A/HRC/34/29 specifically to discrimination on the grounds of sex and to equality between men and women. 11. Several ILO texts are aimed at protecting and realizing women’s equal right to work. In its article II (a), the Declaration concerning the aims and purposes of the International Labour Organization (Declaration of Philadelphia), of 1944, specifies that “all human beings, irrespective of race, creed or sex, have the right to pursue both their material wellbeing and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom and dignity, of economic security and equal opportunity”. Equality and non-discrimination, including on the basis of sex, are also among the fundamental rights of workers identified in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and are the subject of the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) and the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), both of which are fundamental ILO conventions. 12. Of particular importance is the more recent Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), as women carry out most domestic work. The ILO Employment Policy (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation, 1984 (No. 169), in paragraph 15, specifies women among the categories of persons who may frequently have difficulties in finding lasting employment and for which States are required to adopt measures to respond to their needs in the context of an overall employment policy. 13. Many States have ratified the above-mentioned instruments. Most States have enshrined the principle of equality between men and women in their constitutions. Many have promulgated gender equality legislation to operationalize these convention-based and constitutional commitments. Nonetheless, discrimination against women in the labour market is pervasive, as reflected by the “glass ceiling”, the “gender pay gap” and the “sticky floor”, which indicate the restrictions encountered by women in realizing their right to work and in exercising opportunities at work. As such, the realization of women’s equal enjoyment of the right to work warrants consideration of the gender-specific dimensions of every aspect of that right. III. Women’s right to decent work 14. The right to decent work entails the right to productive and freely chosen and accepted work that ensures a dignified life without discrimination. For women, this involves the freedom to choose work and to practise a profession, and equal access to work opportunities and decent jobs. 15. Notwithstanding women’s growing involvement in paid work worldwide, significant gender disparities persist in regard to labour force participation and employment. A 2016 ILO report on women’s employment estimates women’s labour force participation in 2015 at 49.6 per cent globally, compared to 76.1 per cent for men. 3 While the rate in developed countries stood at 71.0 per cent, figures ranged between 61.9 per cent and 18.8 per cent in other regions in 2015.4 Securing decent work and staying in it also remains a challenge for many women. Indeed, with the exception of a few subregions, unemployment rates among women in the workforce are higher than among men worldwide. 5 Moreover, women workers are disproportionately numerous in non-standard forms of employment such as part-time and temporary contracts or self-employment, which tend to be more precarious. Women are also overrepresented in the informal economy, which is characterized by poor working conditions as well as a lack of job security and of social protection. The gender 3 4 5 4 ILO, Women at Work: Trends 2016 (Geneva, 2016). ILO, World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2016 (Geneva, 2016). ILO, Women at Work: Trends 2016.