A/HRC/23/50 in the protection of women’s and girls’ human rights (Amman, 4–7 November 2012), and side events during the fifty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women. III. Thematic analysis: eliminating discrimination against women in political and public life with a focus on political transition A. International and regional context 14. In 1981, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (the Convention) entered into force. Article 7 of the Convention articulates women’s right to equal participation in political and public life as encompassing the right to vote in all elections and public referenda and to be eligible for election to all publicly elected bodies; to participate in the formulation of government policy and the implementation thereof and to hold public office and perform all public functions at all levels of government; and to participate in non-governmental organizations and associations concerned with the public and political life of the country. Article 8, in addition, refers to State obligations to take all appropriate measures to ensure to women, on equal terms with men and without any discrimination, the opportunity to represent their Governments at the international level and to participate in the work of international organizations. The Convention thus specified and expanded the State obligations set out under articles 2, 3 and 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which require a guarantee of the equal right to take part in the conduct of public affairs, including direct participation as well as participation through freely chosen representatives. 15. Since the introduction of the Convention, the world’s political landscape has gone through substantial changes. These have been marked, variously in different regions and States, by the dismantling of long-standing totalitarian regimes, democratization and the emergence of new forms of authoritarianism. This period has also witnessed armed conflicts both between and within States, the creation of refugee populations and international involvement in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. Technological leaps in the field of information and communications, particularly the Internet, have created a new public and political space, with revolutionary impact on the development and the exercise of human rights, allowing new forms of political expression and mobilization, and facilitating political communication and organization for men and women globally.2 16. At the same time, international commitment to fulfilling women’s equal right to political participation has grown substantially. The 1993 World Conference on Human Rights and its outcome document, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, whose twentieth anniversary is being commemorated in 2013, gave recognition to women’s rights as human rights. In 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women and its outcome document, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, became the catalyst for governments around the world to introduce special measures, such as quotas for women’s political representation, and propelled the doubling of the global average of such representation in less than two decades.3 Further, the Security Council made an historic breakthrough in 2000 when it adopted its resolution 1325 (2000), with a view to enhancing the role of women and the gender perspective in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. 2 3 See Human Rights Council resolution 20/8 and A/HRC/17/27, para. 19. Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) statistical archive of women in parliament. Available from www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif-arc.htm. 5