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The World Bank and human rights 2015, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- The systematic avoidance of human rights language, frameworks and institutions in the context of Bank projects on gender-based violence is replicated in most other areas of its activities, although there have been some exceptions over past decades in areas such as HIV/AIDS and some gender-related projects.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- In order to ensure that women's rights are fully respected, social protection programmes must be accompanied by gender-sensitive social services, including sexual and reproductive health care. This requires investment in public services, without which social protection programmes will not be effective. Women and girls, for example, may be prevented from meeting conditionalities imposed by a programme if social services are far away and transportation costs are too high, or if they fear being sexually assaulted while making the trip required. Girls may not attend school if there are no separate sanitation facilities for them or if they are harassed by teachers or other students. Mothers may not bring their children to the hospital owing to discriminatory practices on the part of health-care providers (for example, requesting the consent of the husband) or communication difficulties (for example, women might be expected to demonstrate some form of literacy or might not be able to communicate in their minority language). In the same vein, women may choose not to use clinics for child delivery because of a lack of skilled birth attendants or culturally appropriate birthing methods.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- In the sections below, the independent expert describes some of the key issues to be considered in ensuring that social protection policies properly address gender inequalities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Marginality of economic and social rights 2016, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- One of the most encouraging developments in recent years in relation to economic and social rights has been the growth of specialist NGOs at the international, national and, especially, local levels working to promote either economic and social rights in general or specific rights such as those relating to health, housing, education, water, gender equality, disability and ageing.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has developed several indicators that measure social and horizontal inequalities. An inequality-adjusted human development index, calculated for 145 countries, indicates how achievements in the areas of health, education and income are distributed among a population. UNDP also publishes the coefficient of human inequality, which is a calculation of average inequality across the three dimensions mentioned above. UNDP further measures gender inequality in its gender inequality index. Looking at these different indices, which are not always as intuitive as the income indices described above, it becomes clear that many countries do not even come close to the levels of equality in terms of health, education and gender that exist in the more egalitarian countries. Where Norway had an inequality-adjusted human development index value of 0.891 in 2013, indicating a high level of equality in comparison with other countries, the figures in countries such as the United States (0.755), the Russian Federation (0.685), Chile (0.661), India (0.418) and the Central African Republic (0.203) are much lower. The gender-related development index (female to male ratio of the human development index) ranges from very high levels of equality between men and women in Norway (0.997) to a very high level of gender inequality in Afghanistan (0.602).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The World Bank and human rights 2015, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Despite the powerful arguments marshalled in Bank publications for acknowledging the links between human rights and various development objectives, Bank-financed projects and programmes go to great lengths to avoid any operational references to human rights. One case study out of many must suffice. It concerns gender-based violence, a phenomenon that is universally recognized as violating human rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Lack of women's perspective in policymaking on agriculture, water and food management, despite their being key actors in these areas, results in misinformed decision-making and jeopardizes women's rights further. Similarly, policy discussions at all levels suffer from an inherent bias because women and men with intensive caring responsibilities are not present, contributing to the invisibility and inattention to care work in public policy.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- One of the most significant factors inhibiting women's capacity to participate in public life is men's failure to share unpaid care work, and the lack of services supporting this work. Intense and unequal care responsibilities often confine women to the domestic sphere, excluding them from paid work and public life and preventing them from participating in important decision-making processes at the community and national level.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- Owing to systematic gender inequality and discrimination, the lack of value assigned to their work, its location in the domestic sphere and the time it entails, unpaid caregivers are often chronically disempowered and unable to enjoy their right to participation in cultural, social, political and economic life (see A/HRC/23/36).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- Because unpaid care work is unrecognized and undervalued, Governments rarely make investments in the development and distribution of affordable technology that could significantly reduce the intensity and duration of women's work within the home. Lack of access to such technologies undermines women's well-being and reduces the time they can allocate to the more interactive part of care that would better improve the well-being of care recipients.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Even those women who are able to combine unpaid care work with formal jobs are disadvantaged; their work histories and social security contributions are more likely than those of men to be interrupted by periods of full-time caregiving, and therefore they are less likely to receive an adequate pension on retirement. Thus, the gendered division of unpaid care work is one of the key reasons why older women are more likely to live in poverty than their male counterparts.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Unpaid care work can also compromise the enjoyment of the right of girls and women to education. Entrenched gender stereotypes about the place of women in the home and the family, and the unpaid care work girls and women are expected to perform throughout their lives, often deprive women and girls of time, autonomy and choice to exercise this right.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Unpaid care is often a determining factor in women's decisions or opportunities regarding work. Studies show that time devoted to unpaid care work is a major obstacle to women taking on paid employment or starting an income-generating activity outside the home. In Latin America and the Caribbean, over half of women surveyed aged 20 to 24 did not seek outside employment because of unpaid responsibilities; the number of women in this group was in fact higher than the number in the education system.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- States' neglecting or failing to address women's disproportionate unpaid care workload can be seen as a major failure to comply with the obligations regarding equality and non-discrimination which are the pillars of international human rights law. States must take all necessary measures to ensure that unpaid care work does not have a disproportionate impact on women's enjoyment of rights, and create the conditions to ensure that it is undertaken on a basis of equality between men and women.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- The unequal distribution of unpaid care work is highly reflective and determinative of power relations between women and men. Discriminatory gender stereotypes, which construe women as second-class citizens whose place is in the home, cause and perpetuate this unequal distribution of work, rendering women's equal enjoyment of rights impossible. Addressing care responsibilities is thus an essential component of the obligations of States to ensure gender equality at home, work and in society more broadly.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Unpaid care work and women's human rights 2013, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- The international human rights framework is further complemented by labour standards, in particular International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions such as Convention No. 156 on workers with family responsibilities, Convention No. 183 on maternity protection, and Convention No. 189 concerning decent work for domestic workers. Compliance with all these obligations is essential in removing gender inequalities and discrimination and recognizing and redistributing unpaid care work.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- Eligibility requirements for social pensions must be provided for in national law and mechanisms must be available to ensure the timely inclusion in the programmes. When adopting a universal scheme, States must put in place rolling registration systems to allow individuals to register as soon as they reach the age requirement. If the scheme is poverty-targeted, the qualifying conditions for benefits must be gender-sensitive, reasonable, objective and transparent.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The international community has committed itself to addressing the challenges associated with ageing in three documents: the Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing (1982), the United Nations Principles for Older Persons (1991) and the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (2002). These documents complement the existing human rights and labour standards which establish legally binding obligations upon States.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Older persons
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- In addition, States must determine whether the way in which a programme channels the transfer causes or perpetuates the unequal distribution of labour between the genders within the household. For example, a programme that increases the amount of time that a mother spends away from home may have a detrimental effect on girls' schooling if girls are then required to carry out the activities usually performed by the mother, such as cooking or collecting water.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- In designing social protection programmes, policymakers must determine whether delivering benefits directly to women could lead to intra-household disputes and increase gender-based violence. Moreover, programmes must ensure that the social services offered are accessible, available and of good quality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- In order to ensure that men and women benefit equally from them, social protection systems must address women's life-cycle risks and the impediments to women's access to work and productive activities, as well as the burden of care.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- The gender-specific effects of economic shocks are also apparent within households. When such shocks are confronted, gender bias within the household may lead to the allocation of fewer resources (such as food) to women or the selling of female-owned assets as an initial coping strategy. Moreover, during periods of crisis, women disproportionately suffer the impacts of public spending cuts on essential services and incur a heavier load of unpaid work than men.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- In view of the effect of gender dynamics on the realization of all the Millennium Development Goals, organizations have suggested that investing in women should be the first strategy for achieving the Goals. The independent expert believes that at the current stage, the achievement of the Goals greatly depends on the strengthening of women's enjoyment of the full range of their human rights, including gender equality and women's empowerment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- As argued in the present report, social protection can play a crucial role in facilitating the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. However, this cannot be accomplished without a strong emphasis on gender equality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Nonetheless, social protection programmes have limits. Many countries pride themselves on having achieved quantifiable improvements in gender equality, especially regarding girls' access to education. For example, the Female Secondary School Assistance Project in Bangladesh, which provides girls with a stipend so that they can attend school, has been recognized as successful in raising enrolment rates for girls. However, States must take care not to limit their efforts to promote gender equality to improving parity between girls' and boys' enrolment rates. While stipends promoting girls' enrolment are important, they must be accompanied by broader measures addressing other concerns of particular importance to women, such as gender-based violence, including harmful traditional practices (for example, female genital mutilation and child marriage). Several countries have expressed frustration at the narrowness of some of the indicators for Millennium Development Goal 3 (promote gender equality and empower women) and have chosen to focus their energies on their own indicators related to gender equality, such as formal workforce participation, wage gaps, political participation and domestic violence. The independent expert believes States should adopt or revise national targets and indicators for all Millennium Development Goals in line with their obligations under human rights law, in order to accelerate their progress in achieving the Goals.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice for people living in poverty 2012, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- The existence of administrative and other fees disproportionately disadvantages women, who often have less financial independence or access to financial resources. Women's access to the judicial system to determine civil claims with respect to divorce, child custody and land inheritance is impeded when excessive fees are imposed. Women living in poverty may also be prevented from filing criminal charges for domestic violence, rape or other forms of gender-based violence because they are unable to afford the fees incurred.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Gender
- Poverty
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Social protection and old age poverty 2010, para. 97
- Paragraph text
- In such contexts, the income security and empowerment that a social pension provides is vital. However, the importance of social pension for women must not absolve States of their duty to take other measures to ensure gender equality and protect women against gender-based violence. In most countries, women's vulnerability to poverty will not change with a social pension alone. Measures such as access to land and economic resources for women, fair inheritance rights and full legal capacity are essential to improve their standard of living.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph