Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

A/HRC/RES/29/4No 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 2015.

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 subjects does this mandate have?

13 topics

Administration of Justice Anti-Discrimination Measures Cultural Aspects Empowerment Family Law Gender Discrimination Gender Equality Gender-Based Violence Girls Social Policy Women Women's Education Women's Rights

What does this mandate say?

38 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice;

Affirms that realizing human rights requires the full, effective and meaningful participation and contribution of women and girls in all aspects of life, on an equal footing with men and boys;

Calls upon States to ensure women’s equal enjoyment of all human rights by, inter alia:

Adopting and strengthening national legal frameworks promoting and guaranteeing gender equality in cultural and family life, in accordance with their international obligations and commitments;

Promoting the equal and full access, participation and contribution of women and girls in all aspects of life, including in cultural and family life;

Rejecting any discriminatory practice and gender stereotype;

Adopting or strengthening measures to combat multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, in particular against those belonging to vulnerable groups;

Also calls upon States to promote a culture free from all forms of discrimination against women and girls and to address its root causes by, inter alia:

Developing national mechanisms, measures and policies, as appropriate;

Adopting awareness-raising campaigns, educational and informational programmes;

Promoting the mobilization and engagement of civil society organizations and other relevant stakeholders, including that of men and boys;

Providing gender-equality training for State civil servants, including those working on the judiciary;

Adopting a coherent set of gender-responsive social and economic policies;

Addressing poverty and social exclusion in order to overcome the structural barriers and inequality that they face;

Urges States to take all appropriate measures to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices that are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women;

Calls upon States to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations, and to guarantee women’s equality in law and in practice in family life, in accordance with their respective international obligations and commitments by, inter alia:

Recognizing the equality of all family members before the law;

Opposing all forms of marriage that constitute a violation of women’s and girls’ rights, well-being and dignity;

Ensuring that men and women have the same right freely to choose a spouse, to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent and the same rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its dissolution;

Ensuring the same rights for both spouses in respect of the ownership, acquisition, management, administration, enjoyment and disposition of property;

Ensuring the same rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship, wardship, trusteeship and the adoption of children, or similar institutions where these concepts exist in national legislation; in all cases, the interest of the children shall be paramount;

Reaffirms the importance of the right to education as a key to the empowerment of women and girls and for ensuring equality and non-discrimination, and that States should adopt measures to ensure the equal access of girls to quality education; to eliminate discriminatory laws and practices that prevent them from having access to, completing and continuing their education, and to provide incentive mechanisms to this end; and to develop and implement programmes, as appropriate, that specifically aim to eliminate gender disparities in enrolment and gender-based bias and stereotypes in education systems, curricula and materials, whether derived from any discriminatory practices, social or cultural attitudes or legal and economic circumstances;

Urges States to ensure that women have equal access to all economic, financial, fiscal and social services and benefits without discrimination, including those that head a family;

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 policies directed at cultural and family life;

Also calls upon States to promote reforms, the effectiveness of institutional mechanisms and good governance, and to accelerate the implementation of legal frameworks and policies directed towards achieving equality and the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and girls, including nationality laws;

Further calls upon States to take concrete steps directed to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women at all levels of policymaking processes and decision-making positions;

Stresses the need to accelerate efforts at all levels to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls, including domestic violence;

Also stresses the need to accelerate efforts to ensure accountability and due diligence for acts that violate women’s rights by adopting measures to, inter alia:

Prevent violations and prosecute and punish the perpetrators, and combat impunity;

Address the needs of women and girls victims and avoid their re-victimization;

Guarantee access to justice and effective remedies and redress that take into account multiple, intersecting and aggravated forms of discrimination;

Further stresses the need to make the formal legal system accessible to all women, regardless of any status;

Urges States to recognize the important role that the media can play in the elimination of gender stereotypes and in the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls;

Recognizes that civil society organizations, in particular independent women’s organizations and human rights defenders, do important work in promoting full equality in all aspects of life, including cultural and family life, and eliminating violence against women and girls, and that they therefore require support for their sustainability and growth;

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;

Invites relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, the treaty bodies, within their respective mandates, 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 to engage with the Commission on the Status of Women, including by participating in its work and reporting, on request;

Notes with appreciation the intention of the Working Group to focus its next report on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice in health and safety;

Decides to continue its consideration of this issue in conformity with its annual programme of work.

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What does this mandate say?

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