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<a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/WGWomenIndex.aspx" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); text-decoration: underline;">https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/WGWomenIndex.aspx</a><a name="main"></a></p>
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<b><span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Segoe UI Semilight",sans-serif; color:#0072C6">UN Working Group on the Issue of Discrimination Against Women in Law & in Practice</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Segoe UI Semilight",sans-serif; color:#0072C6"></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Segoe UI Semilight",sans-serif; color:#262626">Introduction</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><img border="0" width="347" height="261" id="Picture_x0020_2" alt="https://www.ohchr.org/SiteCollectionImages/Issues/Women/WG/WGMembers.jpg" style="width: 3.6145in; height: 2.7187in; user-select: none;" contextid="img723818" tabindex="0" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D4C844.F2593190"></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"></span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The establishment of the Working Group by the Human Rights Council at its 15th session in September 2010 was a milestone on the long road towards women’s equality with men. Over the years,
many constitutional and legal reforms to integrate women’s human rights fully into domestic law have occurred, but there remains insufficient progress. Discrimination against women persists in both public and private spheres in times of conflict and in peace.
It transcends national, cultural and religious boundaries and is often fuelled by patriarchal stereotyping and power imbalances which are mirrored in laws, policies and practice.</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Working Group’s focus is to identify, promote and exchange views, in consultation with States and other actors, on good practices related to the elimination of laws that discriminate against
women. The Group is also tasked with developing a dialogue with States and other actors on laws that have a discriminatory impact where women are concerned.</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Segoe UI Semilight",sans-serif; color:#262626">Overview of the mandate</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At its fifteenth session, the Human Rights Council adopted by consensus <a href="http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/RES/15/23" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color:#663399">resolution
15/23</span></a> to establish, for a period of three years, a working group of five independent experts, of balanced geographical representation, on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice. In establishing the mandate, the Council
expressed its deep concern that women everywhere are still subject to significant disadvantage as the result of discriminatory laws and practices and that de jure and de facto equality has not been achieved in any country in the world, and that pledges to
eliminate discriminatory laws have not been fulfilled.</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The mandate was renewed by consensus at the Council’s twenty-third session, in <a href="http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/RES/23/7" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color:#663399">resolution
23/7, and then renewed for a further three years, again by consensus, during the Council’s </span></a>thirty-second session, in June 2016, through <a href="http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=A/HRC/RES/32/4&Lang=E" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color:#663399">resolution
32/4</span></a>.</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">As it is stated in these resolutions, the main tasks which define the mandate are:</span></p>
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<li style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">To develop a dialogue with States, the relevant United Nations entities, national human rights institutions, experts on different legal systems, and civil society organizations to identify,
promote and exchange views on best practices related to the elimination of laws that discriminate against women or are discriminatory to women in terms of implementation or impact and, in that regard, to prepare a compendium of best practices;</span></li><li style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">To work in close coordination, in the context of the fulfilment of its mandate, with other special procedures and subsidiary organs of the Council, relevant United Nations entities, including
the Commission on the Status of Women and UN Women and, in particular, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and other treaty bodies, within their respective mandates, with a view to avoiding unnecessary duplication;</span></li><li style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">To submit an annual report to the Council, starting at its twentieth session, on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice, and on good practices in eliminating such
discrimination, drawing upon the findings of the United Nations human rights machinery and the broader United Nations system; and</span></li><li style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">To offer support to States’ initiatives to address multiple forms of discrimination against women and girls when implementing their obligations as State parties to relevant international human
rights treaties with regard to civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, and related commitments, where applicable.</span></li></ul>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The resolutions call upon States:</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">To cooperate with and assist the Working Group in its task, to supply all necessary available information requested by it and to give serious consideration to responding favourably to its requests
to visit their country to enable it to fulfil its mandate effectively; and</span></li><li style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">To promote women’s equal access to decision-making positions and processes, and to appoint and promote women staff members in order to guarantee women’s equal participation.</span></li></ul>
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<span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif; color:#262626">Working Group Members</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:9.5pt; font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif; color:black"><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/Members.aspx#broderick" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color:#663399">Ms. Elizabeth
BRODERICK</span></a>(Australia)</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:9.5pt; font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif; color:black"><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/Members.aspx#facio" title="CV of Ms. Alda Facio" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color:#663399">Ms.
Alda FACIO</span></a><br>
(Costa Rica)</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:9.5pt; font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif; color:black"><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/Members.aspx#radacic" title="CV of Ms. Alda Facio" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color:#663399">Ms.
Ivana RAnhDAčIć</span></a> - Chair<br>
(Croatia)</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:9.5pt; font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif; color:black"><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/Members.aspx#techane" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color:#663399">Ms. Meskerem
Geset TECHANE</span></a>, Vice Chair<br>
(Ethiopia)</span></p>
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<span style="font-size:9.5pt; font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif; color:black"><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/Members.aspx#upreti" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193); text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color:#663399">Ms. Melissa
UPRETI</span></a><br>
(Nepal)</span></p>
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