What is it about?

This article examines whether and how women experts influence the work of UN human rights treaty bodies. It analyzes the participation and behavior of women members in expert committees and asks whether their presence translates into distinct perspectives, priorities, or practices, or whether institutional constraints lead them to reproduce existing patterns. The study explores when women’s participation constitutes an independent voice and when it functions more as an echo of established norms.

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Why is it important?

Gender balance in international institutions is often assumed to improve representation and substantive outcomes, yet evidence for this assumption remains mixed. By examining women’s roles within UN human rights expert bodies, this article contributes to debates about descriptive versus substantive representation in global governance. The findings help clarify when gender diversity leads to meaningful change and when institutional settings limit its transformative potential.

Perspectives

This article is the product of a close collaboration with Professor Nina Reiners from the University of Oslo, and it has been an intellectually rewarding experience throughout. Working together allowed us to combine complementary perspectives on gender, expertise, and international institutions, and to engage in sustained dialogue about how representation operates in practice within UN human rights bodies. The collaboration itself sharpened the questions we asked and deepened the analysis, reinforcing for me the value of collaborative research in uncovering the institutional dynamics that shape whose voices are amplified and whose are constrained in global governance.

Professor Sara Beth Kahn-Nisser
Open University of Israel

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: A Voice or an Echo?, Global Governance A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations, December 2024, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/19426720-03003010.
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