A RECORDING OF THIS SESSION IS AVAILABLE HERE.Interpretation will be available in English, French and Spanish
Brief description of the session:
In June 2019, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights issued Gender Guidance for the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (
A/HRC/41/43) to assist States, businesses and other actors in integrating a gender perspective in implementing the UNGPs. The Gender Guidance complements the
Standards of Conduct for Business: Tackling Discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, & Intersex People issued by the OHCHR in September 2017. On 25 June 2021, the ILO’s Violence and Harassment Convention 2019 came into force. Despite these standards, men and women (including boys and girls) as well as non-binary people continue to face multiple forms of intersectional discrimination, exclusion and violence in all spheres of life.
This session aims to bring together representatives of various stakeholders to discuss strategies on mainstreaming an intersectional gender perspective across all issues in the business and human rights field, such as access to remedy, care work, climate change, conflicts, corporate leaderships, corruption, COVID-19, disability, discrimination, free prior and informed consent, gender-based violence, gender pay gap, human rights defenders, human rights due diligence, human trafficking, inequality, LGBTI+ rights, modern slavery, national action plans, new technologies, public procurement, racism, sexual harassment, supply chains, sustainable development, tax evasion, and trade and investment agreements. This discussion will also contribute to integrating a gender perspective as a cross-cutting issue in operationalising the Working Group’s “roadmap” for implementation in the next decade as part of the
UNGPs 10+ project and in turn achieving substantial gender equality.
Key objectives of the session:
The session aims to:
- Highlight the importance of gender mainstreaming in the business and human rights field;
- Explore strategies and tools needed to integrate an intersectional gender perspective in all policies, programmes and decisions of international organisations, governments, business enterprises, civil society organisations and other actors.
- Discuss gender-responsive measures as part of “building back better” to overcome disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on girls, women and LGBTI+ people.
Key discussion questions:- How to integrate an intersectional gender approach in all business and human rights issues?
- What is the role of various actors such as States, national human rights institutions, businesses, industry associations, trade unions, civil society organisations, human rights defenders, academia, lawyers, and women organisations in gender mainstreaming?
- How to avoid risks of adopting a siloed or tick-box approach to gender in the business and human rights field?
- How to ensure an active participation of women, girls and LGBTI+ people in decision making processes and strategies aimed at building back better and contributing to achieving substantive gender equality?
Background documents and relevant links:- Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs)
Video Stream