DR. PATRICIA OLAMENDI IS ELECTED TO THE UNITED NATIONS WORKING GROUP ON DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN AS AN INDEPENDENT EXPERT

The President of the Human Rights Council, Uruguayan Ambassador Laura Dupuy, appointed Dr. Patricia Olamendi Torres to the Working Group on Discrimination against Women in Law and in Practice as Independent Expert of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean countries (GRULAC).

The creation of this Working Group of the UN Human Rights Council was the result of an initiative led by Mexico and Colombia in 2010 that garnered the support of 60 countries. The working group is charged with identifying, promoting and exchanging views on best practices related to the elimination of national and local laws that discriminate against women in all areas.

Dr. Olamendi is currently Coordinator of the Committee of Experts of the Follow-up Mechanism for the Implementation of the OAS Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women. She has been Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights at the Foreign Ministry, a Federal Deputy in the 54th Legislature and Deputy Attorney General for Services to Crime Victims in the Mexico City Attorney General’s Office.

In recent years, Patricia Olamendi, who has a doctorate in law from the University Institute of Puebla, has authored several publications on discrimination against women, including "Body of Evidence: The Rights of Women in Criminal Justice", "Women in Mexican Law" and "Women, Family and Citizenship: Discrimination and Exclusion in the Civil Codes in Mexico" among others.

Dr. Olamendi’s election by the Consultative Group of the Human Rights Council is due to her specialization in gender issues and her knowledge of the laws and codes that affect women’s rights.

The Foreign Ministry is grateful to Dr. Mercedes Barquet Montané, the original expert on this working group who resigned the position due to reasons beyond her control.