United Nations CEDAW/SP/2020/2 Convention on the Elimination Distr.: General 29 April 2020 of All Forms of Discrimination against Women Original: English Meeting of States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women Twenty-first meeting New York, 29 June 2020 Item 5 of the provisional agenda* Election of members of the Committee Election, in accordance with article 17 (4) and (5) of the Convention, of 11 members of the Committee to replace those whose terms are due to expire on 31 December 2020 Note by the Secretary-General 1. In accordance with article 17 (4) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the twenty-first meeting of States parties to the Convention will be convened by the Secretary-General at United Nations Headquarters on 29 June 2020 for the purpose of electing 11 members of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women from a list of persons nominated by States parties to replace those whose terms are due to expire on 31 December 2020 (see sect. I below). The names of persons nominated by States parties appear in section II. The names of the other 12 members who will continue to serve on the Committee until 31 December 2022 appear in section III. 2. In accordance with the procedure set out in article 17 (3) of the Convention, the Secretary-General, in a note verbale dated 19 December 2019, invited States parties to submit their nominations for the election of 11 members of the Committee, within two months. All the curricula vitae received by 6 March 2020 are included herein. Addenda to the present note will be issued for any subsequent nominations received. 3. Listed below, in alphabetical order, are the names of the persons nominated for election to the Committee and the States parties that have nominated them. The biographical data of the nominees, as provided by the States parties concerned, are contained in the annex to the present note. 4. In addition, in compliance with paragraph 12 of General Assembly resolution 68/268, the current situation with respect to the composition of the Committee, reflecting the balance in terms of geographical distribution and gender representation, professional background and different legal systems, as well as the tenure of current members, is contained in sections I and III of the present document. The biographical * CEDAW/SP/2020/1. 20-06198 (E) 180520 040620 *2006198* CEDAW/SP/2020/2 data of current members is available from the web page of the Committee (see www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CEDAW/Pages/Membership.aspx). 5. In paragraph 13 of the same resolution, the General Assembly encouraged States parties, in the election of treaty body experts, to give due consideration, as stipulated in the relevant human rights instruments, to equitable geographical distribution, the representation of the different forms of civilization and the principal legal systems, balanced gender representation and the participation of experts with disabilities in the membership of the human rights treaty bodies. I. List of the 11 members whose terms expire on 31 December 2020 6. The members’ professional backgrounds, legal systems and further biographical data may be found on the membership web page of the Committee by clicking on the names of the individual members (see www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CEDAW/Pages/ Membership.aspx). Member Country of nationality Member since Nicole Ameline (Vice-Chair) France 2009 Gunnar Bergby Norway 2017 Marion Bethel Bahamas 2017 Esther Eghobamien-Mshelia Nigeria 2018 Hilary Gbedemah (Chair) Ghana 2013 Nahla Haidar El Addal Lebanon 2013 Dalia Leinarte Lithuania 2013 Rosario G. Manalo Philippines 2017a Bandana Rana (Vice-Chair) Nepal 2017 Wenyan Song China 2017 Aicha Vall Verges Mauritania 2017 a Ms. Manalo was also a member of the Committee from 1999 to 2006. 2/40 20-06198 CEDAW/SP/2020/2 II. List of persons nominated by States parties Candidate Nominated by Brenda Akia Uganda Nicole Ameline France Marion Bethel Bahamas Leticia Bonifaz Alfonzo Mexico Corinne Dettmeijer-Vermeulen Netherlands Esther Eghobamien-Mshelia Nigeria Hilary Gbedemah Ghana Nahla Haidar El Addal Lebanon Asma Khader Jordan Dalia Leinarte Lithuania Sohoyata Maïga Mali Rosario G. Manalo Philippines Yergebekov Moldiyar Kazakhstan Vera Nkwate Ngassa Cameroon Bandana Rana Nepal Natasha Stott Despoja Australia Aicha Vall Verges Mauritania Jie Xia China 7. In a note dated 28 May 2020, the Permanent Mission of Togo to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva informed the secretariat of the decision of its Government to withdraw the nomination of Akanti Aissah épse Ouro-Akondo as a candidate for election to the Committee. 8. The curricula vitae of the nominees, as provided by the States parties concerned, are contained in the annex to the present note. III. List of the 12 members who will continue to serve on the Committee until 31 December 2022 9. The members’ professional backgrounds, legal systems and further biographical data may be found on the membership web page of the Committee by clicking on the names of the individual members (see www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CEDAW/Pages/ Membership.aspx). 20-06198 3/40 CEDAW/SP/2020/2 Member Country of nationality Member since Gladys Acosta Vargas (Vice-Chair) Peru 2015 Hiroko Akizuki Japan 2019 Tamader Al-Rammah Saudi Arabia 2019 Louiza Chalal Algeria 2015 Naéla Gabr Egypt 2007a Lia Nadaraia (Rapporteur) Georgia 2015 Aruna Devi Narain Mauritius 2017 Ana Peláez Narváez Spain 2019 Rhoda Reddock Trinidad and Tobago 2019 Elgun Safarov Azerbaijan 2019 Genoveva Tisheva Bulgaria 2019 a Ms. Gabr was also a member of the Committee from 1999 to 2003. 4/40 20-06198 CEDAW/SP/2020/2 Annex Curricula vitae of candidates* Brenda Akia (Uganda) Date and place of birth 22 March 1986, Kumi, Uganda. Working languages English, working knowledge of French. Current position/function • Legal, policy and advocacy advisor on women’s and girls’ rights at the Uganda Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA-Uganda), the leading women’s rights organization in Uganda. • In this position, my main functions include leading and managing women and girls’ rights projects and international, regional, and national advocacy; monitoring and documenting human rights violations against women and girls in Uganda and in the region; monitoring Uganda’s compliance with international and regional women’s rights instruments ratified by Uganda; and providing legal and policy advice to senior FIDA Uganda management. • Leading and managing in-depth legal research, including fact-finding field research and investigations and analysis into issues of women’s and girls’ rights and prosecution/adjudication/accountability for violations of women’s and girls’ rights in Africa, with a focus on the 12 Member States of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region. • Writing reports aimed at documenting and highlighting human rights violations committed against women and girls to promote positive human rights change. • Leading advocacy, including formulation of advocacy strategies and research projects on women’s and girl’s rights to influence and lobby relevant stakeholders to undertake positive legislative, policy, and programmatic reforms. • Training key stakeholders, including policy makers, members of parliament, judicial officers, police officers, and other professionals working on women’s and girls’ rights to build their capacity on how to effectively interpret and apply international and regional human rights instruments and national legislation to prosecute and adjudicate human rights violations committed against girls and women in peace time, conflict, post-conflict, and humanitarian situations. • Monitoring the implementation and compliance of international and regional women and human rights instruments by African governments. • Providing legal and policy advice to ensure effective formulation, implementation, and monitoring of legal cases and project activities aimed at promoting women’s and girls’ rights. Educational background I am currently a Ph.D. research candidate on conflict-related sexual violence at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. I have an LL.M. degree from Humboldt- * Curricula vitae are issued without formal editing. 20-06198 5/40 CEDAW/SP/2020/2 Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany, in cooperation with the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa; an LL.B from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda; and a postgraduate diploma in legal practice from the Law Development Center, Kampala, Uganda. I am enrolled as an advocate of the High Court of Uganda and all courts subordinate. I also have a certificate in civic and intellectual leadership from the University of Dar-es-Salaam, University of Nairobi, and Makerere University UONGOZI Leadership Institute and a certificate in international criminal law from the International Principles Academy Nuremberg, Germany. Other main activities in the field relevant to the mandate of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women • Leading fundraising initiatives aimed at collecting funds to address the impact of rights violations suffered by women and girls. For example, in 2019, I successfully led the #withoutmum Rockefeller campaign in Uganda aimed at enhancing maternal health rights that resulted in the Rockefeller Foundation dedicating $100 million to addressing maternal and child mortality by 2030 and the selection of Uganda as one of the two beneficiaries;