AICS participated in the discussion of the VIII national periodic report of Italy concerning the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) held at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, on 1 February 2024.
The Committee’s experts praised Italy for its strong gender architecture, while asking questions about human trafficking and gender equality in politics.
The meeting was opened with the speech by the President of the CEDAW Committee, Ana Peláez Narváez, in the memory of Bianca Pomeranzi – expert on Italian Cooperation, died in 2023, who served in the Committee from 2013 to 2016. Bianca Pomeranzi was remembered for her competence and abilities, which made her a particularly appreciated colleague in the Committee.
The committee experts praised the state for its robust gender architecture, while raising questions about human trafficking and gender equality in politics. The min. Fabrizio Petri, president of the Interministerial Committee for Human Rights of Italy and head of the delegation, presenting the report, said that Italy has adopted concrete policies to strengthen gender integration in all its actions and measures. In relation to Italian Cooperation, Min. Petri recalled that law 125/2014 places gender equality among its fundamental objectives and that the “Guidelines on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls ” – set ambitious goals on funding for cooperation actions specifically aimed at gender equality.
Answering a question posed by an expert of the Committee on a possible reorientation of development policies taking into account gender equality, AICS recalled how the Italian Cooperation is committed to strengthening both the quantity and the quality of its actions – inserting gender equality transversally into all interventions and strengthening the staff’s abilities to carry out adequate gender analyses.
For a complete coverage of the meeting and an overview of the report:
Comitato eliminazione discriminazione contro le donne loda l’Italia (unric.org)