The Tribune

MARION Bethel, the noted Bahamian attorney and author, is among 11 experts elected to serve on the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, replacing those whose four-year terms will expire at the end of 2016.

Mrs Bethel was endorsed by CARICOM and also received widespread support from many Asian, African and European countries. She was among those elected from 25 candidates in a secret ballot in New York on Wednesday.

Comprising 23 independent experts serving in their personal capacity, the committee monitors the implementation of the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women by States parties. The convention is an international treaty adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979 and described as an international bill of rights for women.

The newly elected experts will serve on CEDAW from January 1, 2017, until December 31, 2019.

“Each expert serves a four-year term and elections are held every two years, ensuring a balance between continuity and change in the committee’s composition,” according to a UN press release.

Melanie Griffin, the minister of social services and community development, pointed to Mrs Bethel’s advocacy on behalf of women and her impeccable credentials as making her an excellent candidate to represent the Bahamas.

As a partner with Sears & Co Chambers in Nassau, Mrs Bethel’s practice includes administrative law, company law, commercial law, contracts, conveyancing, immigration law, insurance law and matrimonial law. She was admitted as an attorney to the Bars in England and Wales and the Bahamas.

Mrs Bethel received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish with honours at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She attended Wolfson College, Cambridge University in England and received her Bachelor of Arts in Law. In England she pursued her certificate of legal education at the Council of Legal Education. Mrs Bethel attended Columbia University in New York, where she pursued her Master of Arts degree.