US tried to block UN declaration in support of women's rights on International Women's Day

New York, New York- The US failed on Monday in a lone bid to block a joint UN declaration supporting women's rights on International Women's Day.

The US representative at the UN Commission on the Status of Women tried to block a joint declaration supporting women's rights.
The US representative at the UN Commission on the Status of Women tried to block a joint declaration supporting women's rights.  © CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP

In the end, 37 of the 44 countries voting in the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York backed a compromise text, while the US was the only country to vote against it, with six abstaining.

The US representative had objected to the draft, arguing it contained "ambiguous language promoting gender ideology."

The text also included commitments related to sexual and reproductive health that the US considered too vague, as well as passages that it claimed could lead to censorship, referring to potential measures against hate speech. There was also opposition to reparations for victims of sexual violence.

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The US initially tried to block or delay the adoption of the text. After that effort failed, the US representative proposed amendments.

However, the majority of members in the commission rejected reopening the compromise text that had been negotiated over several weeks.

The fact that a vote was required marked a first in the commission's 80-year history. Such declarations are usually adopted by consensus and approved by acclamation, even when individual states do not fully agree with every passage.

Cover photo: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP

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