News & Reports
Current | Archived
U.N. to Japan, Switzerland: Improve Rights Record
Run Date: 08/05/09
By Theresa Braine
UNITED NATIONS (WOMENSENEWS)--It was all very low-key and cordial, but the questioners at Japan’s women’s rights review session here didn’t mince words.
“You have many highly capable women. Too little has been done.”
That was Meriem Belmihoub-Zerdani, a prominent Algerian attorney and women’s rights activist. She was addressing members of the Japanese delegation last week at a session of compliance reports by some of the nations that have signed the United Nation’s Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women—known as CEDAW.
Belmihoub-Zerdani’s question referred to Japan’s female political participation at the local level. For instance, she said, only 1 percent of the country’s mayors are women.
Read More.
