Webinar on the election of UN Treaty Body Experts

On 6 December 2022, TB-Net organised a webinar on the key role of civil society on the ground in the election of UN Treaty Body (UNTB) Experts. As member of TB-Net, a network of 7 international NGOs that works in regular partnership with the UNTBs and their Secretariats, GI-ESCR participated on the panel to report on the 2022 elections of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), which will take place in April 2022.

During the session, GI-ESCR's UNTB Focal Point, Juliette Wyss, talked about the diversity (or lack thereof) within the Committee, especially regional, gender and professional diversity and what to expect of the upcoming elections.

Moreover, the webinar touched upon different strategies and steps that national civil society can take along the election process in order to ensure that elections are transparent and that the best candidate will be elected.

Regarding CESCR, nominations close on 10 December and given the amount of received nominations for the available seats, there seems so far to be no competitive elections in view except for the African region. GI-ESCR therefore encourages civil society to put forward eligible human rights experts, especially women, to their respective countries as potential nominees.