Today the Human Rights Consortium sent our submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in advance of the pre-sessional working group in July. During this meeting the committee will develop a list of issues for the United Kingdom to respond to in advance of the review of the UK by the committee in February 2019.

During this review the UK will be examined for its compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which the UK agreed to act in accordance with in 1986.

In advance of the review the government, National Human Rights Institutions, NGOs and others send in information to the committee to let them know how the country is successfully or unsuccessfully meeting these commitments and about areas of concern.

The Human Rights Consortium raised 4 key areas in our paper:

1. The participation of the UK government in UN human rights monitoring mechanisms
2. The continued need for a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland
3. The importance of the Human Rights Act in Northern Ireland and its particular role in protecting women’s rights
4. The human rights implications of a UK withdrawal from the European Union, particularly for women

Our paper can be viewed by clicking the link below.