8.5.3 Women's Equality
Given the global nature of gender equality issues, capacity should be developed to ensure that women's rights are being addressed:
Example: Specialized Units in the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission:
The work of the different AIRHC units is interconnected. For example, individual cases of violence against women involve both the Women's Rights Unit and the Monitoring and Investigation Unit. Human rights education workshops are carried out by both thematic programmes, and the Human Rights Education Unit. Thematic programme units – Women's rights and Child Rights – conduct monitoring, aspects of case work, and promotion activities.
To an extent these areas of duplication have been pragmatically resolved. However, Commissioners have begun to consider substantial structural and organizational changes, including reformulating the Executive structure into Promotion, Protection, Monitoring and Capacity Building programmes.
Source: UN Support to the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission Project
Table 1: NHRIs and Ensuring Women's equality
|
Millennium Development Goal |
Key Related Human Rights Standards |
|---|---|
|
Knowledge management and Reporting |
Establish capacity to generate gender de-segregated data from case management system (information systems) |
|
Establish capacity to use indicators and relevant MDGs to track progress regarding women's well-being and human development |
|
|
HR Policy |
Develop internal gender-related policies on hiring, promotion and representation of women (See section 8.2 on human resources). |
|
Planning and Internal Structure |
The strategic plan should focus on the need for specialized or thematic approaches to building expertise and / or complaints handling in gender issues. |
|
Establish internal structures and capacity to ensure that women's issues are considered in all programme activities, including identifying and addressing complaints on gender equality. |
Finally, establishing focal points can be linked to both national and regional initiatives, as the following examples show:
Example: Focal Points for Fighting Trafficking
Regional approaches: In view of the prevalence of trafficking, and at the request of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as well as on the recommendations of the APF, several Asian NHRIs nominated their Members to serve as Focal Points on Human Rights of Women, including trafficking.
India. Among the activities initiated by the Focal Point on Trafficking & Women's Human Rights in India was an Action Research on Trafficking in Women and Children in 2002 in collaboration with UNIFEM and the Institute of Social Sciences, a research institute in New Delhi. The purpose was to determine trends, dimensions, factors and responses related to trafficking in women and children in India. The Focal Point further examined other facets of trafficking, including viz., routes of trafficking, transit points, the role of law enforcement agencies, NGOs and other stakeholders in detecting and curbing trafficking.
Source: NHRC/ UNIFEM /ISS Project. 2004. "A report on Trafficking in Women and Children in India 2002-2003."