CHP’s Pavey candidate for UN committee
ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News
Safak Pavey is the first diasbeld woman to be elected to the Turkish Parliament.
Şafak Pavey, the first disabled woman to be elected to the Turkish Parliament, from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), has been nominated for membership of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a UN body that monitors implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, is composed of 18 independent experts - individuals with recognized competence in the field of human rights.
Nine of the current 18 members’ terms will expire at the end of this year, so accordingly an election will be held for nine seats during the fifth session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in New York on Sept. 12. Since its adoption in 2006, 116 states have become parties to the convention. Each party state can nominate a person for membership on the committee.
The committee has announced that 19 nominations have been received for the 2012 elections, including Turkey’s nomination of Pavey, who is the former head of the UN Human Rights Secretariat in Geneva.