The Paris Agreement constitutes a breakthrough; for the first time, a Climate Treaty in its Preamble commits Parties, to promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, as well as on gender equality, and the empowerment of women. The...

This convention internationally recognizes the right of a woman to live a life without violence. This Convention was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993. It covers physical, sexual and psychological violence as well as violence both at...

The Istanbul Convention is the first legally-binding instrument that criminalizes violence against women. This convention creates a  legal framework and approach to combat violence against women and focuses on preventing domestic violence, protecting victims and prosecuting accused offenders.

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (OP-CEDAW) is an international treaty that establishes complaint and inquiry mechanisms for the Convention of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Parties to the Protocol...

Adopted by governments at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, this document sets forth governments’ commitments to enhance women’s rights. The Platform for Action imagines a world where each woman and girl can exercise her freedoms and choices, and...

This convention states that women and children are often the victims of wars, civil unrest, and other emergency situations that cause them to suffer. Furthermore, it enshrines women and children’s rights, such as access to food, shelter, and medical care...

The Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage, and Registration of Marriages is a treaty agreed upon in the on the standards of marriage. The treaty was opened for signature and ratification by General Assembly resolution 1763 A (XVII) on 7...

Convention on the Political Rights of Women, 193 U.N.T.S. 135, entered into force July 7, 1954. This convention’s purpose is to codify a basic international standard for women’s political rights.

The framework of the obligations under the CEDAW Convention is constructed on three main principles: the obligation to respect (equality in laws and policies); the obligation to protect (non-discrimination– direct and indirect) and the obligation fulfil (to uphold equality and...