Committee News

Friday, October 29, 2010

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Ros-Lehtinen Says Potential Iran, Saudi Arabia Membership on New ‘UN Women’ Entity an Outrage

(WASHINGTON) – U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, commented today on reports that Iran and Saudi Arabia are likely to become members of the board of the new “UN Women” entity, which was created by the UN General Assembly’s vote on July 2, 2010 to merge four UN bodies dealing with women’s issues into a single entity. The board’s membership will be selected on November 10 by the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:

“It would be an outrage if Iran and Saudi Arabia were permitted to join the board of UN Women.

“This isn’t the first time the UN has allowed repressive regimes to play this kind of game. Earlier this year, Iran was selected to serve on the Commission on the Status of Women. Similarly, at this moment, China, Cuba, Libya, and Saudi Arabia all serve as members of the misnamed UN Human Rights Council.

“The UN can rearrange its deck chairs and rename things all it wants, but so long as the inmates are allowed to run the asylum, the UN will still fail to deliver on its founding goals.

“But don’t take my word for how frightening it is that Iran and Saudi Arabia may be tasked with protecting women—ask the women of Iran and Saudi Arabia.”

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