A/HRC/20/28 with States and other stakeholders in implementing its mandate. Section IV contains an overview of the thematic priorities identified by the Working Group for the biennium 20122013. Section V introduces the methods of work agreed upon by the Working Group, including how the Working Group has engaged and further intends to engage with all stakeholders in the discharge of its mandate. Section VI provides an overview of activities carried out by the Working Group since its inception. Section VII concludes the report. II. Historical overview 5. In September 1995, at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, participating Governments adopted the Beijing Declaration, by which they reaffirmed their fundamental commitment to ―the equal rights and inherent human dignity of women and men‖ (para. 8) and stated unequivocally that ―women’s rights are human rights‖ (para. 14). They also adopted the Beijing Platform for Action, in which they pledged to ensure equality and non-discrimination under the law and in practice (strategic objective I.1), and, more specifically, to ―revoke any remaining laws that discriminate on the basis of sex and remove gender bias in the administration of justice‖ (para. 232 (d)). In 2000, during the five-year review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action by the General Assembly at its twenty-third special session, Governments committed to reviewing legislation with a view to striving to remove discriminatory provisions against women, preferably by 2005.1 6. In 2005, during the 10-year review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly by the Commission on the Status of Women, concern was expressed that legislative and regulatory gaps, as well as lack of implementation and enforcement of legislation and regulations, perpetuated de jure and de facto inequality and discrimination and that, in a few cases, new laws discriminating against women had been introduced. The Commission therefore decided, in its resolution 49/3, to consider the advisability of the appointment of a special rapporteur on laws that discriminate against women, bearing in mind the existing mechanisms with a view to avoiding duplication. It requested the Secretary-General to report to the Commission on the implications of the creation of such a mandate and to include in his report the views of Member States and relevant United Nations bodies, including the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The Secretary-General subsequently produced two reports, in 2006 (E/CN.6/2006/8) and 2007 (E/CN.6/2007/8). 7. In its resolution 12/17 of 2 October 2009, the Human Rights Council requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a thematic study on discrimination against women in law and in practice and on how the issue was being addressed throughout the United Nations human rights system. The request represented a continuation of the commitment made during the World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna in 1993, to integrate women’s human rights into the overall human rights system. The report (A/HRC/15/40) was presented to the Council at its fifteenth session in September 2010 and discussed during an interactive plenary panel debate. In the report, the High Commissioner concluded that, notwithstanding the work undertaken by United Nations human rights mechanisms, further measures were required to eliminate de jure and de facto inequalities (para. 63). One of the proposed measures was the establishment of a new special procedure 1 4 General Assembly resolution S-23/3, para. 68 (b).