A/HRC/41/43 (g) States should require all State-owned or State-controlled business enterprises to establish effective gender-responsive grievance mechanisms. Guiding principle 5 9. States should ensure that contracts with business enterprises, including those related to the privatization of public services and public-private partnerships, integrate a gender perspective. 10. Illustrative actions: (a) Before privatizing public services, States should conduct a gender impact assessment to understand the differentiated impacts of such decisions on women; (b) When awarding contracts for public services, States should give preference to businesses with a track record of taking measures to achieve substantive gender equality throughout their operations; (c) States should insert gender-equality provisions, including remedial measures for breach of such provisions, into contracts with business enterprises offering public services; (d) States should forge public-private partnerships to promote the economic empowerment of women, for example by collaborating with banks to offer women easy access to finance to start a new business or pursue higher education. Guiding principle 6 11. States should integrate a gender perspective in their laws and policies regulating commercial transactions, including public procurement, with business enterprises. 12. Illustrative actions: (a) States, as well as intergovernmental institutions, should source a certain percentage of products and services from women-owned businesses; (b) States should conduct commercial transactions only with businesses that have policies and mechanisms in place to address sexual harassment, gender-based violence, pregnancy- and maternity/paternity-based discrimination, the gender pay gap, and underrepresentation of women in leadership and management positions; (c) States should ensure that export processing zones and special economic zones promote rather than undermine women’s human rights and contribute to their economic empowerment. Guiding principle 7 13. States should take additional measures to protect against abuse of women’s human rights, including sexual harassment and gender-based violence, by business enterprises in conflict-affected areas. They should also promote women’s participation in peacebuilding and transitional justice processes. These measures should be taken, individually and collectively, by both host and home States. 14. Illustrative actions: (a) States should foster multi-stakeholder collaborative partnerships to change social norms that tolerate, normalize and justify gender discrimination or sexual harassment and gender-based violence; (b) States should build the capacity of business enterprises, especially those operating in conflict-affected areas, to identify, prevent and mitigate risks relating to sexual harassment and gender-based violence; (c) States should, in appropriate cases, caution business enterprises domiciled in their territory and/or jurisdiction against operating in conflict-affected areas where it might not be possible to prevent or mitigate risks relating to sexual harassment and gender-based violence; 16

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents