The United Nations elected Saudi Arabia to the UN’s Women’s Rights Commission, allowing the ultra-conservative kingdom to have a say in the promotion and protection of women’s rights, gender equality and women empowerment. With 47 votes in favour, the lowest among the participating countries, Saudi will be participating to the commission of status of women from 2018 to 2022. The secret ballot of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) was forced by the U.S., where at least 15 of the following member states have voted for Saudi: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, UK, USA.

The fact that Saudi has decisional power regarding women’s rights is as ridiculous as it may sound, as the kingdom has a set of strict limitations for women, unacceptable in the 21^st century. As a matter of fact, the kingdom has a state policy of gender segregation between unrelated men and women. Further, the male guardianship system forbids women from marrying, travelling, obtaining a passport or entering university without the approval of the husband, brother or son. Women are also still banned from driving a vehicle in Saudi Arabia. How can then the United Nations appoint such a country to the Women’s Rights Commission? Saudi is part of the UN Human Rights Council and with a right to vote, it has the power to influence crucial decisions for the wellbeing of human rights around the globe.

The kingdom does not only have a bad reputation for the poor treatment of women’s rights but of human rights in general. In fact, Saudi is one of the five countries with the highest rates of executions carried out in the world. With more than 150 executions only in 2016, Saudi has carried out its first execution of the year on February 2017, which won’t for sure be the last. The invasion in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition proves that the fundamentalist kingdom has no interest in the protection of human rights. Since 2015, the coalition has unlawfully attacked homes, schools, hospital and other important infrastructions. Airstrikes have caused more than 4000 deaths and more than 7000 wounded, without sparing women nor children.

Electing Saudi Arabia, a country with the worst record in the world when it comes to women’s rights, to UN commission on status of women is a mockery of the UN and its mechanisms, and most importantly a betrayal of Saudi women and their allies. ICSFT strongly condemns this bogus election and urges all stake holders to condemn and call to immediately reverse this election. It is a sad day when the UN’s credibility is once again under fire as political and economic gains take precedent over human rights.