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Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 72
- Paragraph text
- Fourth, the implications for gender equality from growing economic insecurity are almost unremittingly negative. It remains true that “the average woman’s career remains shorter, more disrupted and less remunerative than the average man’s”, and the consequences flow through into social security and related arrangements. Proponents of women’s human rights need to become more involved in debates over social protection and basic income.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Extreme poverty and human rights on universal basic income 2017, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- However, the negative income tax option would be problematic for 18- to 29-year-olds and for senior women. The Canadian examples demonstrate the potentially positive effects of negative income tax, but warn that a basic income model that replaces existing social support mechanisms could have seriously negative effects on the poor.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Marginality of economic and social rights 2016, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- In support of the view that specific recognition is not required, it might be argued that if a treaty envisages such recognition, it would say so explicitly. Thus treaties dealing with torture, genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity call not just for legislative recognition of the norm, but also for explicit criminalization of particular conduct. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women unequivocally requires States parties "to embody the principle of the equality of men and women in their national constitutions or other appropriate legislation" (art. 2 (a)). It further obliges them "to ensure, through law and other appropriate means, the practical realization of this principle."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- A sizeable amount of literature sets out the relationship between deunionization and wage inequality. The authors of a World Bank study on the economic effect of adopting or enforcing the two core labour rights mentioned above reported "very robust" findings that unions compress wage inequality. In particular, they found that the wage differentials between skilled and unskilled workers were reduced when unions were present. This is consistent with another study, in relation to the United States, in which the authors concluded: When individual union membership is considered, union decline accounts for a fifth of the growth in men's earnings inequality. Adding normative and threat effects of unions on nonunion pay increases the effect of union decline on wage inequality from a fifth to a third. By this measure, the decline of the U.S. labor movement has added as much to men's wage inequality as has the relative increase in pay for college graduates. A 2013 study about Turkey shows that the fall of unionization in that country resulted in higher wage inequality during the period 1980-2008. Also relevant is the evidence that not only does deunionization affect wage inequality, but wage inequality also affects unionization.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
The World Bank and human rights 2015, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- The main message of the World Development Report in 2012 on gender equality and development was that gender equality was both a core development objective and "smart economics". It mattered because "the ability to live the life of one's own choosing and be spared from absolute deprivation is a basic human right." Development is defined as "a process of expanding freedoms equally for all people," and international and regional human rights instruments crucial in achieving gender equality. The report described the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women as "the primary international vehicle for monitoring and advocating gender equality."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- Economic inequalities seem to encourage political capture and the unequal realization of civil and political rights. High levels of economic inequalities "may create institutions that maintain the political, economic and social privileges of the elite and lock the poor into poverty traps from which it is difficult to escape". This vicious cycle may be broken when civil and political rights are enjoyed more equally, as illustrated by the case of Chile. Under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet during the 1970s and 1980s, income inequality worsened, then improved after democracy was reinstated (although it is still higher than it was in the 1960s or early 1970s). Another example is Rwanda, where gender equality is enshrined in the Constitution and a quota system has contributed to more than half of the members of Parliament being women, making it the only country in the world with more female than male members of parliament. After the introduction of the quota system, the Rwandan Parliament passed legislation to enhance gender equality, "including several laws aimed at preventing and punishing gender-based violence, laws granting more extensive property rights to women and key legislation on women in the workforce."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Although many forms of discrimination are inherently unjust, the correlation between gender-based discrimination and economic inequalities deserves special mention since it potentially affects half of the world's population. While both men and women may experience myriad inequalities, based on factors such as their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disability, gender-based discrimination is too often seen to be almost exclusively a women's problem. In its World Development Report 2012, the World Bank describes the forms of discrimination that still exist in many countries and that directly affect economic inequality between men and women. According to the World Bank, men and women still have different ownership rights in at least nine countries, and in many countries, women and girls still have fewer inheritance rights than men and boys. In addition, women continue to fare badly in the labour market generally. A stocktaking by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) shows that almost 80 countries maintain restrictions on the types of work that women are permitted to undertake. Also according to UN-Women, at the global level, women's labour force participation rates have stagnated since the 1990s. Currently, only half of women are in the labour force compared to more than three quarters of men. Despite considerable regional variations, nowhere has this gender gap been eliminated: globally, women earn on average 24 per cent less than men. In one study of four countries, lifetime income gaps between women and men were estimated to be between 31 and 75 per cent.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
The World Bank and human rights 2015, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- The key question then is whether it actually matters if the Bank uses the language of human rights or opts instead for surrogates which are perceived to be less politically loaded or contentious. After all, if it advocates for gender equality, does it really matter if it uses the language of human rights, or whether any reference is made to United Nations standards or the work of bodies such as the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women? Or if the Bank works to expand access to water and sanitation, who cares if it characterizes them as human rights or not? Or if the Bank talks about problems relating to inclusion, participation, governance or the rule of law, does it matter if the issues are framed in "Bank speak" rather than in terms of the human rights obligations of the State? Or if the focus is on assisting those living in extreme poverty, why worry if the Bank assiduously stops short of talking about a human right to social protection? Surely, what counts are results, not scoring points for correct language usage?
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Poverty
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- Economic and social inequalities are often categorized as "vertical inequalities", referring to the distribution of something such as income, health or power. Vertical inequalities can be distinguished from "horizontal inequalities", which are group-based differences (describing between "whom" the relevant differences occur). Horizontal inequalities may for instance refer to: inequality between men and women, between majorities and minorities, between races, between groups of people with different sexual orientations or between generations. Horizontal inequalities often overlap with vertical inequalities, for instance when women are overrepresented in lower income segments or when a racial minority is underrepresented in political bodies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- At present, there is no explicitly stated right to equality, as such, under international human rights law. In order to ground equality as an organizing theme in this area of law, human rights bodies and commentators have relied on provisions such as those in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that proclaim the equal rights of men and women (preamble), that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights (art. 1) and that all are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law" (art. 7). These provisions have been paired with those dealing with non-discrimination, which is also considered to be one of the central and foundational principles of international human rights law. Virtually all of the core human rights treaties contain explicit provisions on non-discrimination. Also, for the most part, human rights bodies have been careful to emphasize that the norms of equality and non-discrimination require substantive and not just formal equality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
The World Bank and human rights 2015, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur analysed 13 projects on gender-based violence that are part of a major Bank initiative on the issue and were approved between January 2012 and June 2015. None of the relevant project documents engages substantively with the human rights dimensions of gender-based violence. Passing references can be found to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but no analysis of the relevant rights and obligations is provided and the provisions are not linked to the project at hand. In fact, even the generic terms "human rights" and "rights" are rarely used and when they are, no elaboration is provided. The intended project beneficiaries are presented not as rights holders, but as clients or service recipients. The borrowing State bears contractual responsibilities towards the Bank, but no reference is made to its international or domestic human rights obligations. No reference is made to responsibility for gender-based violence by State actors, such as police or health-care workers, despite the frequency of such problems, and no reliance is ever placed upon the detailed human rights-based frameworks for tackling gender-based violence drawn up by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and various other international human rights actors, despite the fact that the Convention has been almost universally ratified.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- However, in reading the jurisprudence generated by most of the treaty bodies, it is difficult to escape certain conclusions. First, article 3 of the International Covenants on Human Rights, which asserts equal rights for men and women, has perhaps not been given its fullest reading, especially in terms of access to resources. Second, for all of the attention given to affirmative obligations to eliminate discrimination, much of the work of the treaty bodies seems unduly confined to a focus on specific violations of non-discrimination. Linked to this is a reluctance to develop notions of distributive equality, which has been much debated in the literature, and would give an important added dimension to the effort to combat extreme inequality. Third, the right to equality needs to be given greater attention so that it is able to add substantively to the jurisprudence of international human rights bodies in ways that it has not, thus far. Finally, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has to date done all too little in practice, as opposed to its analysis in general comments, to explore what might be involved in the prohibitions in article 2 (2) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights against discrimination based on social origin, property or birth.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Mr. Eide attached considerable importance to the policies of international financial institutions and was critical of IMF for adopting the position that it should not concern itself with income distribution. As noted earlier, the position of IMF today differs significantly. Mr. Eide criticized the role played by international financial institutions in reducing the power of the State, which he considered to have an essential role to play in ensuring equity in income distribution. In reflecting on the obligations of States in relation to efforts to reduce income inequality, Mr. Eide called for, inter alia, policies to ensure access to land and other productive assets; the provision of public services and other benefits as well as equality of opportunity for all; guarantees of non-discrimination in employment; the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and the provision of a functioning system of taxation (ibid., paras. 82-83).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
The implementation of the right to social protection through the adoption of social protection floors 2014, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- International civil society groups should mobilize effectively and in coalition with groups in other sectors to advocate and promote the Social Protection Floor Initiative. While the Center for Economic and Social Rights joined with a range of other groups, including Amnesty International, to call for a commitment to social protection floors in the sustainable development goals, the great majority of international human rights groups have said little and done less on the issue. It is essential to acknowledge that extreme poverty, which continues to afflict hundreds of millions of people, is a negation of all human rights. International civil society groups in the human rights field fight valiantly to eliminate torture, to reduce and expose extrajudicial executions, to reduce violence against women, to outlaw discrimination and the oppression of minorities and so on, but if the elimination of extreme poverty is not a central part of the collective human rights vision, it is a highly selective battle that is being fought.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The implementation of the right to social protection through the adoption of social protection floors 2014, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- For the past several years, the international community has been heavily focused on, and invested in, the process of drafting development goals for the post-2015 development agenda. On 19 July 2014, the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals released its proposals. For all the immense time and energy expended by proponents of both human rights and the Social Protection Floor Initiative, the results to date are stunningly meagre. Human rights as such have been thoroughly marginalized. There is a token nod in their direction in paragraph 7 of the draft outcome document of the Open Working Group, although rather than underlining their relevance to development, the paragraph merely records the fact that in the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, "The future we want", adopted by the General Assembly in resolution 66/288, "the importance of freedom, peace and security, respect for all human rights, including the right to development and the right to an adequate standard of living, including the right to food and water, the rule of law, good governance, gender equality, women's empowerment and the overall commitment to just and democratic societies for development" were reaffirmed, as was the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. There is only one other reference to human rights in the entire 21-page draft and that appears in the context of a list of issues to which "quality education" should be devoted.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Taxation and human rightss 2014, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Progressive tax systems, in particular direct taxes, are one of the most important tools available to Governments in addressing income inequality. Personal income tax is one of the most progressive and important kinds of tax in this regard. Indirect taxes, such as those based on consumption (such as value-added or sales taxes) are typically regressive, because they generally constitute a larger proportion of the income of people living in poverty; for example, in Latin America, on average for the poorest 20 per cent of the population, sales tax accounts for 13.7 per cent of their income, while only 5.8 per cent of income for the richest 20 per cent. Thus, despite exemptions aimed at decreasing the burden on lower-income groups, the poor bear a tax burden 2.4 times higher than that of the wealthiest people. Women, who tend to use larger portions of their income on basic goods because of gender norms that assign them responsibility for the care of dependents, bear the regressive brunt of consumption taxes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Taxation and human rightss 2014, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Revenue collection is a critical tool for States in tackling and redressing systemic discrimination and ensuring equal access to economic, social and cultural rights. In order to redress structural inequalities, including gender inequalities, States should evaluate the differential impact of existing and proposed fiscal policies on different groups, in particular those who suffer from structural discrimination. For example, certain tax arrangements that directly or indirectly disincentivize women's participation in the labour force or promote the male bread-winner family model could threaten women's enjoyment of human rights. Meanwhile, a State with a very narrow tax base or that fails to tackle tax evasion may result in its inability to fund social protection or adequate and accessible public services, a situation that is likely to create or entrench inequalities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Taxation and human rightss 2014, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- Tax structures also affect other types of inequality; for instance, tax structures frequently discriminate against women directly or indirectly, for example by assuming women's income to be supplemental to their household. This actively disincentivizes wage-earning and therefore could reduce participation in the labour market by women, potentially threatening their right to work. Policymakers should be aware of the extent to which tax policies, such as the treatment of income derived from jointly-owned assets of married couples, strengthen or break down gender inequalities, or discriminate against different types of households.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Taxation and human rightss 2014, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Low levels of revenue collection have a disproportionate impact on the poorest segments of the population and constitute a major obstacle to the capacity of the State to finance public services and social programmes. A lack of access to quality services is a constituent element of poverty, and people living in poverty are particularly dependent on public services, being unable to pay for private alternatives. In addition, their specific needs and characteristics make it more likely they will have to interact with State-funded institutions and services on a regular basis. This is particularly the case for people who experience multiple forms of discrimination and disadvantage; for example, persons with disabilities are more likely to come into regular contact with health and social services, while women are more likely to be directly dependent on social protection and health systems for at least some period of their lives because of their sexual and reproductive health and maternity-related needs. Women also serve as unpaid alternative care providers when public services are not adequately funded, increasing their time burden and limiting their opportunities to engage in paid work, education, training or leisure, while also negatively affecting their enjoyment of rights such as health, education, participation and social security.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The implementation of the right to social protection through the adoption of social protection floors 2014, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Ownership of the concept was subsequently expanded when the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination endorsed it as one of its responses to the financial crisis in 2008 and in 2010 the Social Protection Floor Advisory Group brought ILO together with the World Health Organization (WHO), with Michelle Bachelet, then Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, as Chair. The resulting report in 2011 (commonly known as the Bachelet report) did not add a great deal to earlier ILO iterations of the content, but was very important in broadening both the constituency and political support for the concept, thus facilitating its formal endorsement by the Summit of the Group of 20 in Cannes, France, in the same year. At the same time, the various regional groupings rallied around the concept, as illustrated by its embrace by the African Union in the Khartoum Declaration on Social Policy Action towards Social Inclusion (2010), and a range of more specialist statements, such as the recommendations of the African Union expert consultation on children and social protection systems to the fourth session of the Conference of Ministers of Social Development in May 2014. It is noteworthy that, despite reports addressing social protection floors by various special procedures mandate holders, the Human Rights Council did not formally address or endorse the concept until 2014.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The implementation of the right to social protection through the adoption of social protection floors 2014, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- A good example of this is the approach adopted in the Human Development Report 2014. While the report focuses on the need to reduce vulnerability and build resilience, much of its thrust is to support universal social protection. Thus, it explicitly "calls for universal access to basic social services … stronger social protection … and a commitment to full employment …". But while the Social Protection Floor Initiative is mentioned a couple of times, it is by no means central to the analysis. Even more significantly, the report avoids, to the extent possible, the use of the term "human rights". The first mention of the phrase is a quote from Pope Francis on page 14; the next is on page 74 in a reference to "women's human rights". Rather than using language that links in any way to specific human rights, or to obligations assumed by States, the report makes extensive use of generic terms that give the illusion of referring to human rights but are not in fact grounded in any particular content. Thus, there are references to "needs and rights", "rights and services", "interests and rights", "rights and choices", "basic rights", and "intrinsic rights". It is only in a final discussion, towards the end of the report, on "elements of a global social contract", that reference is made to various human rights treaties.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The implementation of the right to social protection through the adoption of social protection floors 2014, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- This reading is reinforced by the fact that the earlier provisions of Goal 1 seek to resolve the competition between the two ways of measuring poverty by endorsing both, but in very different terms. Target 1.1 follows the World Bank by calling for the eradication, by 2030, of "extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day". Given that this is a very low standard, the aspiration is a limited one. But when it comes to "men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions", the aim in target 1.2 is only to "reduce at least by half the proportion" by 2030. In other words, that target implies acceptance that as many as half of those currently living in extreme poverty, as measured by the multidimensional approach described above, will continue to do so beyond 2030. For a planet with immense wealth and one that is able to mobilize vast resources very rapidly for projects that further the interests of the elites, that is a shameful goal and one that is clearly inconsistent with the recognition that all persons are entitled to at least the minimum core of economic and social rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The implementation of the right to social protection through the adoption of social protection floors 2014, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- The Social Protection Floor Initiative should also be a focus of attention for many of the special procedures mandate holders dealing with relevant issues. The initiative is of particular importance for those concerned with the rights of children, women, persons with disabilities, older persons and others.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- Considering the limited length of this report and the mandate's focus on extreme poverty and human rights, no attempt is made to assess the extensive issue of human rights and care holistically. Rather, the report focuses specifically on the human rights of unpaid caregivers, in particular women living in poverty who provide unpaid care. Other relevant human rights implications of unpaid care work - such as tensions between care and unwanted dependency, abuses against persons with disabilities or older persons, and children's right to receive quality care - are not addressed, and only brief recommendations are made on paid domestic work. The Special Rapporteur hopes that this report will nevertheless encourage broader discussion of the human rights implication of care work.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- In 1995, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action highlighted the importance of tackling the unequal distribution of paid and unpaid work between men and women, as an essential step towards achieving gender equality. Unfortunately, very little progress has been made since that time. The neglect of unpaid care in policy persists, at great cost to caregivers themselves. Across the world, millions of women still find that poverty is their reward for a lifetime spent caring, and unpaid care provision by women and girls is still treated as an infinite, cost-free resource that fills the gaps when public services are not available or accessible. This report calls for a fundamental shift in this status quo, as part of States' fundamental human rights obligations. Without further delay, public policies should position care as a social and collective responsibility and treat unpaid caregivers and those they care for as rights holders.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- The gendered division of unpaid care work is a major reason why women do not enjoy equal rights at work, including fair and equal wages and safe and healthy working conditions. All too often, unpaid care and lack of institutional support for this work traps women between stereotyped gender roles and economic expediency, pushing them into precarious informal employment that is badly paid and involves long hours in difficult conditions. Care responsibilities may also create a barrier to membership of, or active participation in, trade unions for women. As a result, for many women living in poverty with unpaid care responsibilities, work is not empowering but rather a survival necessity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 107
- Paragraph text
- Care users, caregivers and other stakeholders should be proactively supported to participate in the design, implementation and monitoring of care services and other relevant policies. States and other relevant branches of Government must build the capacity of unpaid caregivers to participate in decision-making processes, including by providing them with accessible, up-to-date information about their rights, and services and benefits available to them. Participatory mechanisms must be designed to be accessible to women living in poverty with unpaid care responsibilities, for example by providing on-site childcare at meetings.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 109
- Paragraph text
- In order to position unpaid care work as a major human rights issue, build up evidence in this regard and alleviate women's poverty resulting from unpaid care work across their life cycle, the Special Rapporteur urges national human rights institutions to include the issue of unpaid care work in their research, policy, advocacy and programming work and to apply a human rights and gender equality perspective to this work. In addition, she encourages them to raise the issue with human rights mechanisms and bodies, including the universal periodic review, human rights treaty bodies, and the Commission on the Status of Women, including when country reports are reviewed.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 89
- Paragraph text
- In order to move towards women's equal enjoyment of the right to work, an unpaid care perspective on labour market policies is also crucial. Various measures should be considered to eliminate de facto sex discrimination in employment, for example financing parental leave or maternity benefits publicly, putting in place policies to help people back into work once they have taken time out of the labour force, and incentivizing carer-friendly employment practices and work arrangements, in collaboration with trade unions, industry bodies and employers. Certainly, States must proactively address the persistence of gender-based wage gaps and link job creation to an increase in the supply of care through expanded public services (see below). As the undervaluation of unpaid and paid care work go hand in hand, it is also important to improve working conditions, enjoyment of rights, and pay for care workers and domestic workers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 94
- Paragraph text
- In order to achieve greater equality in sharing unpaid care work between women and men, in general and within households, the solutions must be public as well as private. It is necessary for the State to facilitate, incentivize and support men's caring, for example by ensuring that they have equal rights to employment leave as parents and carers, and providing education and training to men, women and employers. To facilitate long-term change, educational programmes, to be used in schools and communities, should be developed to challenge stereotypical, traditional male and female roles and promote the concept of shared family responsibility for unpaid care work in the home.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph