Ahead of the expected announcement that Saudi Arabia will be appointed chair of the UN women’s rights forum at the annual meeting of the UN Commission of the Status of Women today, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Advocacy, Sherine Tadros, said:
“The Commission on the Status of Women has a clear mandate to promote women’s rights and gender equality and it is vital for the chair of the commission to uphold this. Saudi Arabia’s abysmal record when it comes to protecting and promoting the rights of women puts a spotlight on the vast gulf between the lived reality for women and girls in Saudi Arabia, and the aspirations of the Commission.
It runs democratically. That means it is possible to subvert it with calculated strategic maneuvering.
The only alternative would be if it were some authoritarian global government, which is what most of us don’t actually want, incidentally.
I never understand how people think any form of government or institution is supposed to work properly, unless people fight for it to do so. All things are potentially corruptible if we let it happen. All systems eventually, at some point, end up hinging on the honor system. And the simpler the system is, the easier it is to corrupt. If it was an absolutist monarchy, all you’d need to corrupt would be the king. Just one person. Very simple.