New York, March 14, 2003: Even as the stalemate in the United Nations Security Council over the proposed war on Iraq continued to draw world attention, another more low-profile drama unfolded in the basement of the UN headquarters in New York on Friday. The 47th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women was 'suspended' late in the evening in the absence of consensus on the 'agreed conclusions' relating to women's human rights and the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls. Most delegates and observers appeared shocked and dismayed at this unusual and unseemly end to the two-week CSW session.

The final document, which had emerged after several drafts had been slowly and laboriously debated and negotiated over the past fortnight, was presented for adoption by the Commission only half an hour before the session was scheduled to close.

The delegate from Iran promptly registered his government's objection to the paragraph that read: 'Condemn violence against women and refrain from invoking any custom, tradition or religious consideration to avoid their obligations with respect to its elimination, as set out in the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women.' He was immediately supported by delegates from Egypt and Sudan. They pointed out that they had been opposed to the content of the paragraph since the beginning of the negotiations and that compromise solutions proposed by them as well as two other delegations, including the United States of America, had not been taken into consideration in the final draft.

They were not prepared to have their reservations on the paragraph officially recorded once the document had been adopted by consensus in its entirety. Nor were other delegations willing to drop the paragraph so that the rest of the document could be adopted by consensus. The deadlock was further complicated by the fact that the Chairperson of the CSW, Ambassador Othman Jerandi of Tunisia, was clearly unwilling to allow further debate on the contentious paragraph and seemed reluctant to explore alternative routes out of the impasse, including the options offered by the UN legal advisor.

The opinion of the legal advisor had been sought by the delegate from Brazil who had patiently facilitated the prolonged informal consultations on the theme 'women's human rights and elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls'. He stressed that the draft agreed conclusions were a product of extensive deliberations and ought to be respected. The UN legal officer presented three options: the adoption of the document in its entirety by consensus, after which Iran and others could register their reservation; the adoption of the document minus the paragraph on which there was no consensus; and going for a vote (on the document as a whole or on each paragraph).

Instead, after a recess of about 15 minutes, the chair chose to abruptly 'suspend' the session (ostensibly because translation services were not available after 6 pm - it was already past 7 pm), curtly stating that delegates would be informed about a fresh date for the resumption of work.

Even during the debate delegates from Malaysia, the US and Iran had questioned the rules of procedure followed by the chair. A number of other delegates also later suggested that the crisis caused by the intransigience of a tiny minority of countries could perhaps have been more sensitively handled. Some observers felt that efforts towards the elimination of violence against women and girls had been sacrificed at the altar of male egos.

By the time the session is reconvened most delegates based in home countries, as well as representatives of many non-governmental organizations from around the world, who had come to New York to participate in the CSW, will not be around to keep a watch on the document. The agreed conclusions emerging from the CSW are meant to provide direction to policy and action at the national and international levels to promote women's human rights by tackling the grave problem of violence against women and girls.

Ammu Joseph

Reports from the 47th session of the CSW, New York

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