The United Nations’ General Assembly adopted unanimously, on Sunday, an Egypt-drafted resolution calling for protection of women’s rights from the repercussions of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The voting took place during a meeting of the UN General Assembly Third Committee relating to a range of social, humanitarian affairs and human rights issues.
Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had drafted the resolution in coordination with the National Council for Women in light of the latter’s policy paper on handling COVID-19 impacts on the needs of women and girls.
The new resolution sheds light on the special needs of women and girls during the pandemic, addresses the economic and social repercussions on their rights, and provides a practical vision for how to enhance national and international measures to handle these repercussions.
It also calls for combating violence against women, and providing them with the necessary health and social services during the pandemic.
Ambassador Mohamed Idris, the permanent representative of Egypt to the United Nations, stated that women’s rights are at the top of the Egyptian diplomacy’s priorities.
Moreover, Ambassador Ahmed Gamal El-Din, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Human Rights and International Social and Humanitarian Issues, said that the new resolution comes within the current Egyptian efforts to promote human rights at the national and international levels, especially during the pandemic.
He stressed that there must be a new vision for handling these issues, especially for vulnerable groups including women.
