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UN Working Group on Discrimination
Against Women in Law and in Practice
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/WGWomenIndex.aspx
LETTER OF THE WORKING GROUP ON DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN IN LAW & PRACTICE TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL CONCERNING WOMEN & PROTECTION OF THE FAMILY
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WG/ProtectionOfFamily.pdf - Computer can increase type size for easier reading.
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
H.E. Mr. Baudelaire Ndong Ella, President
United Nations Human Rights
Council
1 September 2014
Excellency,
I have the honour to write to you, in my capacity as Chair-Rapporteur of the
Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice,
with regard to Human Rights Council resolution 26/11, adopted on 23 June 2014, on the
“protection of the family”. The resolution reaffirmed that the family is the natural and
fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
It also requested the Council to convene a panel discussion on this topic. The panel
discussion has now been scheduled to take place on 15 September 2014.
This is a subject of direct relevance to the mandate of the Working Group. As
you may recall, the next report of the Working Group to the Human Rights Council,
currently under preparation, will address issues related to women’s participation in
family and cultural life.
The Working Group has read with interest the concept note for this panel and
noted with appreciation the emphasis on the structural problems of care responsibilities
and the need to redistribute them not only between women and men, as was established
in CEDAW in 1980, but also between the family and the State. The Working Group
believes that this is a welcome departure. In calling for states to design, implement and
promote family-friendly policies and services, such as affordable, accessible and quality
care services for children and other dependents the concept note goes far beyond
CEDAW’s requirement to encourage child care services. This was indeed a central
measure recommended by this Working Group in its 2014 report to the Human Rights
Council which focused on women’s economic and social life and called for the
establishment of a social protection floor for care services in order to offer women a
realistic choice as to the balance of their participation in economic and in family life.
Furthermore, the concern expressed in the concept note regarding the severe impact of
austerity measures on women’s economic and social life also reflects concerns raised by
the Working Group in the same report.
Yet the Working Group also noted that the resolution and the concept note do not
make any reference to women’s right to equality within the family. In this regard it
wishes to underline that the right to equality between women and men within the family
is a fundamental right which was recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights in 1948, made an enforceable treaty right in the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights in 1966, and expanded by Article 16 of the International
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1980.
Recognition of women’s right to equality in the family constituted a significant
departure from the prior social and religious status quo of the patriarchal family. While
the concern for women’s economic and social welfare as emphasized in the resolution
and concept note is of essential importance, this cannot be pursued at the cost of
women’s equality and autonomy in all entities and spheres of life. The Working Group
is of the view that the advancement of women and girls depends on the recognition in
law and practice of their right to equality as members of communities and families.
In addition while noting that members of UN treaty bodies feature as panelists,
we regret the absence, so far, of any expert from the special procedures system despite
an explicit reference of the resolution to their inclusion. Relevant special procedures
mandate-holders have developed a wealth of expertise in this field and could make a
valuable and necessary contribution to the panel discussion. The Working Group would
appreciate your intervention to achieve the participation of relevant mandate-holders.
Allow me to conclude, Excellency, by stating that the Working Group hopes that
the panel discussion and the future work of the Council in this regard will carefully base
their consideration of the issue of protection of families on States’ obligations to respect,
protect and fulfil the well-established international law right of women to equality in the
family and on recognition of the fact that the foundation of families’ role in
development must be built on women’s equality within the family. The Working Group
looks forward to being informed of the outcome of this process.
Finally the Working Group would kindly like to request that this letter be
circulated to the members of the Human Rights Council and made publicly available as
a contribution to the panel discussion.
Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.
Yours sincerely,
Frances Raday
Chairperson-Rapporteur
Working Group on Discrimination Against Women in Law and in Practice
__________________________________________________________________________
NGO joint statement on Protection of the Family.pdf
CONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION ADOPTED AT HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL SESSION 26 ON "THE PROTECTION OF THE FAMILY"
Via World YWCA - On Thursday 26th June 2014, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on “The Protection of the Family”. The resolution calls on the High Commissioner for Human Rights to draft a report on the status of “the family” and requests a panel discussion on “the issue of the protection of the family” at the September session. The resolution states that the Human Rights Council should undertake its role in addressing the means and ways of protection entitled to the family as underlined in by Human Rights law, and to contribute to exploring the link between family’s well-being and better protection and promotion of the internationally agreed and recognized human rights. The resolution was tabled by a group of 13 states including China, Egypt, Russia and Uganda. It found support by 26 countries, while 14 countries voted against.
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Subject: UN Human Rights Council 26 Resolution Documentation on
PROTECTION OF THE FAMILY
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United Nations |
A/HRC/26/L.20/Rev.1 |
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General Assembly |
Distr.: Limited 25 June 2014 Original: English |
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Human Rights Council
Twenty-sixth session
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights,
civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Angola,* Bahrain,* Bangladesh,* Benin, Bosnia
and Herzegovina,* Botswana, Burkina Faso, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt,*
26/… Protection
of the family
The Human Rights Council,
Reaffirming the purposes and principles of the Charter of the
United Nations,
Guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, and recalling the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and
other relevant human rights instruments,
Recalling General Assembly resolutions 44/82 of 8 December
1989, 47/237 of 20 September 1993, 50/142 of 21 December 1995, 52/81 of 12
December 1997, 54/124 of 17 December 1999, 56/113 of 19 December 2001, 57/164
of 18 December 2002, 58/15 of 3 December 2003, 59/111 of 6 December 2004,
59/147 of 20 December 2004, 60/133 of 16 December 2005, 62/129 of 18 December
2007, 64/133 of 18 December 2009, 66/126 of 19 December 2011, 67/142 of 20
December 2012 and 68/136 of 18 December 2013, concerning the proclamation of,
preparations for and observance of the International Year of the Family and its
tenth and twentieth anniversaries,
Recognizing that the preparations for and observance of the
twentieth anniversary of the International Year of the Family provide a useful
opportunity to draw further attention to the objectives of the International
Year for increasing cooperation at all levels on family issues and for
undertaking concerted actions to strengthen family-centred policies and
programmes as part of an integrated comprehensive approach to human rights and
development,
Reaffirming that States have the primary responsibility to
promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all human
beings, including women, children and older persons,
Recognizing that the family has the primary responsibility for
the nurturing and protection of children and that children, for the full and
harmonious development of their personality, should grow
up in a family environment and in an atmosphere of happiness, love and
understanding,
Convinced that the family, as the fundamental group of society
and the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members
and particularly children, should be afforded the necessary protection and
assistance so that it can fully assume its responsibilities within the
community,
Reaffirming that the family is the natural and fundamental group
unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State,
1. Decides
to convene, at its twenty-seventh session, a panel discussion on the protection
of the family and its members to address the implementation of States’
obligations under relevant provisions of international human rights law and to
discuss challenges and best practices in this regard;
2. Requests
the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to liaise with States and
all stakeholders, including the relevant United Nations bodies, agencies, and
programmes, the treaty bodies, the special procedures of the Human Rights
Council, national human rights institutions and civil society, with a view to
ensuring their participation in the panel discussion;
3. Also
requests the High Commissioner to prepare a report on the panel discussion
in the form of a summary, and to submit it to the Human Rights Council at its
twenty-eighth session;
4. Decides
to remain seized of the matter.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Human Rights Council
Twenty-sixth session
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Pakistan,
Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates: amendment to draft resolution
A/HRC/26/L.20/Rev.1
26/… Protection of the family
Below the fifth preambular
paragraph, insert a new paragraph reading
Recognizing that men and women
of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have
the rights to marry and to found a family, bearing in mind that marriage is a
union between a man and a woman,