CEDAW/C/2009/WP.1/R
General recommendation No. 26 on women
migrant workers1
Introduction
1.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (the
Committee), affirming that migrant women, like all women, should not be
discriminated against in any sphere of their life, decided at its thirty-second session
(January 2005), pursuant to article 21 of the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women (the Convention), to issue a general
recommendation on some categories of women migrant workers who may be at risk
of abuse and discrimination.2
2.
This general recommendation intends to contribute to the fulfilment of the
obligations of States parties to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of women
migrant workers, alongside the legal obligations contained in other treaties, the
commitments made under the plans of action of world conferences and the
important work of migration-focused treaty bodies, especially the Committee on the
Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.3
While the Committee notes that the International Convention on the Protection of
the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families protects
individuals, including migrant women, on the basis of their migration status, the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
protects all women, including migrant women, against sex- and gender-based
discrimination. While migration presents new opportunities for women and may be
a means for their economic empowerment through wider participation, it may also
place their human rights and security at risk. Hence, this general recommendation
aims to elaborate the circumstances that contribute to the specific vulnerability of
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The Committee acknowledges the contribution of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights
of All Migrant workers and Members of their Families during the preparation of this general
recommendation.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women acknowledges and seeks to
build on the important work on the rights of migrants completed by the other human right treaty
bodies, the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, the United Nations
Development Fund for Women, the Division for the Advancement of Women, the Commission
on the Status of Women, the General Assembly, and the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and
Protection of Human Rights. The Committee also refers to its earlier general recommendations,
such as general recommendation No. 9 on the gathering of statistical data on the situation of
women, especially general recommendation No. 12 on violence against women, general
recommendation No. 13 on equal remuneration for work of equal value, general
recommendation No. 15 on the avoidance of discrimination against women in national strategies
for the prevention and control of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), general
recommendation No. 19 on violence against women and general recommendation No. 24 on
women’s access to health care, as well as the concluding comments made by the Committee
when examining the reports of States parties.
Besides treaties and conventions, the following programmes and plans of action are applicable.
The United Nations Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action approved at the 1993 World
Conference on Human Rights (part II, paras. 33 and 35). Programme of Action of the Cairo
International Conference on Population and Development (chapter X). Programme of Action of
the World Summit for Social Development (chap. 3). Beijing Declaration and Platform for
Action, Fourth World Conference on Women, World Conference against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance August-September 2001. International
Labour Organization Plan of Action for Migrant Workers, 2004.
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