UN and AU Work
Chandida Masomosomo has extensive experience in the drafting of state party reports under both the UN and AU systems. She drafted the following state party reports for the Government of Botswana:
-International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR);
-International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD);
-Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW);
-Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC);
-Botswana’s first Universal Periodic Review Report (UPR-under the UN Human Rights Council)
-African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR)
Participated in the working groups for the protection and promotion of the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities organised by United Nations which eventually led to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”.
Legal Aid Botswana
- Chandida was the head of the Legal Aid Pilot Project Task Team, responsible for setting up the project which was aimed at promoting and protecting the rights of indigent persons by facilitating and ensuring their access to justice. The project was successfully piloted resulting in an Act of Parliament being passed (Legal Aid Botswana Act) and legal aid is now being rolled out successfully across the country.
UN Committee Work
Atang Salepito has participated in a joint submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of the Discrimination Against Women highlighting two areas of concern. First, policing failures and abuses and the socio-economic and political marginalization that contributes to the indigenous women and girls’ increased vulnerability to violence.
The project was to sustain public attention on the mistreatment of Indigenous women and girls and to influence the recommendations that will be made by the National Inquiry into the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada.
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Women and Girls printed its final report to the federal, provincial and territorial Governments at a public closing ceremony in Gatineau, Quebec on June 3, 2019. The Government of Canada welcomed the release of the final report and announced that it is committed to ending the ongoing national tragedy of the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls as part of its commitment to reconciliation.
The Government of Canada continues to engage with Indigenous community to take concrete action and to eliminate violence towards women and girls and to protect future generations.