A/HRC/34/29 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 31/15, the Human Rights Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare an analytical report, in consultation with States, United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, particularly the International Labour Organization, and the treaty bodies, special procedures, civil society and other relevant stakeholders, on the relationship between the realization of the right to work and the enjoyment of all human rights by women, with a particular emphasis on the empowerment of women, in accordance with States’ respective obligations under international human rights law and the relevant major challenges and best practices in that regard, and to submit the report to the Human Rights Council prior to its thirty-fourth session. 2. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) solicited submissions from States, United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations, and as at 28 November 2016, 32 responses had been received, from States, 1 the International Labour Office, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, and non-governmental organizations. 3. The present report offers an overview of the scope and content of women’s right to work, drawing on applicable human rights instruments, on the work of United Nations human rights mechanisms, including treaty bodies, special procedures and the universal periodic review, on international labour standards and the principles of the International Labour Organization (ILO), and on the submissions received. It identifies challenges and refers to good practices implemented by States to move towards full realization of the right of work for women, underscoring the connection between this right and other human rights. In order to analyse the main issues, the report focuses on three matters in particular: (a) women’s right to decent work; (b) non-discrimination in working conditions; and (c) women’s unpaid work. It does not elaborate on the specific elements of the right to work, which have already been the subject of a report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the realization of the right to work (A/HRC/31/32). Rather, it analyses their implications for women, and the concomitant obligations on States for the elimination of discrimination in the exercise of the right to work. II. Normative recognition of women’s human right to work 4. The right to work is a universal human right, which finds ample recognition in international human rights law and international labour instruments.2 Gender equality and non-discrimination are fundamental human rights guarantees which fully apply to the right to work. Women’s exercise of the right to work is a prerequisite for their enjoyment of several other human rights, including the right to an adequate standard of living and the right to social security. Women’s equal exercise of the right to work also depends on the extent of their enjoyment of other rights, including the right to education. 1 2 2 Algeria, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cuba, Egypt, El Salvador, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Jamaica, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Mozambique, Oman, Paraguay, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, State of Palestine, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. Submissions are available from www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/ESCR/Pages/RightWorkReport.aspx. See A/HRC/31/32.