{"id":3665,"date":"2026-10-08T13:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T18:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unmissionny.orderofmalta.int\/?post_type=news&#038;p=3665"},"modified":"2026-10-08T15:41:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T20:41:52","slug":"lizzie-winfrey-addresses-the-third-committee-on-the-elimination-of-discrimination-and-violence-against-women-and-girls-led-by-the-ms-reem-alsalem","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/unmissionny.orderofmalta.int\/en\/news\/lizzie-winfrey-addresses-the-third-committee-on-the-elimination-of-discrimination-and-violence-against-women-and-girls-led-by-the-ms-reem-alsalem\/","title":{"rendered":"Lizzie Winfrey Addresses the Third Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination and Violence Against Women and Girls, led by the Ms. Reem Alsalem"},"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-3665","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","news_categories-delegation-and-staff","news_categories-news","news_categories-statements"],"acf":{"hidden_news":"no","evidence":"yes","focus_on":"no","breaking":"yes","news_cover":{"id":3666,"url":"https:\/\/unmissionny.orderofmalta.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-2026-10-08-at-15.41.28.png"},"cover_image_copyrighted":false,"news_video":"<iframe title=\"Lizzie Winfrey Addresses the Third Committee on Violence and Discrimination against Women and Girls\" width=\"693\" height=\"390\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VCRfxL0ce9g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>","news_content":"<p>On 8<sup>th<\/sup> October 2026, Ms. Lizzie Winfrey, speaking on behalf of the Sovereign Order of Malta, addressed the Third Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination and Violence Against Women and Girls, led by the Ms. Reem Alsalem, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, its Causes and Consequences.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Alsalem called for the UN and its Member States to do better in upholding the treaties on the humanity, dignity, safety, and equality of women to which they have committed. She emphasised that the UN Charter affirms the worth of the human person and equal rights of men and women. She stressed that the erasure of sex disaggregated data and removal of sex-specific language in policies are threats to women\u2019s rights because it obliterates how we tackle discrimination against women and girls and undermines how we measure progress to achieving equality. We must correct the resulting imbalance and improve women\u2019s rights worldwide, especially the protection of civilians in conflict.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Alsalem introduced her recently published report on \u2018Violence against older women\u2019, highlighting that the invisibility older women experience is not neutral, but is rooted in agism, exclusion from public life, economic insecurity, and isolation. Too often, older women disappear from our understanding of who can be victims of violence. Certain groups of older women face higher risks, including widows, migrants, women living in conflict and crisis settings, and those living with disabilities. In addition, unequal access to property rights and economic chances can leave women in poverty in later life. Ms. Alsalem called for the inclusion of older women\u2019s specific needs in the upcoming UN discussions on the Human Rights of Older Persons, noting that greater collection of data disaggregated by sex and age is needed. She emphasised the need to reject the view of older women merely as recipients of care, rather than holders of Human Rights. She called for them to have adequate incomes, including from pensions, and for greater protections from financial exploitation. Additionally, she stressed that they must never be pressured into accepting life-ending interventions through euthanasia. She encouraged Member States to allow her teams access, noting that no mandate will be effective if the mandate-holders are blocked from doing their work.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on behalf of the Sovereign Order of Malta, Ms. Lizzie Winfrey highlighted UN Women\u2019s estimate that 840 million women have been subject to sexual and physical violence in their lifetimes and 137 women and girls a day are victims of femicide. She stressed that those living in humanitarian contexts experience gender-based violence at twice the rate of the global average.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Winfrey highlighted the Sovereign Order of Malta\u2019s commitment to tackling violence and discrimination against women in girls. In particular, she highlighted the empowerment projects our international relief agency has run in Nigeria and Sudan through training and cash assistance programs to support their families. In addition, the Sovereign Order of Malta supported the creation of a new water source in South Sudan and distributed menstrual hygiene kits in Kenya and trained refugees in Uganda to make reusable pads. Access to clean water and menstrual hygiene products can break down some of the barriers that keep an estimated 133 million girls out of school across the world. She called for the protection and empowerment of women and girls to enable them to live lives of dignity and freedom without fear.<\/p>\n","news_gallery":"yes"},"news_categories":[{"id":20,"name":"Delegation and Staff","slug":"delegation-and-staff","description":"","link":"https:\/\/unmissionny.orderofmalta.int\/en\/news-categories\/delegation-and-staff\/"},{"id":21,"name":"News","slug":"news","description":"","link":"https:\/\/unmissionny.orderofmalta.int\/en\/news-categories\/news\/"},{"id":16,"name":"Statements","slug":"statements","description":"","link":"https:\/\/unmissionny.orderofmalta.int\/en\/news-categories\/statements\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unmissionny.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie\/3665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unmissionny.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unmissionny.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unmissionny.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie\/3665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3667,"href":"https:\/\/unmissionny.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/notizie\/3665\/revisions\/3667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unmissionny.orderofmalta.int\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}