A/HRC/20/28
B.
Economic and social life, with a focus on economic crisis
32.
Between 2013 and 2014, the Working Group intends to address the issue of
discrimination against women in law and in practice in economic and social life, including
in times of economic crisis. The research undertaken on this topic will inform the annual
report of the Working Group to the Human Rights Council in 2014 as well as the
compendium of good practices.
33.
The Working Group will examine this issue from the normative perspective of the
obligations of States to eliminate discrimination against women in economic and social life
and to provide equal opportunity and ways and means for the empowerment of women in
these areas in accordance with international human rights law. The conceptual context of
the study is the recognition of women’s right to substantive equality in access to economic
and social resources, as a human right, essential to women’s human dignity.
34.
In addition, the Working Group will pay specific attention to the way in which
current and past economic crises have affected women’s access to economic and social
resources, as well as policies that effectively protect women’s social and economic status
during and after economic crisis
35.
The Working Group will carry out its work on this theme in accordance with its
working methods and, in this regard, has initiated cooperation with the International Labour
Organization (ILO), the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development
(UNRISD) and academic experts and institutions.
V. Methods of work
A.
Sessions
36.
The Working Group will hold three sessions per year, each covering five working
days. Two sessions will be held in Geneva and one in New York so as to be able to engage
with the widest possible range of stakeholders. The sessions are expected to follow
approximately the same calendar, namely one session towards the end of February, another
in July in New York to coincide with the session of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women, and the last, around October. During its first session, the
Working Group initiated discussions on its methods of work. It concluded those discussions
at its second session and agreed on its methods of work,4 which respond to the specific
features of its mandate as contained in resolution 15/23. The Working Group will continue
to refine its methods of work as it carries out its mandate. At its third session, the Working
Group began identifying ways and means to fulfil its mandate, incorporating regional and
global expertise.
B.
Functioning of the Working Group
37.
The Working Group decided to nominate a Chairperson-Rapporteur for a one-year
term on a rotational basis. The next rotation will take place in October 2012, at the fifth
session of the Working Group.
4
10
Available from www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/MethodsOfWork.aspx.