This is a new UN agency, intended to promote equality for women. Which is great. Except that I cannot stop laughing when looking at the list of initial member countries:
The bolds are mine though I know I wouldn't be allowed to use them in Saudi Arabia.
The Council also elected Mexico, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Spain, United Kingdom and United States from among the "contributing countries," for three-year terms beginning today.
In general that list has many countries which we'd call foxes if women were called chicks. But at least Iran didn't get in!
Saudi Arabia got in through being a donor country so it was not part of this general election. But it is still extremely hilarious that the country with the most anti-woman laws sits on the board.
Led by the U.S., several countries helped gather opposition to Iran's campaign. They were joined by human-rights groups, who pointed to the recent sentence of death by stoning for Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman convicted of adultery.
The seats on the agency's board are divided by region, with 10 spots reserved for Asian countries. Until last week, the Asian group had an uncontested slate – in other words, 10 countries, including Iran, were vying for 10 spots.
At the last minute, Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, joined the fray, taking the number of Asian candidates to 11, a move some speculated was designed to block Iran.
In Wednesday's vote, Timor-Leste succeeded in its bid to join the board. The nine other Asian countries elected were Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, and South Korea.
Not that the rest of the list is that impressive, either.