Ms Gbedemah re-nominated to serve on CEDAW
The 19th meeting of State Parties of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) will take place in New York on June 21 2016, during which 11 members of the committee will be nominated to replace those members whose term of office will expire on December 31.
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In response to invitation to state parties to nominate their candidates by March 7, 2016, President John Dramani Mahama has re-nominated Ms Hilary Amesika Gbedemah, a lawyer and gender consultant, as Ghana’s candidate to serve on the CEDAW.
Mrs Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Ghana’s Ambassador to the United Nations, announced this at a side event at the just-ended 60th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW60) at the UN headquarters in New York in the United States of America, during which Ms Gbedemah was introduced as Ghana's candidate for re-election to the committee.
Composition
The CEDAW is composed of 23 experts of high moral standing and competence in the field, covered by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
Nominations for membership of the committee can be made by states parties to the convention, in accordance with article 17 of the Convention. Article 17 (1) states that “the experts shall be elected by state parties from among their nationals and shall serve in their personal capacity, consideration being given to equitable geographical distribution and to the representation of the different forms of civilization as well as the principal legal systems.”
Adopted by the UN General Assembly in, 1979, the convention is often described as an international Bill of Rights of Women.
Vision
Ms Gbedemah’s said her vision for CEDAW was for the body to gain greater visibility and be utilised within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a dynamic human rights tool and added that she would continue to bring her 30-years experience to bear on her work as a gender activist.
State parties to the convention commit themselves to ending all forms of discrimination against women in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or other fields.
According to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Ms Gbedemah in her first tenure, was appointed to serve on the Working Groups such as Access to Justice, which produced CEDAW’s General Recommendation 33 on Access to Justice; the Right to Education; Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction; and Inquiries under the Optional Protocol.
She is a lawyer with a 38-year legal experience that comprises private legal practice, lecturing in law, administration and advocacy and an expert on CEDAW, with extensive experience in its thematic areas.
Currently the Rector of Ghana’s premier vocational law training institute, The Law Institute – which provides training in Paralegal Studies, Corporate Governance, Entrepreneurship, Human Rights Law, and offers capacity building for a wide range of organisations, Ms Gbedemah holds the position of Senior Adjunct Fellow at Ghana’s Institute of Economic Affairs, Ghana’s first policy think-tank whose focus includes public policy and strengthening democracy.
She holds an L.L.M. from Georgetown University, Washington D.C.; certifications in Instructional Techniques (Transport Canada) Management (Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration) and Organisational Development.
Gender Consultant
She is a member of several advocacy groups promoting women’s rights, including Ghana’s Network for Women’s Rights (NETRIGHT), Women’s Manifesto Coalition and the Domestic Violence Coalition, among other organisations.
Her publications include Trokosi: Twentieth Century Female Bondage – A Ghanaian Case Study; Rape and Defilement; Interventions available to Victims of Rape and Defilement; Safety Planning – Preventing Rape and Defilement and Enhancing Women’s Representation in Governance through Affirmative Action.
She has also authored various articles; namely, The Law against Domestic Violence – Secular and Biblical; Interventions available to Victims of Rape and Defilement; and Safety Planning – Preventing Rape and Defilement 2005.