Petition
to the UN Human Rights Council:
Integrating the Human Rights of Women
The Human Rights
Council faces many challenges. One crucial challenge is to develop its work
methods in a manner true to the sentiment repeated annually by the Commission on
Human Rights: “acknowledging the need to integrate the gender perspective in a
more systemic way into all aspects of [its] work.” 1 The resolve for a comprehensive gender
integration process was further consolidated during the debate at the Fourth
Regular Session of the Human Rights Council on March 28, 2007, when 56 states
called for gender integration of the Council’s permanent agenda and programme of
work as an essential first step.
This paper sets
out the minimum threshold for gender integration into the Council’s main
mechanisms and work methods. The following concrete steps would preserve what
the Commission on Human Rights began in terms of gender integration, while also
strengthening the methods and mechanisms for doing so.
These
steps constitute the absolute minimum for what the Council must do to be an
effective protector of the human rights of women.
Agenda
and Programme of Work:
• Ensure at least one full day of
discussion every year on the human rights violations suffered mainly or
exclusively by women.
• Ensure adequate planning and capacity-building
for the Council to address the differential impact on women and girls of all
human rights situations under its consideration.
Review
of the Special Procedures:
• Mandate gender integration and the
explicit consideration of women’s and girls’ human rights under each relevant
Special Procedure, and ensure adequate capacity building to allow for such
integration.
• Continually identify protection gaps in areas of human
rights violations that mainly or exclusively affect women and girls, and create
a means to address these gaps.
Universal Periodic
Review:
• Integration of the respect for human rights of women
into the criteria on which states will be reviewed, whether qualitative or
quantitative, with particular focus on gender-specific human rights violations.
• Explicit evaluation of the gender-specific criteria of the review in
the UPR outcome mechanism for each state, utilizing, inter alia, analysis and
observations from treaty bodies and Special Procedures as
appropriate.
List of Signatories as of 18 April
2007
1.
3HO
Foundation
2.
Action
3.
Agenda Feminist Media
4.
Ain O
Salish Kendra (ASK)
5.
Amnesty International
6.
ARC
International
7.
Articulação de ONGs de Mulheres
8.
9.
Asia
Pacific Women’s Watch
10.
Asociación Alemana de Educación
de Personas
11.
Asociación de Trabajo
Interdisciplinario
12.
Asociación Pampeana de
Conservación
13.
Asociación para el Desarrollo
Integral de la Mujer
14.
Asociacion
15.
Associação para o Planeamento da
Familia
16.
Association for Women’s Rights
in Development
17.
Associazione italiana donne per
lo sviluppo (AIDOS)
18.
Baha’i International
Community
19.
BALANCE, Promoción para el
Desarrollo y Juventud A. C. (
20.
Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS
Association (ABIA)
21.
Bulgarian Gender Research
Foundation
22.
CEDAW
Watch –
23.
Centre for Equality Rights in
Accommodation (CERA)
24.
Centre for Health and Social
Justice
25.
Center for Reproductive
Rights
26.
Center for Women’s Global
Leadership
27.
Centro de Encuentros Cultura y
Mujer
28.
Centro de Estudios de la Mujer
de la Universidad Central de Venezuela
29.
Centro de la Mujer Peruana Flora
Tristán
30.
Centro Mujeres A.C.
31.
Coletivo De
32.
Concertación Interamericana de
Mujeres Activistas por los
33.
Corporación Sisma Mujer
34.
Creating Resources for
Empowerment in Action (CREA)
35.
Development Alternatives with
Women for a New Era (DAWN)
36.
Ediciones El Pueblo
37.
El
Closet de Sor Juana
38.
El
Grupo
39.
Equilibres &
Populations
40.
Federation of Swedish LGBT
Student Organizations
41.
FEMNET
42.
FORO
- Red de Salud y Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos
43.
Forum
of Women's NGOs of
44.
Franciscans International
45.
46.
Fundación para el Desarrollo y
la Educacion Integral (FUNDEIN),
47.
Fundación Puntos de
Encuentro
48.
Geledés - Instituto da Mulher
Negra
49.
Gender, Livelihoods, and
Resources
50.
Georgian Young Lawyers'
Association (GYLA)
51.
Global Rights
52.
Grupo
de Mujeres de San Cristóbal Las Casas, A.C.,
53.
Grupo
Lesbico Nicaraguense Safo,
54.
Human
Rights Congress for
55.
Human
Rights Watch
56.
Inform,
57.
Information Group on
Reproductive Choice (GIRE)
58.
Institute of Compared Studies on
Criminal and Social Sciences,
59.
Instituto de Estudios de la
Mujer – CEMUJER
60.
Instituto Patrícia Galvão
Comunicação e Mídia
61.
Instituto Runa de Desarrollo y
estudios sobre género
62.
International
63.
International Community of Women
Living with HIV and AIDS
64.
International Federation for
Women Lawyers
65.
International Federation of
Women in Legal Careers
66.
International Gay and Lesbian
Human Rights Commission
67.
International Indigenous Women's
Forum – FIMI
68.
International Lesbian and Gay
Association
69.
International Lesbian and Gay
Law Association
70.
International Planned Parenthood
Federation
71.
International Romanian Women
League - LIFERO
72.
International Service for Human
Rights
73.
International Society for Human
Rights
74.
International Women's Health
Coalition
75.
International Women's Rights
Action Watch
76.
International Women’s Rights
Action Watch – Asia Pacific (IWRAW-AP)
77.
International Women's Year
Liaison Group,
78.
Irish
Family Planning Association
79.
Jaku'éke Paraguay/Radio VIVA,
80.
81.
82.
Jovenes en Accion
83.
84.
85.
La
Asociación Servicios Educativos Rurales
86.
La
Liga Internacional de Mujeres por
87.
La
Red Ciudadana Feminista de México (RECIFEM)
88.
La
Red de Mujeres Emprendedoras (Winner)
89.
La
Red de Mujeres de La Matanza,
90.
La
Red Lesbica Cattrachas de Honduras,
91.
Latin
American and
92.
Latin
American and Caribbean Women’s Health Network
93.
Lesbian and Gay Federation in
94.
Luna
del Sur Asociación Civil
95.
MADRE
96.
Mahila Sarvangeen Utkarsha
Mandal
97.
Marie
Stopes International
98.
MATCH
International Centre
99.
100.
101.
Movimiento Mundial por los
Bosques Tropicales (WRM - World Rainforest Movement)
102.
Movimiento Manuela Ramos
103.
Mujeres del Área Rural
104.
105.
Mujer
y Patriarcado -
106.
NAWO
- National
107.
National Committee on the United
Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women,
108.
Network of East-West Women
109.
New
Woman
110.
Norwegian Association for Adult
Learning
111.
OXFAM
International
112.
113.
Parlamento Mujer
114.
Pax
Romana
115.
Population and Sustainability
Network
116.
Promoting Human Rights and
Education in
117.
People's Movement for Human
Rights Learning (PDHRE)
118.
Plataforma Interamericana de
Derechos Humanos, Democracia y Desarrollo
119.
120.
Red
de Educación Popular Entre Mujeres de América
121.
Rede
122.
Rede
Mulher de Educação
123.
Red
Internacional de Género y Comercio – Capítulo Latinoamericano (LAGTN)
124.
Red
Nacional de Promoción de la Mujer
125.
Red
Solidaria por los Derechos Humanos
126.
Saathi
127.
Samabhavana Society
128.
129.
Sexuality Policy Watch
(SPW)
130.
Solidarity and Action Against
the HIV Infection in
131.
South
Asia Women’s Watch (SAWW),
132.
Southeast Asia Women’s
Watch
133.
Thai
Women Watch (TW2),
134.
135.
United Nongovernment Social Work
and Care Initiative (UNSWCI)
136.
Utthan
137.
Women
and Gender Institute of
138.
Women
and Media Collective
139.
Women
Living Under Muslim Law
140.
Women's Association of Romania
(Asociatia Femeilor din
141.
Women's Environment and
Development Organization (WEDO)
142.
Women's Federation for World
Peace International (WFWPI)
143.
Women’s Initiatives for Gender
Justice
144.
Women's International League for
Peace and Freedom
145.
Women's Resource and Advocacy
146.
Women's UN Report Network
147.
Women's World
148.
World
Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women (WFMUCW)
149.
World
Organisation Against Torture – OMCT
150.
World
Population Foundation
151.
World
YWCA
152.
Youth
Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights