RES/23/7 Elimination of discrimination against women

GE.A/HRC/23/50. 3-14958

Human Rights Council Twenty-third session Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council∗

23/7. Elimination of discrimination against women

The Human Rights Council,

Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,

Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,

Recalling also the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted on 25 June 1993 by the World Conference on Human Rights, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted on 15 September 1995 by the Fourth World Conference on Women, and their review conferences in 2005 and 2010, the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted on 8 September 2001 by the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, and the outcome document of the Durban Review Conference, adopted on 24 April 2009,

Recalling further General Assembly resolution 66/130 of 19 December 2011, Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) of 31 October 2000 and Human Rights Council resolutions 15/23 of 1 October 2010 and 20/6 of 5 July 2012 on the elimination of discrimination against women, and 20/4 of 5 July 2012 on the right to a nationality: women and children,

∗ The resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council will be contained in the report of

the Council on its twenty-third session (A/HRC/23/2), chap. I.

Bearing in mind that international human rights treaties, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender and include guarantees to ensure the enjoyment by women and men, and girls and boys, of their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights on a basis of equality,

Recognizing that the full participation of women in all spheres of life, on an equal basis with men, is essential for the full and complete economic, political and social development of a country,

Mindful of the fact that the elimination of discrimination against women and girls requires the consideration of their specific socioeconomic context, and recognizing that laws, policies, customs and traditions that restrict their equal access to full participation in development processes and public and political life are discriminatory, and that the non- participation of women in decision-making contributes to the feminization of poverty and hampers sustainable development and economic growth,

Mindful also that women and girls account for more than half of the world population, that equal rights and opportunities are key factors in achieving sustainable economic, political and social development and lasting solutions to global challenges, and that gender equality benefits women, men, girls and boys and society as a whole,

Bearing in mind the challenges still faced by all countries throughout the world to overcome inequality between men and women,

Reiterating the need to intensify efforts to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and girls throughout the world,

Deeply concerned by the fact that stigmatization, harassment and various forms of violence against women, including targeted attacks and sexual violence, have been used to silence and discredit women engaging in political and public life,

Recognizing and deeply regretting that many women and girls face multiple forms of discrimination and are still subject to significant disadvantage as the result of discriminatory laws and practices, and that de jure and de facto equality has not been achieved,

Acknowledging the work undertaken by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, the Commission on the Status of Women, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the special procedures mandate holders of the Human Rights Council and other relevant United Nations bodies, agencies and mechanisms to eliminate discrimination in law and in practice throughout the world, and noting the work undertaken by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the issue,

Recognizing that gender responsiveness is an essential part of the role played by national human rights institutions as established by the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles) adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 48/134 of 20 December 1993,

Considering that periods of political transition provide a unique opportunity to advance women’s equal participation and representation in economic, political and social spheres but can also raise challenges in that regard,

Recalling Human Rights Council resolutions 5/1, on institution-building of the Council, and 5/2, on the code of conduct for special procedures mandate holders of the Council, of 18 June 2007, and stressing that the mandate holder shall discharge his/her duties in accordance with those resolutions and the annexes thereto,

1. Welcomes the work undertaken by the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice, and takes note with appreciation of its report;1

2. Recognizes the constructive approach of the Working Group, and calls upon it, in the discharge of its mandate, to maintain such an approach and dialogue with States to address the elimination of discrimination against women in law and in practice in all spheres from the perspective of States’ obligations under international human rights law, taking into account the good practices that have been transformative in different contexts and in the light of the different realities that women face;

3. Affirms that realizing human rights in political and public life requires the effective and meaningful participation of women in all aspects of political and public life, on an equal footing with men;

4. Calls upon States to include, as appropriate, special or positive action measures to achieve gender equality in political and public life as part of a comprehensive system-wide approach of non-discrimination and equality of opportunity and treatment;

5. Also calls upon States to take concrete steps towards eliminating all forms of discrimination against women and girls, directed to achieve gender equality at all levels of political and public decision-making processes, particularly during times of political transition, and to engage women in State-building and peace and security issues;

6. Further calls upon States to promote reforms and implement legal frameworks and policies directed towards achieving equality and the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and girls, including nationality laws;

7. Urges States to support the creation of enabling conditions for public recognition and acceptance for all women in leadership and decision-making positions by, inter alia, establishing public campaigns and educational programmes that are responsive to multicultural settings and developing a bottom-up approach to building democratic and accountable relations between State and society;

8. Calls upon States to promote the rights of women and girls and to support their empowerment by adopting, as appropriate, a coherent set of gender-responsive social and economic policies directed at the family, the workplace and the marketplace, and by addressing poverty and social exclusion in order to overcome the structural barriers and inequalities they face and to thereby ensure their long-term and sustainable participation in political and public life;

9. Stresses the need to accelerate efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in political and public life, including by working towards a comprehensive national legal framework to combat impunity and by guaranteeing access to appropriate civil remedies and redress, and taking into account multiple, intersecting and aggravated forms of discrimination;

10. Reaffirms the importance of the right to education as key to the empowerment of women and girls and for ensuring equality and non-discrimination;

11. Calls upon States to support and enhance women’s and girls’ equal participation in political and public life by improving their digital literacy and their access to information and communications technologies and to the global governance of such technologies, including through international cooperation and within their national capabilities;

12. Recommends that States collect data, prepare statistics disaggregated by sex and conduct multidisciplinary research reflecting the whole spectrum of women’s engagement in society in order to contribute to overcoming the knowledge gap that exists at the local, national and global levels regarding their participation in political and public life;

13. Calls upon States to support the work of national human rights institutions and specialized mechanisms for women’s human rights and gender equality by improving their resources, as appropriate;

14. Recognizes that the work done by civil society organizations, in particular independent women’s civil society organizations, is crucial to promoting full equality in all aspects of political and public life and eliminating violence against women, including women human rights defenders, and therefore that they require support for their sustainability and growth;

15. Decides to extend the mandate of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice for a period of three years on the same terms as provided for by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 15/23;

16. Calls upon all States to cooperate with and assist the Working Group in its task, to supply all necessary available information requested by it and to give serious consideration to responding favourably to its requests to visit their country to enable it to fulfil its mandate effectively;

17. Calls upon States and urges institutions of global governance, including the United Nations, to promote women’s equal access to decision-making positions and processes, and encourages them to appoint and promote women staff members in order to guarantee women’s equal participation;

18. Invites relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, treaty bodies and civil society actors, including non-governmental organizations, as well as the private sector, to cooperate fully with the Working Group in the fulfilment of its mandate, and requests the Working Group to continue its cooperation with the Commission on the Status of Women;

19. Requests the Working Group to continue to work on its thematic priorities, namely, political and public life, economic and social life, family and cultural life, and health and safety, and to dedicate specific attention to good practices that have contributed to mobilizing society as a whole, including men and boys, in the elimination of discrimination against women;

20. Takes note of the intention of the Working Group to focus its next report on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice in economic and social life, including in times of economic crisis, with specific attention to the way in which current and past economic crises have affected women’s access to economic and social resources, as well as policies that effectively protect women’s social and economic status during and after economic crises;

21. Requests the Working Group, in the discharge of its mandate, to offer support to States’ initiatives to address multiple forms of discrimination against women and girls when implementing their obligations as State parties to relevant international human rights treaties with regard to civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, and related commitments, where applicable;

22. Decides to continue its consideration of this issue in conformity with the annual programme of work of the Human Rights Council.

38th meeting 13 June 2013

[Adopted without a vote.]