Minister for Foreign Affairs welcomes election of Irishwoman to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

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Minister for Foreign Affairs welcomes election of Irishwoman to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Ms. Anastasia Crickley was elected earlier today, Thursday 21 January 2010, in New York to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) for a four-year term.  Ms. Crickley was nominated for election by the Irish Government.   She will be the first Irish national to serve on the Committee.

CERD is a body of independent experts mandated by the United Nations to monitor the implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.  Ireland is one of 173 States parties to the Convention.

Ms. Crickley has a distinguished international record in working against racism and discrimination.   She served until very recently as the Inaugural Chair of the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency and previously as Chair of the EU Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia. 

At a national level, she has been a founding member and chairperson of a number of innovative agencies devoted to promoting the rights of minorities and the marginalised, and to combating racism in Ireland.  She is currently the Head of Department of Applied Social Studies at the National University of Ireland Maynooth.  She is also a member of the Council of State.

Welcoming Ms. Crickley’s election, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Micheál Martin T.D., said:

“I am delighted to welcome the election of Anastasia Crickley to the CERD.  Ms Crickley’s election is international recognition of the prominent role she has played throughout her career in tackling issues relating to racism and discrimination, and in the promotion of human rights both in Ireland and abroad.  It is also reaffirmation of Ireland’s strong commitment to the United Nations and to human rights.

I believe Anastasia Crickley will bring a wealth of expertise and practical experience to her new role and will be a very significant asset to the work of the Committee.  She will also be a strong independent and impartial voice as required by the Convention.”

Note to Editors:

There are currently 173 States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, including Ireland.   States are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on how the rights set out in the Convention are being implemented nationally. The Committee examines each national report and addresses its concerns and recommendations to the State party in the form of “concluding observations”.  Ireland submitted its combined third and fourth report to the Committee in December 2009.

In addition to the reporting procedure, the Convention establishes three other mechanisms through which the Committee performs its monitoring functions: the early-warning procedure, the examination of inter-state complaints and the examination of individual complaints. 

Ms. Crickley was elected for a term of four years at the twenty-third meeting of States parties to the Convention which took place in New York on 21 January 2010.  Members serve in their personal capacity as independent experts and may be re-elected if re-nominated.

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21 January 2009

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