Reactions to Iran's membership in the UN Commission on the Status of Women
Iran officially became a member of the UN Commission on the Status of Women on Friday, April 25. The membership of a country that many accuse of grossly violating women's rights has been called a "shame" by some.
Women's rights activist Mina Ahadi considers Iran's membership in the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women "a disgrace to our world."
According to Bild newspaper, the 65-year-old political activist says the commission should protect women's rights, which she believes "do not exist under the mullahs' regime headed by [Iranian President] Ebrahim Raisi."
For this reason, Ahadi has called for an protest against the UN's decision to admit Iran to the Commission on the Status of Women.
Bijan Jirsaei, a 45-year-old member of the German Free Democratic Party (FDP), called it a “shame” that “the Commission apparently pays no attention to the gross violations of human rights in Iran.”
"Iran's brave women have been fighting for human rights and citizenship for decades," says Jirsaraei.
He adds that Iran's selection for membership in this commission "sends the wrong message to those who carry out this courageous struggle every day and risk their lives in this way."
The German newspaper reported that women in Iran are “brutally oppressed.” For example, it cited 26-year-old Yasman Ariani, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2019 simply for publicly opposing the mandatory hijab, peacefully giving flowers.
The position of the German Foreign Ministry
German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock of the Green Party announced at the beginning of her term that she would promote a “feminist” foreign policy. Recalling this promise, Bild asked the German Foreign Ministry what Berbock would say about the membership of “mullahs in the Commission on the Status of Women” now.
The Foreign Ministry responded: "We condemn Iran's human rights violations and structural discrimination against women, but the decision on membership in the Commission on the Status of Women is made at a major UN meeting, over which Germany has no influence."
The Commission on the Status of Women is one of the first international institutions established by the United Nations Economic and Social Council to make decisions and policies to improve the conditions of women around the world.
At the last meeting of this international body, Iran became a member of the Commission for a four-year term with 43 votes in favor out of a total of 54 votes from the member states of the Economic and Social Council.
