Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

A/HRC/RES/12/17No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2009.

What other versions does this mandate have?

7 versions · 2009–2016

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/32/4

2016A/HRC/RES/32/4Elimination of discrimination against womenLatestCompare with previous version
2015A/HRC/RES/29/4Elimination of discrimination against womenCompare with previous version
2014A/HRC/RES/26/5Elimination of discrimination against womenCompare with previous version
2013A/HRC/RES/23/7Elimination of discrimination against womenCompare with previous version
2012A/HRC/RES/20/6Elimination of discrimination against womenCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What does this mandate say?

16 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms the obligation of States to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women by any person, organization or enterprise;

Welcomes the commitments made by the international community to implement fully the Millennium Development Goals and stressing, in that context, the resolve of Heads of State to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women as effective ways to combat poverty, hunger and disease and to stimulate development that is truly sustainable;

Also welcomes the efforts made by States around the world to reform their legal systems in order to remove obstacles to women’s full and effective enjoyment of their human rights;

Expresses concern at the fact that, despite the pledge made at the Beijing World Conference on Women and the review by the General Assembly at its twenty-third special session to modify or abolish remaining laws that discriminate against women and girls, many of those laws are still in force and continue to be applied, thereby preventing women and girls from enjoying the full realization of their human rights;

Calls upon States to fulfil their international obligations and commitments to revoke any remaining laws that discriminate on the basis of sex and remove gender bias in the administration of justice, taking into account that those laws violate their human right to be protected against discrimination;

Recognizes that women’s inequality before the law has resulted in the lack of equal opportunities for women in education, access to health, economic participation, access to labour and disparities in salaries and compensation, public and political participation, access to decision-making processes, inheritance, ownership of land, financial services, including loans, and nationality and legal capacity, among others, as well as increased vulnerability to discrimination and violence, and that all countries face challenges in these areas;

Acknowledges the work undertaken by the Commission on the Status of Women, the Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, the special rapporteurs of the Council on violence against women, its causes and consequences, and trafficking of persons, including women and children, contemporary forms of slavery, and other relevant United Nations bodies, agencies and mechanisms to eliminate discrimination in law and practice throughout the world;

Emphasizes the significant role that women play in economic development and in the eradication of poverty, stresses the need to promote equal pay for equal work or work of equal value and for promoting the recognition of the value of women’s unremunerated work, as well as for developing and promoting policies that facilitate the reconciliation of employment and family responsibilities;

Calls on States to ensure full representation and full equal participation of women in political, social and economic decision-making as an essential condition for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls as a critical factor in the eradication of poverty;

Welcomes particularly the work undertaken by the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on women’s equality before the law;

Recognizes the important role played by the Council in addressing the issue of discrimination against women, in both law and practice;

Welcomes the convening of a panel on equality before the law during the eleventh session of the Council;

Notes that, although human rights treaty bodies and special procedures do, to some extent, address discrimination against women within their mandates, their attention to such discrimination is not systematic;

Also notes the work undertaken by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the issue;

Requests the High Commissioner to prepare a thematic study on discrimination against women, in law and practice, and on how the issue is addressed throughout the United Nations human rights system, in consultation with States, relevant United Nations bodies and mechanisms and agencies, including the Committee on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the agencies within the United Nations composite entity on gender equality and empowerment of women and all other relevant stakeholders, taking into account the efforts made in this regard, particularly by the Commission on the Status of Women;

Decides to address the above-requested thematic study at its fifteenth session, and to hold a half-day discussion on the issue in order to consider taking further possible action on discrimination against women at that session.

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Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

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