GENEVA (AFP) – Women must have a 50-50 equal say with men in all decision-making systems, a United Nations (UN) committee on discrimination insisted yesterday, saying previous 30 per cent targets were behind the times.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women said the 50-50 “undisputable standard” should apply to public, private sector, political, economic and digital spaces.
“Targets of 30 per cent representation of women in decision-making are incompatible with the… core aim of elimination of discrimination,” the committee said, because such targets sent the message that inequality was “justifiable”.
“Decision-making will have real and dynamic meaning and lasting effect only when it is shared at 50-50 parity by women and men and takes equal account of the interests of both,” it added.
Some 189 countries are party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
The 23-member committee monitors countries’ compliance with the convention.
The expert committee was to explain its guidance at a meeting with states parties today, with UN rights chief Volker Turk opening the guidance launch.
