The Saudi Elephant In The Room - The Appointment of Saudi Arabia to the Commission on the Status of Women 2018-2022

Sammanfattning: Saudi Arabia was among the thirteen states elected to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in April of 2017. The Commission on the Status of Women is the leading women’s rights promoting and protecting body of the world, whereas the state of Saudi Arabia is infamous for conducting systematic discrimination towards women. The conflicting natures of a state were women’s rights are restricted to the extent that they are considered legal minors, and the main women’s rights body of the world, was naturally remarkable. The Commission on the Status of Women works towards improving the lives of women globally, most importantly by creating treaty law and encouraging states to commit to realizing women’s human rights. One significant challenge to the global promotion of women’s rights is the notion of cultural relativism. Rather than striving for universalism, cultural relativists risk excluding certain women from international women’s rights based on their cultural context. The main international legal document concerning women’s rights is the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) from 1979. Saudi Arabia ratified CEDAW in 2000, with the reservation that Shari’ah is to be favoured in the case of conflict between CEDAW and Islamic norms. Saudi Arabia is a wealthy oil country with a fascinating history, where the royal Saud family also practically constitutes the government. Since 2016, and particularly since the appointment in 2017, Saudi Arabia has made remarkable positive changes towards the promotion of women’s rights, e.g. lifting the ban on women driving. Saudi Arabia’s presence on the CSW might have a negative international impact due to the state’s strong economy and political influence. However, Saudi Arabia has a strong focus on boosting the economy for the future, where the dependence on oil will need to decrease. The economic incitements to promote women’s rights within the CSW as well as on the domestic level, e.g. more women working, are significant. Therefore, optimistically, the possible negative impact of the appointment will become outweighed by the possible positive impact.