Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

A/HRC/RES/15/23No 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 2010.

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?

30 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 fully implement the Millennium Development Goals, and stresses, 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 Fourth World Conference on Women and the review conducted by the General Assembly at its twenty-third special session to modify or abolish remaining laws that discriminate against women and girls, many of these 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 the fact that those laws violate the human right of women 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 and access to labour markets and disparities in, inter alia, 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, 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 Discrimination against Women, the Special Rapporteurs of the Council on violence against women, its causes and consequences, on trafficking in persons, especially in women and children, and on contemporary forms of slavery and other relevant United Nations bodies, agencies and mechanisms to eliminate discrimination in law and in practice throughout the world;

Emphasizes the significant role that women play in economic development and in the eradication of poverty, and stresses the need for promoting 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 upon States to ensure full representation and full and 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 and a critical factor in the eradication of poverty;

Welcomes, in particular, the work undertaken by the Committee on the Elimination 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, both in law and in 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;

Takes note of the thematic study on discrimination against women, in law and in practice, and on how the issue is addressed throughout the United Nations human rights system, prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner;

Welcomes the half-day panel discussion on discrimination against women in law and in practice;

Calls upon States to pay particular attention to discrimination against women in situations of vulnerability, such as women living in poverty, migrant women, women with disabilities and women belonging to minorities;

Decides to establish, for a period of three years, a working group of five independent experts, of balanced geographical representation, on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice, whose tasks will be:

To develop a dialogue with States, the relevant United Nations entities, national human rights institutions, experts on different legal systems, and civil society organizations to identify, promote and exchange views on best practices related to the elimination of laws that discriminate against women or are discriminatory to women in terms of implementation or impact and, in that regard, to prepare a compendium of best practices;

To undertake a study, in cooperation with and reflecting the views of States and relevant United Nations entities, national human rights institutions and civil society organizations, on the ways and means in which the working group can cooperate with States to fulfil their commitments to eliminate discrimination against women in law and in practice;

To make recommendations on the improvement of legislation and the implementation of the law, to contribute to the realization of the Millennium Development Goals, in particular goal 3 on the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women;

To work in close coordination, in the context of the fulfilment of its mandate, with other special procedures and subsidiary organs of the Council, relevant United Nations entities, including the Commission on the Status of Women and UN Women and, in particular, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and other treaty bodies, within their respective mandates, with a view to avoiding unnecessary duplication;

To take into account the views of other stakeholders, including relevant regional human rights mechanisms, national human rights institutions and civil society organizations;

To submit an annual report to the Council, starting at its twentieth session, on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice, and on good practices in eliminating such discrimination, drawing upon the findings of the United Nations human rights machinery and the broader United Nations system;

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 the requests of the working group to visit their countries, to enable it to fulfil its mandate effectively;

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;

Requests the working group to make its reports available to the General Assembly, the Commission on the Status of Women, UN Women and other relevant United Nations entities;

Also requests the working group to contribute to the provision of technical assistance or advisory services by the Office of the High Commissioner to better promote the elimination of discrimination against women;

Requests the Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide all the necessary human resources and financial assistance to the working group for the effective fulfilment of its mandate;

Decides to continue consideration of this question in conformity with the annual programme of work of the Council.

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Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

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