I propose to take Questions Nos. 296 to 300, inclusive, together.
Ireland has a very strong record on promoting the rights of women and girls at the United Nations. We are a leading voice in this field. Given the centrality of promoting and protecting human rights in Ireland’s foreign policy, my Department closely monitors human rights concerns and issues.
In this respect, the Department seeks to be fully informed on an ongoing basis on current developments regarding human rights in individual countries and regions. It is briefed as a matter of course on developments at the UN by the staff of our Permanent Representations in New York and Geneva, and by relevant Embassies and Consulates across Ireland’s network of missions, among them our Embassy in Saudi Arabia which follows and reports on relevant developments including recent announcements by the authorities in Riyadh on reform of the guardianship system for women.
My Department is therefore very aware of the challenges facing women and girls globally and works at the United Nations and elsewhere to progress gender equality and the empowerment of women. Ireland’s Permanent Representative to the UN and his staff remain in regular contact with my Department on the wide range of issues that arise at the UN in which Ireland has an interest, including our national priorities across the three pillars of the UN’s work, namely peace and security, development, and human rights.
There are numerous elections across a range of bodies at the UN. Most of the 193 Member States of the United Nations present candidatures for election - some more frequently than others – and, in this context, there are multiple and routine interactions between the member states. There were no representations made to my Department which sought to oppose the candidature of Saudi Arabia prior to the election on membership of the Commission on the Status of Women last month.
In that election, the 55 States in the Asia-Pacific grouping agreed five candidate countries - Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Turkmenistan, Japan and the Republic of Korea - for the five seats available to their grouping.