Human Rights Council

Fiftieth session

13 June–8 July 2022

Agenda item 3

Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development

Albania,* Andorra,* Argentina, Australia,* Austria, * Belgium,* Bulgaria,* Canada,* Chile,*, Costa Rica,* Croatia,* Cyprus,* Czechia, Ecuador,* Estonia,* Fiji,* Finland, France, Georgia,* Germany, Greece,* Honduras, Hungary,* Iceland,* Ireland,* Israel,* Italy,* Latvia,* Liechtenstein , * Lithuania, Luxembourg , Malta,* Mexico, Monaco,* Montenegro, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand,* Norway,* Paraguay, Peru,*Portugal,* Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova,* Romania,* Slovakia,* Slovenia,* Spain,* Sweden,* Switzerland,* Turkey,* Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America and Uruguay* : draft resolution

50 /… Mandate of Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and its consequences

The Human Rights Council,

Reaffirming the obligation of all States to respect, protect and fulfil all human rights and fundamental freedoms, and reaffirming also the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and all other relevant international human rights instruments, and bearing in mind the importance of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child,

Reaffirming also the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, and the outcomes of their review conferences, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,

Recalling all relevant resolutions of the Human Rights Council, the Commission on Human Rights, the General Assembly and the Security Council and the relevant resolutions and agreed conclusions of the Commission on the Status of Women, which, inter alia, affirmed that all forms of violence against women and girls must be prevented, condemned, eliminated and responded to, and that women’s and girls’ access to justice and accountability for violations of their human rights must be ensured,

Expressing deep concern at the continued prevalence of violence and discrimination against women and girls in all its different forms and manifestations worldwide, including sexual and gender-based violence, and re-emphasizing that violence against all women and girls is a major impediment to the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, and that it violates, abuses and impairs their human rights, and, as such, is completely unacceptable,

Recognizing that girls are often at greater risk of being exposed to and experiencing various forms of discrimination and violence, including sexual and gender-based violence,

Recalling Human Rights Council resolutions 5/1, on institution-building of the Council, and 5/2, on the Code of Conduct for Special Procedure Mandate Holders of the Council, of 18 June 2007, and stressing that all mandate holders shall discharge their duties in accordance with those resolutions and the annexes thereto,

1.Welcomes the work of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and its consequences;

2.Decides to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for a period of three years under the title of Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and its consequences, on the same terms provided for by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 41/17 of 12 July 2019, and to additionally request the Special Rapporteur to examine the specific ways that girls are impacted by violence, taking care to avoid duplication, and to continue to collaborate with relevant United Nations mechanisms and special procedure mandate holders;

3.Calls upon all States to cooperate fully with and assist the Special Rapporteur in the performance of the Special Rapporteur’s tasks, to provide all necessary information requested by the Special Rapporteur, and to consider favourably the Special Rapporteur’s requests for visits and for implementing recommendations;

4.Encourages relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, in particular the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations trust fund in support of actions to eliminate violence against women, the Commission on the Status of Women, the treaty bodies and the special procedure mandate holders, within their respective mandates, and civil society actors, including non-governmental organizations, as well as the private sector, to cooperate fully with the Special Rapporteur in the fulfilment of the mandate;

5.Requests the Secretary-General to provide the Special Rapporteur with all the assistance necessary to fulfil the mandate effectively, including through country visits, in particular by placing adequate human, financial and material resources at the Special Rapporteur’s disposal;

6.Reaffirms its decision to continue its consideration of the issue of the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls as a matter of high priority, in conformity with its programme of work, at its fifty-third session.