Despite its questionable record on women’s rights, Saudi Arabia took over as chair of the UN Commission on the Status of Women on Monday and will lead the annual global summit on gender equality on March 21.
“This is surreal. Appointing Saudi Arabia to head the world’s leading body for women’s rights is like putting Dracula in charge of a blood bank,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a Geneva-based independent human rights organization.
Neuer added that Saudi Arabia now holds a key position to influence the commission’s agenda and decisions. “Despite cosmetic reforms, Saudi Arabia continues to subject women to legal discrimination, effectively keeping them enslaved under a male guardianship system that was codified into law three years ago—ironically, on International Women’s Day.”
“The Personal Status Law, which Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman described as a ‘quantum leap forward,’ entrenches discrimination against women in family life and preserves many of the most oppressive aspects of the guardianship system,” Neuer said.
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“We call on EU countries and all democratic nations to break their silence and formally state that this appointment is absurd, morally reprehensible, and an insult to the oppressed women of Saudi Arabia. This is a dark day for women’s rights and for human rights as a whole.”
This marks the first time since the commission’s establishment in 1946 that Saudi Arabia has been appointed as its chair. The 45-member commission unanimously elected Saudi Arabia to the position on March 27, 2024, without objections, as it was the sole candidate. Leadership roles within the commission typically rotate among the UN’s five regional groups, and the Asia-Pacific group, which includes Saudi Arabia, had unanimously endorsed its candidacy.