Reactions to Iran’s Membership in UN Commission on the Status of Women
As of Friday, March 25, Iran officially became a member of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. The membership of a country that many accuse of egregious violations of women’s rights has been called a matter of “shame” by some in this commission.
Mina Ahadi, a women’s rights activist, considers Iran’s membership in the UN Commission on the Status of Women to be “a shame for our world.”
According to the newspaper “Bild,” the 65-year-old activist says this commission should support women’s rights, rights that in her view “do not exist under the clerical regime led by Ibrahim Raisi [President of Iran].”
For this reason, Ahadi has called for protests against the UN’s decision to admit Iran to the Commission on the Status of Women.
Bijan Jirseraiyi, a 45-year-old prominent member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) of Germany, called it “shameful” that “the commission apparently pays no attention to egregious human rights violations in Iran.”
Jirseraiyi says: “Courageous Iranian women have been fighting for human and civil rights for decades.”
He adds that Iran’s selection for membership in this commission “sends the wrong message to those who pursue this courageous struggle every day and risk their lives in doing so.”
The German newspaper’s report states that in Iran, women are “brutally suppressed.” For example, it references 26-year-old Yasmin Aryani, who in 2019 was sentenced to 16 years in prison simply for publicly protesting mandatory hijab, doing so peacefully by handing out flowers.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry Position
Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s Foreign Minister from the Green Party, announced at the beginning of her tenure in this position that she would pursue a “feminist” foreign policy. “Bild,” recalling this promise, asked the German Foreign Ministry what Baerbock would now say about the “clerics’ membership in the Commission on the Status of Women.”
The Foreign Ministry responded: “We condemn human rights violations and structural discrimination against women by Iran, but the decision on membership in the Commission on the Status of Women is made at the UN General Assembly, over which Germany has no influence.”
The Commission on the Status of Women is one of the first international bodies created by the UN Economic and Social Council for decision-making and policymaking to improve conditions for women worldwide.
In the latest session of this international body, Iran was admitted to membership of the commission for a four-year term with 43 votes in favor out of a total of 54 votes by member countries of the Economic and Social Council.
