GGCA Gender and Climate Change Training Manual - Women's ...

the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the UN Declaration on
Human Rights, and the two UN covenants on Civil and Political Human Rights
and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Principles of equality and protection against discrimination are
enshrined in major human rights instruments including:
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which accords protection
to the rights of women, prohibits discrimination and accords equality
before the law. 2
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• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which
prohibits discrimination, 3 promotes equality of women’s and men’s
rights 4 and equality before the law. 5
• The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
which prohibits discrimination, 6 and calls for equality of women and
men regarding the rights recognized by the Covenant.
These instruments, though not legally binding by themselves, are
highly influential and together with CEDAW establish a clear prohibition on
discrimination. Their relevance for climate change efforts is: to further define
the obligations of states to ensure that any laws and policies adopted in this
area fully respect the rights of women to equal treatment before the law; to
reinforce any obligations on states to secure fair and equitable distribution of
benefits (funds, technology, information) and to ensure women’s participation
in decision making regarding adaptation and mitigation initiatives, policies and
mechanisms.
2.1.1 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW)
CEDAW is the principal instrument for the protection of women’s rights,
adopted in 1979 by the General Assembly of the United Nations. 7 An Optional
Protocol to CEDAW, adopted by the UN General Assembly in December
1999, came into effect December 22, 2000. 8 The Optional Protocol establishes
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Article 7.
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Article 2.1.
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Article 3.
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Article 26.
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Article 2.2.
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As of September 2007 CEDAW had been ratified by 185 countries (ratifications, accessions and successions): http://www.
ohchr.org/english/law/cedaw.htm.
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As of September 2007, 90 countries had ratified the Optional Protocol to CEDAW.
Module 2