN Commission on the Status of Women. I have participated in workshops and training sessions, in Nairobi Kenya (where I presented on women s right to work), in Montevideo in Uruguay (where I presented on advancing women s rights to custom through strategic litigation). I represented the working group during the briefing of members of the CESCR and CEDAW Committees where I focused my portion of the briefing on women s access to land and the impact of customary laws and practices. I also contributed to the drafting of briefing papers on women s right to land and work. I am currently active in all three of the Working Groups focus areas as the work that I do domestically deals with all three. As indicated above I have been an active member of the working group since The Working Group has provided an excellent platform whereby I have been able to elevate work done at a domestic level into a regional and international sphere. The working group has provided a unique platform for the advancement of women s economic social and cultural rights at regional and

10 international level. The strength of the working group lies in its ability to connect activists, movements and feminists from across the world in a focused manner to advance a joint cause. The working group has grown over the last few years and a challenge has been continued coordination of various interests within the working group. I am inspired by the potential of what the working group can do through its identified focus areas. As a member of the Steering Committee I am able to contribute to the coordination function which is required and with my background (working in all three focus areas) and history of participation in working group activities I believe that I am able to make a meaningful and constructive contribution. Housing, land and natural resources; women and work; sexual and reproductive health and rights Region: The United States and Canada 1. Mayra Gómez, Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, United States Mayra Gómez is the Co- Director of the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR). Focusing on women and ESC rights, she has worked with women s rights advocates around the world to highlight the importance of women s housing, land and property (HLP) rights. Mayra has engaged in standard setting on women s HLP rights, prioritizing engagement with international and regional human rights bodies. Through GI-ESCR, she worked closely with partners to achieve ACHPR Resolution 262 on Women s Right to Land and Productive Resources. She also played a key role in the development of CEDAW General Recommendation No. 34 on the Rights of Rural Women. Mayra has worked as a consultant to the Working Group on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in Law and Practice, the UN Special Rapporteurs on the Right to Adequate Housing and on Water and Sanitation, as well as with FAO, UN-Women and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Prior to coming to GI-ESCR, Mayra was the Senior Expert on Women and Housing Rights with the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE). Her research has been cited by Amnesty International, Plan International, UNDP, UN-Habitat, among others. With ESCR-Net, I actively participate in its Working Group on women and ESC rights. I have been an active member in the Working Group since approximately 2008, and have participated in several of its activities, including regional trainings, international workshops with UN treaty bodies, fostering partnerships with other members, and contributing to various publications. I attended both the ESCR-Net International Strategy Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya (2008) and the Global Strategy Meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina (2016). Women s economic, social and cultural rights is the focus on my work, and something that I care very deeply about. I think ESCR-Net plays an important role in advancing these rights by

11 bringing together a diverse group of members within the Working Group and elaborating strategies to advance common agendas. As a member with some history in the Working Group, I think I can provide some perspective about its achievements and strategies to date, as well as ideas for how we might improve our work in the future. I have also personally worked with many of the members of the Working Group, and believe that there are great opportunities to increase member cross-collaboration and strategies for joint work. As the Working Group has grown, it has brought new skills and perspectives on Board, and if elected to the Steering Committee I would want to listen to members and advance creative ways to leverage the collective strengths of the Working Group. My main area of work is in the area of women s rights to housing, land and natural resources, although as someone interested in women s ESC rights I have some experience on women and work and women s sexual and reproductive health and rights.