The nomination of the Lithuanian candidate will be followed by the voting of representatives of the State Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women in 2020 in New York. If professor D. Leinartė will be elected next year, it will be her third term of office in the Committee, where she also served as Vice-Chairperson and Chairperson.
The Committee consists of 23 independent experts in total, who constantly evaluate the progress of the parties to the Convention in ensuring the elimination of discrimination against women.
‘The qualification of Professor D. Leinartė in the areas of gender equality, ensuring of women rights and non-discrimination transcend the national sphere, whereas knowledge and areas of interest cover a wide range of topics: from historically established narratives about the family and the role of a woman in the family to the research of the forms of crimes against women. It is difficult to imagine anyone else who would be better suited to work in this Committee than professor D. Leinartė’, said Linas Kukuraitis, the Minister of Social Security and Labour, when presenting the candidacy.
The Professor is recognised as the international expert in the area of ensuring of gender equality and women rights. Last year, ‘Apolitical’, the global network for public servants, listed her among 100 most influential political figures in the area of gender equality.
D. Leinartė was first elected to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women as the representative of Lithuania in 2012. In 2015, she became Vice-Chairperson of this Committee. In 2016 she was re-elected to the members of the Committee (her second term of office in the Committee), in 2017 – 2018 she held the position of Chairperson of the Committee.
D. Leinartė is a professor at Vytautas Magnus University, a member of the editorial board of Journal ‘Gender Studies and Research’ and held the office of the Director at the Gender Studies Centre of the Vilnius University in 2000-2017.
About the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Lithuania has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1995. The Convention has been ratified by 189 countries in total.
The monitoring of Convention is conducted by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which consists of 23 experts. They are elected by the State Parties to the Convention.
The members of the Committee are elected for a 4-year term of office from the candidates proposed by the states. Election of the half of members of the Committee (12 of 23) is held every two years. There is no limitation on the number of terms of offices the members of the Committee may serve. The elections of twelve members of the Committee for the period 2021-2024 will be held in June 2020 in New York.
