Speech | 62nd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women | United Nations New York | 13 March 2018

The Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines joins our fellow National Human Rights Institutions in expressing appreciation to the Bureau for realizing our participation in this interactive dialogue.

[Closely working with Government, Civil Society Organizations, and the community in advancing women and girls’ rights, NHRIs are in a unique place to provide contributions drawing from its work as an independent monitor of State compliance with its treaty obligations.]

The Commission sees the crucial role of CEDAW, its general recommendations and its country-specific concluding observations as crucial in accelerating the Beijing Platform of Action as well as SDG 5. CEDAW Concluding observations highlight urgent needs that State Parties must address.

NHRIs can thus contribute by:

1. Monitoring the CEDAW and its concluding observations;
2. Engaging the State towards the fulfillment of CEDAW Article 5 — [viewed as] a transformative provision that calls for “changes in social and cultural patterns of conduct” and the need to address attitudes and stereotypes that impact women’s human rights and empowerment; and
3. Continued promotion and protection work for women’s human rights, particularly highlighting the importance of reproductive health, GBV and women’s participation.

Focus on these key areas allow the Commission to leverage our mandate as an independent monitor in accordance with the Paris Principles and as Gender Ombud under the Magna Carta of Women — the Philippines’ local translation of CEDAW provisions that has sought, since its passage in 2009, the acceleration of the implementation of the Convention as well as key areas of concern in the Beijing Platform for Action.

For instance, CEDAW concluding observations stressed the need for the state to implement a gender sensitive approach to development, and address the issue of women facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.

The rise of the ‘me too’ [ and ‘timesup’] movement and the pervasive everyday casual sexism attest to the crucial and pressing need to address attitudes and stereotypes that underpin and continue to sustain acts of discrimination. These harmful attitudes manifest in exclusions and deprivation of women and girls; they hinder effective and meaningful participation of women.

[Echoing the call of the CEDAW committee, we must strive work to ‘create conditions for wide intercultural dialogue that would respect diversity while guaranteeing full compliance with the principles, values and international norms for the protection of human rights including women’s rights’.]

To this end, we are soon launching a GBV observatory, that aims, among others, to develop a mechanism to surface situations that enable GBV and help address problems through policy and programs recommendations.

Pursuit of the Beijing goals and the SDGs do not only require ensuring that women are not left behind, it also requires that women are on board and enabled to effectively participate and influence key decisions and processes.

Thank you.

Karen S. Gomez-Dumpit

Commissioner, Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines