Twentieth meeting

New York, 7 June 2018

* CEDAW/SP/2018/1 .

Item 5 of the provisional agenda*

Election of members of the Committee

Election, in accordance with article 17 (4) and (5) of the Convention, of 12 members of the Committee to replace those whose terms are due to expire on 31 December 2018

Note by the Secretary-General

Addendum

1.In a note dated 19 April 2018, the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva informed the secretariat of the decision of its Government to submit the nomination of Zohra Rasekh for election to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

2.The curriculum vitae of the above-mentioned candidate, as provided by her Government, is set out in the annex to the present document.

Annex

Curriculum vitae of the candidate *

Zohra Rasekh (Afghanistan)

Date and place of birth

* Curricula vitae are issued without formal editing.

February 7 1969, Kabul

Working languages

English, Farsi/Dari

Current position/function

•President, Global Watch Group, an independent human rights organization with a focus on investigative research, advocacy, and policy recommendations;

•Vice President, Afghan-American Research and Advocacy Center.

Main professional activities

Serving as a leader in the human rights movement, both locally and globally, within Global Watch Group, an international human rights watch organization; Leading the research and investigation of human rights projects in conflict and post-conflict settings; Overseeing the development of human rights advocacy campaigns; Teaching and training human rights, good governance, and gender equality courses, seminars and workshops worldwide; Chairing panel discussion and seminars on human rights, gender equality, political participation of women and women’s leadership; Publishing human rights research papers and policy recommendations.

•Board Membership, Global Watch Group, Afghan-American Research and Advocacy Center, Aide Afghanistan for Education, and Cheragh Medical College, Kabul;

•Membership, US-Afghan Women’s Council, Rotary Club, Environmental Working Group, American Public Health Association Peace Caucus;

•Founder, Global Watch Group, a non-profit international human rights organization;

•Co-Founder, Women Alliance for Peace and Human Rights in Afghanistan.

Previous positions and professional affiliations

Independent expert CEDAW Committee, 2009–2012, Vice President of CEDAW Committee, January 2011–December 2012; Senior Human Rights and Gender Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IRF, 2006–2009; Executive General, Human Rights and Women’s International Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Afghanistan, 2003–2009; Member of the UNAMA Human Rights Advisory Group, Afghanistan 2005–2009; Member of the US-Afghan Women’s Council, 2003–2018; Senior Human Rights Investigator for the Boston-based human rights group Physicians for Human Rights 1997–2001; Vice President of Human Rights and Gender Affairs for the Association for Peace and Democracy in Afghanistan, 1996–2001; Epidemiologist for the Commission of Public Health in Washington, D.C.; Co-founder of the Women’s Alliance for Peace and Human Rights (WAPHA) Founder of the Global Watch Group, a human rights watchdog organization based in Washington, D.C.

Educational background

•University of Nottingham, School of Law, Human Rights Law and Treaty Bodies, Certificate, 2008;

•Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Women and Public Policy, Certificate, 2006;

•George Washington University, School of Medicine and Healthcare Sciences, Masters of Public Health, 1997;

•George Washington University, Columbian College, Bachelor of Science, 1989.

Other main activities in the field relevant to the mandate of the treaty body concerned

One of the world’s leading spokeswomen for human right and gender equality in Afghanistan and the region; Established the first division on women’s international affairs and human rights at the Afghan ministry of foreign affairs. The lead investigator of an unprecedented human rights investigative research in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime; Interviewed over 200 Afghan women in Kabul and in the refugee camps in Pakistan 1998 and 2001; Co-authored the book, “The Taliban’s War on Women: A Health and Human Right Crises in Afghanistan”, PHR, 1998; Mobilized over one million US dollars of donor funds for the development of a sustainable and transparent program for international human rights treaty body reporting within the Afghan government,; Played a key role in the draft of the National Action Plan on Women, the National Action Plan on SCR 1325, and initial periodic reports (ICESCR, CRC, UPR and CEDAW); Spoke widely at universities and public forums across the United States, Canada and Europe on the subject of human rights, gender equality and good governance in post conflict Afghanistan; Spoke on forums and seminars on the topic of gender equality from the perspective of Muslim culture and Islamic laws; Testified before the US Congressional Human Rights Caucus on the subject massive human rights violations in Afghanistan on many occasions; Conducted a health and human rights assessment of IDPs women in Western Afghanistan. Played a key role in the Brussels Action Plan, identifying critical actions to ensure that Afghan women are central in the efforts to rebuild Afghanistan-2004.

List of most recent publications in the field

•Terrorism and Public Health: Addressing Public Opinion in Muslim Communities. Oxford University Press, 2012;

•Women’s Health and Human Rights in Afghanistan, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) (www.jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/ 280/5/449);

•The Taliban’s War on Women: A Health and Human Rights Crises in Afghanistan. Physicians for Human Rights publications;

•Education, A Health Imperative: The Case of Afghanistan, François-Xavier Bagnoud Center;

•For Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health Publication (http://hsph.harvard.edu/fxbcenter);

•Health and Human Rights of Adolescent Girls, Journal of American Medical Women’s Association (JAMWA) (www.amwa-doc.org/index.cfm);

•In this Generation: Health Policies for a Youthful World, Population Action International Publishing (www.amazon.com/this-Generation-Reproductive-Policies-Youthful/dp).