11 | - Número: 019 | 23 de Março de 2013

ANEXO A

Oral report of Mr Mendes Bota, General rapporteur on violence against women, to the Committee on Equality and Nom-Discrimination, about his participation on the 57th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women of the United Nations Organisation, that was held in New-York, from 3 to 6 of March 2013 Warsaw, 18th March 2013

Dear Chairperson, Dear Colleagues,

I have participated in the UN Commission on the Status of Women at the beginning of March in New York with a view to promote the Istanbul Convention and the Parliamentary Network Women Free from Violence.
Several Network and PACE members were also present, including PACE President, Ms Bonet Perot, Ms Giannakaki, Ms Memecan, Ms Quintanilla Barba, Ms Tzakri and Ms Wurm. I wish to thank them for their active contribution to the promotion of our Convention.
I was a guest speaker, in a conference organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, about “Parliamentary strategies for tackling violence against women and girls”, and also spoke on the conference organised by the Council of Europe about “Violence against women: our concern, our response”, and on the conference organised by European Union about “Trafficking of women and girls as a form of violence against women and girls”.
Bilateral meetings were held with the parliamentary delegations of Canada, Mexico and Morocco. Mexico and Canada expressed interest and could be among the 10 first states to ratify (8+2) since they participated in the drafting of the Convention.
I participated in an informal event organised by the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe with representatives from Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, to discuss the Istanbul Convention, differences and complementarities with the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women, Convention of Belém do Pará, which entered into force in 1995. 32 State are now parties to this Convention (US and Canada are not parties to the Convention). We realised that the fact that the Istanbul Convention was not limited to women only could be a factor preventing the accession of some states.
I also met with Ms Lakshmi Puri, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. She is a strong supporter of our Convention, and informed us of the lobbying made against the inclusion of a reference to the Istanbul Convention in the CSW conclusions.
My presence in New York allowed me to meet members of the European Parliament who assured me of their support to the Istanbul Convention and confirmed they would continue their advocacy efforts.
I intend to follow-up on the meetings held in New York and hope to get back to the Committee soon with good news. There are to date 3 ratifications and 26 signatures (Bosnia and Herzegovina signed the Istanbul Convention on 8 March).

ANEXO B

Participation of the General Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Mr. José Mendes Bota on the 57th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (UN) New York, 3-6 March 2013

Programme of the mission

Sunday 3 March Arrival in New York and preparatory meeting with Ms Battaini-Dragoni, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe