A/HRC/38/46 position papers it has issued, which seek to provide conceptual clarity on selected areas affecting the enjoyment of women’s rights where there may be widespread misunderstanding, misconception, misperception or underdeveloped interpretation of standards. Thus far, position papers have covered issues such as discrimination against women in nationality,37 criminalization of adultery,38 women’s land rights,39 and women’s autonomy, equality and reproductive health. 40 These papers are particularly valuable given the limited space available to focus on thematic areas, especially since the Working Group does not report to the General Assembly. 67. The Working Group has brought its expertise in the area of women’s human rights to bear in relevant global processes in order to ensure that a rights-based perspective is incorporated in global efforts to achieve equality and eliminate discrimination. Independently and jointly with other mechanisms, it has contributed to the processes of development and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. 41 It has also led the special procedures in an ongoing effort to ensure that Human Rights Council resolutions on protection of the family are grounded in the understanding that discrimination against women within the family is barred by international human rights law, and that true equality for women and girls can never be achieved if they are treated unequally within their own homes. 42 68. The Working Group has sought to cooperate with other special procedure mandate holders in order to mainstream a gender perspective and to reinforce their shared goal of advancing women’s human rights. For instance, the Working Group has engaged in a productive and sustained collaboration with the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, in order to address the specific issues faced by women human rights defenders. It has also contributed to the reports of a number of other special procedure mandate holders and submitted its views to treaty bodies in the process of drafting general recommendations and general comments. 69. The Working Group has regularly contributed to the dialogue held by States at the Commission on the Status of Women on the achievement of equality by women and girls and the empowerment of women, and for the first time in 2018 contributed formally to the Commission’s general discussion. The Working Group has persisted in its effort to contribute to the work of the Commission, despite not yet having been allocated a formal role under the Commission’s methods of work, such as that granted to the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and the Chair of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. 2. Lessons learned and opportunities for improvement 70. The Working Group has identified a number of steps that could be taken in order to enhance the institutional effectiveness of the international system in eliminating discrimination against women and promoting gender equality, as detailed in the conclusions and recommendations contained in the present report. 71. Formal involvement of the Working Group in the Commission on the Status of Women, instituted for the first time in 2018, further to the request of the Human Rights Council in its resolution 35/18, is an important step in bringing the Working Group’s expertise on women’s human rights to the principal global intergovernmental body dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. 72. Furthermore, the responses to the Working Group’s questionnaire revealed that several States were unaware of all the work undertaken by the Working Group and the efforts 37 38 39 40 41 42 See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WG/DiscriminationAgainstWomenNationality.pdf. See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WG/AdulteryasaCriminalOffenceViolates WomenHR.pdf. See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WG/Womenslandright.pdf. See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WG/WomensAutonomyEqualityReproductive Health.pdf. See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WRGS/WGcontributions_to_Post2015Development Agenda.pdf. See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Women/WRGS/JointLetterPresidentHRCProtection Family.pdf. 15