UNIVERSALITY OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration, States have repeatedly emphasized the universality and indivisibility of human rights. At the World Conference in Vienna they specifically recognized that women’s human rights are part of universal human rights and they have subsequently reaffirmed this, including at the Fourth World Conference on Women. As mentioned above, the Vienna Programme of Action also...

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The obligations of States to protect and fulfil human rights

THE PUBLIC-PRIVATE DIVIDE Human rights law requires State agents to respect, protect and fulfil human rights standards and rules established at the international, regional and national levels.  Historically, this set of rules and the concomitant scrutiny have focused on actions directly attributable to State agents, based on their commission or acquiescence, such as killings, torture and arbitrary...

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Homa Hoodfar Released from Tehran Prison, Iranian News Agency Reports

26 September 2016 - Concordia professor Homa Hoodfar, who has been detained in Tehran's infamous Evin prison since June 6, has been released, a spokesman for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told an Iranian news agency. "Homa Hoodfar, the retired professor of Canadian universities, who had been detained in Iran based on some  accusations was released this afternoon for humanitarian reasons including...

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UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 9/9

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (“Rio+20”) brought Heads of State and Government to Brazil in 2012, to appraise progress in the implementation of agreements struck since the landmark 1992 United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. At “Rio+20”, countries renewed their political commitment to sustainable development, agreed to establish a set...

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MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS 8/9

In 2000, the international community agreed to eight time-bound development goals to be achieved by 2015, including a goal on gender equality and the empowerment of women, as well as one on the reduction of maternal mortality. Seven of the Goals have specific targets to measure progress. Although they have shortcomings from a human rights perspective, the Millennium Development Goals are an important political commitment...

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BEIJING DECLARATION AND PLATFORM FOR ACTION 7/9

Adopted during the Fourth World Conference on Women in September 1995, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action focused on 12 areas concerning the implementation of women’s human rights and set out an agenda for women’s empowerment. It builds on the results of the previous three world conferences on women, but is considered a significant achievement in explicitly articulating women’s rights...

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INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT 6/9

The International Conference on Population and Development, which was held in 1994, represented a milestone for women’s rights. While the Conference was focused on population issues, the delegates meeting in Cairo agreed that population was not only about demographics but, more importantly, about people. The issues taken up in its Programme of Action5 are fundamentally related to women’s human rights,...

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VIENNA DECLARATION AND PROGRAMME OF ACTION 5/9

In 1993, the World Conference on Human Rights was held in Vienna. It sought to review the status of the human rights machinery in place at the time. Women’s rights activists mobilized to ensure that women’s human rights were fully on the agenda of the international community under the rallying cry “Women’s Rights are Human Rights.” Particularly around the issue of violence against women, civil society...

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Women’s Rights global commitments 4/9

 Women’s rights have been at the heart of a series of international conferences that have produced significant political commitments to women’s human rights and equality. Starting in 1975, which was also International Women’s Year, Mexico City hosted the World Conference on the International Women’s Year, which resulted in the World Plan of Action and the designation of 1975–1985 as the United Nations...

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REGIONAL INSTRUMENTS 3/9

In addition to international human rights standards, regional human rights treaties, too, include crucial provisions aimed at promoting and protecting women’s human rights The African (Banjul) Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights was adopted in 1981 by the Organization of African Unity. Its article 2 prohibits discrimination on any grounds, including sex, in the enjoyment of the rights guaranteed by the Charter....

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INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTRUMENTS 2/9

After the adoption of the Universal Declaration, the Commission on Human Rights began drafting two human rights treaties, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Together with the Universal Declaration, these make up the International Bill of Human Rights. The provisions of the two Covenants, as well as other human...

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Protection of the human rights of women under international law 1/9

Since the founding of the United Nations, equality between men and women has been among the most fundamental guarantees of human rights. Adopted in 1945, the Charter of the United Nations sets out as one of its goals “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, [and] in the equal rights of men and women”. Furthermore, Article 1 of the Charter stipulates that...

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Informal Workers

Historically, around the world, the “employment relationship” has represented the cornerstone—the central legal concept—around which labour law and collective bargaining agreements have sought to recognize and protect the rights of workers. Whatever its precise definition in different national contexts, it has represented “a universal notion which creates a link between a person, called the ‘employee’...

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Migrant workers and debt bondage

28. Debt bondage in the context of labour migration and trafficking is a trend that can be seen across a number of countries and sectors. Migrant workers often become trapped in situations of bondage by borrowing money at exorbitant interest rates to pay recruitment fees or by taking an advance payment from intermediaries to secure work in the country of destination. Once migrants arrive in the country of...

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AFRICA: A DYNAMIC RESPONSE FOR A CONTINENT IN RAPID TRANSITION

Three central changes are taking place on the continent that have particular relevance for fast-tracking the end of AIDS among young women and girls. Africa has a fast-growing economy .Sub-Saharan Africa is among the world’s fastest-growing economic zones. In 2015 the gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to increase by 4.5%, and by 2020 the continent’s share of global GDP is predicted to rise to...

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FIVE KEY RECOMMENDATIONS TO FAST-TRACK THE HIV RESPONSE AND END THE AIDS EPIDEMIC AMONG YOUNG WOMEN AND GIRLS

The 2011 UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS pledged to eliminate gender inequalities and genderbased abuse and violence, and to increase the capacity of women and adolescent girls to protect themselves from the risk of HIV infection, but the scale-up of evidence-informed and resourced interventions has not been fast enough. Although the inclusion of gender equality...

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