1. Introduction 3 Understanding women’s economic and social rights 10

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Annex 2: Specific Guidance and Comments Relevant to Women’s Economic and Social Rights under ICESCR

CESCR General Comment No.	Subject of CESCR General Comment	Specific Guidance and Comments Relevant to Women’s Economic and Social Rights^⁵²⁹
General Comment no. 4	The right to adequate housing^⁵³⁰	Describes the content of the right to adequate housing. Provides that the right to adequate housing applies to everyone. While the reference to “himself and his family” reflects assumptions as to gender roles and economic activity patterns commonly accepted in 1966 when the Covenant was adopted, the Committee notes that the phrase cannot be read today as implying any limitations upon the applicability of the right to individuals or to female-headed households or other such groups.
General Comment no. 5	Persons with disabilities^⁵³¹	Notes that persons with disabilities are sometimes treated as genderless human beings. As a result, the double discrimination suffered by women with disabilities is often neglected. Despite frequent calls by the international community for particular emphasis to be placed upon their situation, very few efforts have been undertaken. The Committee therefore urged States parties to address the situation of women with disabilities, with high priority being given in future to the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights-related programs. Provides that women with disabilities also have the right to protection and support in relation to motherhood and pregnancy.
General Comment no. 6	The economic, social and cultural rights of older persons^⁵³²	In accordance with article 3 of the Covenant, by which States parties undertake “to ensure the equal right of women and men to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights,” the Committee considers that States parties should pay particular attention to older women who, because they have spent all or part of their lives caring for their families without engaging in a remunerated activity entitling them to an old-age pension, and who are also not entitled to a widow’s pension, are often in critical situations. In addition, to deal with such situations and comply fully with article 9 of the Covenant and paragraph 2 (h) of the Proclamation on Ageing, States parties should institute non-contributory old-age benefits or other assistance for all persons, regardless of their sex, who find themselves without resources on attaining an age specified in national legislation. Given their greater life expectancy and the fact that it is more often they who have no contributory pensions, women would be the principal beneficiaries.
General Comment no. 7	Forced evictions^⁵³³	Notes that women, children, youth, older persons, indigenous people, ethnic and other minorities, and other vulnerable individuals and groups all suffer disproportionately from the practice of forced eviction. Women in all groups are especially vulnerable given the extent of statutory and other forms of discrimination which often apply in relation to property rights (including home ownership) or rights of access to property or accommodation, and their particular vulnerability to acts of violence and sexual abuse when they are rendered homeless. The non-discrimination provisions of articles 2.2 and 3 of the Covenant impose an additional obligation upon Governments to ensure that, where evictions do occur, appropriate measures are taken to ensure that no form of discrimination is involved.
General Comment no. 12	The right to adequate food^⁵³⁴	Outlines the content of the right to food and notes that national strategies to ensure food and nutrition security for all should give particular attention to the need to prevent discrimination in access to food or resources for food. This should include: guarantees of full and equal access to economic resources, particularly for women, including the right to inheritance and the ownership of land and other property, credit, natural resources and appropriate technology; measures to respect and protect self-employment and work which provides a remuneration ensuring a decent living for wage earners and their families (as stipulated in article 7 (a) (ii) of the Covenant); maintaining registries on rights in land (including forests).
General Comment no. 13	The right to education^⁵³⁵	Notes that States have obligations to respect, protect and fulfill each of the “essential features” (availability, accessibility, acceptability, adaptability) of the right to education. By way of illustration, a State must protect the accessibility of education by ensuring that third parties, including parents and employers, do not stop girls from going to school. Provides also that States parties are obliged to remove gender and other stereotyping which impedes the educational access of girls, women and other disadvantaged groups.
General Comment no. 14	The right to the highest attainable standard of health^⁵³⁶	Provides that States are obligated to abstain from imposing discriminatory practices relating to women’s health status and needs. States are also obliged to ensure that harmful social or traditional practices do not interfere with access to pre- and post-natal care and family-planning; to prevent third parties from coercing women to undergo traditional practices, e.g. female genital mutilation; and to take measures to protect all vulnerable or marginalized groups of society, in particular women, children, adolescents and older persons, in the light of gender-based expressions of violence. Notes further that the failure to protect women against violence or to prosecute perpetrators and the failure to discourage the continued observance of harmful traditional medical or cultural practices constitute violations of the Covenant. For girls, the General Comment notes that implementation of the principle of non-discrimination requires that girls, as well as boys, have equal access to adequate nutrition, safe environments, and physical as well as mental health services. There is a need to adopt effective and appropriate measures to abolish harmful traditional practices affecting the health of children, particularly girls, including early marriage, female genital mutilation, preferential feeding and care of male children.
General Comment no. 15	The right to water^⁵³⁷	Notes that States must give attention should be given to ensuring that disadvantaged and marginalized farmers, including women farmers, have equitable access to water and water management systems, including sustainable rain harvesting and irrigation technology. Provides that whereas the right to water applies to everyone, States parties should give special attention to those individuals and groups who have traditionally faced difficulties in exercising this right, including women. In particular, States parties should take steps to ensure that women are not excluded from decision-making processes concerning water resources and entitlements. The disproportionate burden women bear in the collection of water should be alleviated. Provides further that States parties have an obligation to progressively extend safe sanitation services, particularly to rural and deprived urban areas, taking into account the needs of women and children.
General Comment no. 16	The equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights^⁵³⁸	Provides a conceptual framework on the right to equality and the right to non-discrimination. Notes that the essence of article 3 of the ICESCR is that the rights set forth in the Covenant are to be enjoyed by women and men on a basis of equality, a concept that carries substantive meaning. While expressions of formal equality may be found in constitutional provisions, legislation and policies of governments, Article 3 also mandates the equal enjoyment of the rights in the Covenant for women and men in practice. The General Comment also provides guidance on temporary special measures, noting that the principles of equality and non-discrimination, by themselves, are not always sufficient to guarantee true equality. Temporary special measures may sometimes be needed in order to bring disadvantaged or marginalized persons or groups of persons to the same substantive level as others. Temporary special measures aim at realizing not only de jure or formal equality, but also de facto or substantive equality for women and men. However, the application of the principle of equality will sometimes require that States parties take measures in favor of women in order to attenuate or suppress conditions that perpetuate discrimination. As long as these measures are necessary to redress de facto discrimination, and are terminated when de facto equality is achieved, such differentiation is legitimate. The General Comment also provides specific guidance on State Obligations, as well as implementation at the national level.
General Comment no. 18	The right to work^⁵³⁹	Notes that Article 3 of the Covenant prescribes that States parties undertake to “ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights.” The Committee underlined the need for a comprehensive system of protection to combat gender discrimination and to ensure equal opportunities and treatment between women and men in relation to their right to work by ensuring equal pay for work of equal value.6 In particular, pregnancies must not constitute an obstacle to employment and should not constitute justification for loss of employment. Lastly, emphasis should be placed on the link between the fact that women often have less access to education than men and certain traditional cultures which compromise the opportunities for the employment and advancement of women. Notes that States parties are bound by the obligation to respect the right of women and young persons to have access to decent work and thus to take measures to combat discrimination and to promote equal access and opportunities. Notes also that the strategies, programs and policies adopted by States parties under structural adjustment programs should not interfere with their core obligations in relation to the right to work and impact negatively on the right to work of women, young persons and the disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups. Provides that national employment strategies must take particular account of the need to eliminate discrimination in access to employment. They must ensure equal access to economic resources and to technical and vocational training, particularly for women.
General Comment no. 19	The right to social security^⁵⁴⁰	Notes that Article 10 of the Covenant expressly provides that “working mothers should be accorded paid leave or leave with adequate social security benefits.” Paid maternity leave should be granted to all women, including those involved in atypical work, and benefits should be provided for an adequate period.16 Appropriate medical benefits should be provided for women and children, including perinatal, childbirth and postnatal care and care in hospital where necessary. Implementation of Article 3 in relation to Article 9 requires, inter alia, equalization of the compulsory retirement age for both women and men; ensuring that women receive equal benefits in both public and private pension schemes; and guaranteeing adequate maternity leave for women, paternity leave for men, and parental leave for both women and men. In social security schemes that link benefits with contributions, States parties should take steps to eliminate the factors that prevent women from making equal contributions to such schemes (for example, intermittent participation in the workforce on account of family responsibilities and unequal wage outcomes) or ensure that schemes take account of such factors in the design of benefit formulas (for example by considering child rearing periods or periods to take care of adult dependents in relation to pension entitlements). Differences in the average life expectancy of women and men can also lead directly or indirectly to discrimination in provision of benefits (particularly in the case of pensions) and thus need to be taken into account in the design of schemes. Non-contributory schemes must also take account of the fact that women are more likely to live in poverty than men and often have sole responsibility for the care of children.
General Comment no. 20	Non-discrimination in economic, social and cultural rights^⁵⁴¹	In order for States parties to “guarantee” that Covenant rights will be exercised without discrimination of any kind, discrimination must be eliminated both formally and substantively. On formal discrimination, eliminating formal discrimination requires ensuring that a State’s constitution, laws and policy documents do not discriminate on prohibited grounds; for example, laws should not deny equal social security benefits to women on the basis of their marital status. Some individuals or groups of individuals face discrimination on more than one of the prohibited grounds, for example women belonging to an ethnic or religious minority. Such cumulative discrimination has a unique and specific impact on individuals and merits particular consideration and remedying. Notes that ‘sex’ is an expressed ground for discrimination, and notes that since the adoption of the Covenant, the notion of the prohibited ground ‘sex’ has evolved considerably to cover not only physiological characteristics but also the social construction of gender stereotypes, prejudices and expected roles, which have created obstacles to the equal fulfillment of economic, social and cultural rights. Thus, the refusal to hire a woman, on the ground that she might become pregnant, or the allocation of low-level or part-time jobs to women based on the stereotypical assumption that, for example, they are unwilling to commit as much time to their work as men, constitutes discrimination. Refusal to grant paternity leave may also amount to discrimination against men.

1 Mayra Gómez is the Co-Executive Director of the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This paper was submitted to the Working Group to help inform its thematic report and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Working Group.
The author would like to thank the members of the Working Group, and in particular Frances Raday, for her central input into the conceptual framework of the project and the background papers. The author would also like to thank Rebecca Brown, Graciela Dede, Federica Donati, Elmira Nazombe, and Nathalie Stadelmann for their very helpful comments and input on previous drafts of this paper.

2 ESCR-Net, COHRE Women and Housing Program, and IWRAW Asia Pacific, ‘Primer on Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,’ 2010.

3 While part of economic and social rights, the right to health is not addressed in this Background Paper as it will be a focus on a forthcoming Working Group report on Health and Safety. This is similarly true of cultural rights, which will be addressed in a forthcoming Working Group report on Family and Culture.

4 The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna on 25 June 1993, and endorsed by GA Resolution 48/121.

5 Ibid.

6 See: Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ‘Over 300 groups call for human rights in core of post-2015 development plan,’ 10 December 2013, available online at: http://globalinitiative-escr.org/over-300-groups-call-for-human-rights-in-core-of-post-2015-development-plan/ [last accessed 13 December 2013]. See also: Council of the European Union General Affairs Council meeting on the Overarching Post 2015 Agenda - Council Conclusions, 25 June 2013, available online at: http://www.eu-un.europa.eu/articles/en/article_13692_en.htm [last accessed 13 December 2013].

7 The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna on 25 June 1993, and endorsed by GA Resolution 48/121.

8 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment 3, The nature of States parties' obligations (Fifth session, 1990), U.N. Doc. E/1991/23, annex III at 86 (1991).

9 Stijn Claessens, M. Ayhan Kose, Luc Laeven, and Fabián Valencia (Eds.), ‘Understanding Financial Crises: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Responses,’ available at: http://www.imf.org/external/np/seminars/eng/2012/fincrises/pdf/ck.pdf [last accessed 9 September 2013].

10 As quoted from: Natalie Raaber & Diana Aguiar, ‘Feminist critiques, policy alternatives and calls for systemic change to an economy in crisis,’ Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), 2012. For original study, please see: Luc Laeven and Fabian Valencia, ‘Systemic Banking Crises: A New Database,’ IMF Working paper, November 2008.

11 Statement by Sakiko Fukuda-Parr (Graduate Program in International Affairs, The New School), ‘Emerging issue: The gender perspectives of the Financial Crisis,’ Interactive Expert Panel, Commission on the Status of Women, Fifty-third session, New York, 2-13 March 2009. See also: Sakiko Fukuda-Parr , James Heintz & Stephanie Seguino, ‘Critical Perspectives on Financial and Economic Crises: Heterodox Macroeconomics Meets Feminist Economics,’ Feminist Economics, Volume 19, Number 3, 2013, pp. 4-31.

12 International Labour Organization (ILO), ‘The global crisis: Causes, responses and challenges,’ Geneva: International Labour Office, 2011.

13 Larry Elliott, economics editor of The Guardian, ‘Three myths that sustain the economic crisis,’ The Guardian, 5 August 2012.

14 Macro-economic policy has been defined as encompassing monetary policy (incl. interest rates), exchange rate policy and fiscal policy (incl. public spending and taxation). See: Kate Bird, Dan

Harris, and Milo Vandemoortele, ‘The big picture: the role of macro-economic policies in the pro-poor growth story,’ OECD, DAC and POVNE, JLP-PPG Briefing Note 3, June 2010.

15 UN-Women has noted that “Both the boom that preceded the Great Recession of 2008

and the subsequent evolution of the global economy after that crisis have thus far been associated with significantly increased inequalities, both between and within countries.” See: Jayati Ghosh, ‘Economic Crisis and Women’s Work: Exploring Progressive Strategies in a Rapidly Changing Global Environment,’ UN-Women, January 2013.

16 For an interesting discussion on these issues, see: The Structural Adjustment Participatory Review International Network (SAPRIN), ‘The Policy Roots of Economic Crisis and Poverty: A Multi-Country Participatory Assessment of Structural Adjustment,’ based on Results of the Joint World Bank/Civil Society Structural Adjustment Participatory Review Initiative (SAPRI) and the Citizens’ Assessment of Structural Adjustment (CASA), November 2001.

17 United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (Division for the Advancement of Women), 2009 World Survey on the Role of Women in Development: Women’s Control over Economic

Resources and Access to Financial Resources, including Microfinance, UN Doc. No. ST/ESA/326, New York, 2009.

18 Statement by Stephanie Seguino (University of Vermont), ‘Emerging issue: The gender perspectives of the Financial Crisis,’ Interactive Expert Panel, Commission on the Status of Women, Fifty-third session, New York, 2-13 March 2009. See also: Sakiko Fukuda-Parr , James Heintz & Stephanie Seguino, ‘Critical Perspectives on Financial and Economic Crises: Heterodox Macroeconomics Meets Feminist Economics,’ Feminist Economics, Volume 19, Number 3, 2013, pp. 4-31. See also: Radhika Balakrishnan, ‘Macro policy and the MDGs,’ paper prepared for the UN-Women Expert Group Meeting on Structural and policy constraints in achieving the MDGs for women and girls, Mexico City, Mexico, 21-24 October 2013.

19 Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), ‘The Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on Women’s Well-Being and Empowerment,’ Publication series: Women’s Economic Empowerment, Sida: 2 December 2010.

20 Ibid.

21 Emphasis added. ‘Recovering from the crisis: A Global Jobs Pact,’ adopted by the International Labour Conference at its Ninety-eighth Session, Geneva, 19 June 2009.

22 Francesca Bettio, Marcella Corsi, Carlo D’Ippoliti, Antigone Lyberaki, Manuela Samek Lodovici

and Alina Verashchagina, ‘The impact of the economic crisis on the situation of women and men and on gender equality policies,’ Synthesis report prepared for the use of the European Commission, Directorate-General for Justice, 2013.

23 Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, ‘Opinion on the Gender Perspective on the response to the economic and financial crisis,’ June 2009.

24 James Heintz (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), ‘Missing Women: The G20, Gender Equality and Global Economic Governance,’ Heinrich Böll Stiftung, Washington, D.C.: March 2013. This policy response is in contrast to countries like Iceland, which has (as we shall see below) taken a more gender sensitive approach to the economic crisis. See also: Sakiko Fukuda-Parr , James Heintz & Stephanie Seguino, ‘Critical Perspectives on Financial and Economic Crises: Heterodox Macroeconomics Meets Feminist Economics,’ Feminist Economics, Volume 19, Number 3, 2013, pp. 4-31.

25 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. res. 217A (III), U.N. Doc A/810 at 71 (1948).

26 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, G.A. res. 34/180, 34 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 46) at 193, U.N. Doc. A/34/46, entered into force 3 September 1981.

27 Ibid, at Art. 3.

28 Article 14 (2) of CEDAW obligates State parties “to eliminate discrimination against women in rural areas and to ensure to such women the right to enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to housing, sanitation, electricity and water supply.”

29 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, G.A. res. 34/180, 34 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 46) at 193, U.N. Doc. A/34/46, entered into force 3 September 1981, at Art. 16.

30 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N.GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 49, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 993 U.N.T.S. 3, entered into force 3 January 1976.

31 Article 11 (i) of ICESCR calls upon States parties “to recognize the rights of every one to have adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing and to the continuous improvement of living conditions” and further calls upon States parties “to take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international cooperation based on free consent.”

32 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N.GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 49, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 993 U.N.T.S. 3, entered into force 3 January 1976, at Article 7, §a (i).

33 While water and sanitation are not explicitly mentioned in the Covenant, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has said that
Article 11(1), paragraph 1, of the Covenant specifies a number of rights emanating from, and indispensable for, the realization of the right to an adequate standard of living ‘including adequate food, clothing and housing.’ The use of the word ‘including’ indicates that this catalogue of rights was not intended to be exhaustive. The right to water clearly falls within the category of guarantees essential for securing an adequate standard of living, particularly since it is one of the most fundamental conditions for survival. Moreover, the Committee has previously recognized that water is a human right contained in Article 11(1), paragraph 1, (see General Comment No. 6 (1995)). The right to water is also inextricably related to the right to the highest attainable standard of health (Art. 12(1), para. 1) and the rights to adequate housing and adequate food (Art. 11(1), para. 1). The right should also be seen in conjunction with other rights enshrined in the International Bill of Human Rights, foremost amongst them the right to life and human dignity.
United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ‘General Comment 15: The Right to Water (Arts.11 and 12),’ UN Doc. E/C.12/2002/11, 20 January 2003.

34 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171, entered into force 23 March 1976.

35 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, G.A. res. 2106 (XX), Annex, 20 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 14) at 47, U.N. Doc. A/6014 (1966), 660 U.N.T.S. 195, entered into force 4 January 1969.

36 Convention on the Rights of the Child, G.A. res. 44/25, annex, 44 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 49) at 167, U.N. Doc. A/44/49 (1989), entered into force 2 September 1990.

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