Call for gender parity in the next composition of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families

The GQUAL Campaign, CEJIL, Dejusticia, Amnesty International, Clínica Jurídica de Migrantes de la Universidad Diego Portales, International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) and Red Jesuita con Migrantes (RJM) call on the States Parties to the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICRMW), to elect qualified candidates in the upcoming election of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW) with an aim to improve gender balance in the composition of the Committee.

Established in 2004 pursuant to Article 72 of ICRMW, the CMW is the main body monitoring and ensuring compliance by States around the world on the rights of migrant workers and their
families. The CMW has also clarified the scope of the ICRMW on important issues related to gender and women, among other groups in vulnerable situations, including the rights to liberty and protection against arbitrary detention, the rights of children in the context of international migration in countries of origin, transit, destination and return, the rights of migrant workers in an irregular situation and of domestic workers, of which women make up the overwhelming majority. Women’s participation in the composition of the CMW is critical to amplify the
perspectives considered and to improve the depth and impact of the decisions adopted on all these important matters.

On June 27, at the 11th meeting of States Parties, States Parties to the ICRMW will elect seven new members to replace those whose terms of office will expire on December 31, 20231. The election affects half of the CMW membership and, therefore, is likely to have a serious impact on the body’s composition, which in turn affects its legitimacy and effectiveness.

The CMW is composed of 14 independent experts, who must be persons “of high moral standing, impartiality and recognized competence in the field covered by the Convention” (Article 72 of the ICRMW). Currently, ten out of fourteen members are male (71%) and four (29%) are female, making it one of the UN Treaty Bodies with the lowest representation of women.

March 31st was the closing date to nominate experts. States Parties have submitted ten nominations for consideration in the upcoming elections. Seven are male and three are female2. Unfortunately, the current candidate pool is not gender diverse enough to allow for gender parity to be achieved in the CMW and does not necessarily indicate that seeking to nominate qualified women has been duly prioritized so far. Accordingly, we strongly encourage States Parties to consider the actual gender composition of the membership of the Committee and to give due consideration to this criterion at the election stage. This is especially relevant if we consider that two of the four women who are currently members of the Committee are ending their mandates. This means that the Committee could be left with an even lower representation of women if gender criteria is not considered at the time of the election.

The historic underrepresentation of women in the CMW was noted by the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee in its report on “Current levels of representation of women in human rights organs and mechanisms: ensuring gender balance” of 21 May 2021. In order to tackle this problem, the Advisory Committee recommended States Parties to take, among others, the following measures at election stage:

Ensure that more women are elected or appointed by:

a. Undertaking firm commitments to guarantee gender parity in the election of candidates to fill vacancies in United Nations human rights bodies and mechanisms
b. Incorporating gender parity into voting practices
c. Adopting policies that require the nomination of men and women, as well as considering the actual and historic composition of organs to be considered when voting, especially in relation to bodies that have not achieved gender parity
d. Implementing target measures, such as encouraging States to commit to electing [independent and qualified] members only of the gender that is underrepresented in that body
e. Voting for female candidates in consecutive voting rounds if the minimum targets for parity are not achieved in the first round of votes

We strongly call on States Parties to ICRMW to consider the recommendations issued by the Advisory Committee, as well as any other measure aimed at ensuring the next composition of the CMW achieves a balanced representation of women and men and an adequate geographical balance.

GQUAL Campaign
Centro por la Justicia y el Derecho Internacional (CEJIL)
Dejusticia
Amnesty International
Clínica Jurídica de Migrantes de la Universidad Diego Portales
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
Red Jesuita con Migrantes (RJM)