A/HRC/4/WG.3/6 page 10 obligation to protect the right to non-discrimination, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), article 26 requires States to “guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination.” 24. Article 2(1) (d) of ICERD requires States to prohibit and bring to an end “racial discrimination by any persons, group or organisation.”9 In its general comment No. 3 (1981) on article 2 (Implementation at the national level) of the ICCPR, the Human Rights Committee “recognizes, in particular, that the implementation does not depend solely on constitutional or legislative enactments, which in themselves are often not per se sufficient. The Committee considers it necessary to draw the attention of States parties to the fact that the obligation under the Covenant is not confined to the respect of human rights, but that States parties have also undertaken to ensure the enjoyment of these rights to all individuals under their jurisdiction. This aspect calls for specific activities by the States parties to enable individuals to enjoy their rights.”10 25. Regarding the nature of States parties’ obligations under article 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) considers that States’ “obligations include both what may be termed (following the work of the International Law Commission) obligations of conduct and obligations of result … while the Covenant provides for progressive realization and acknowledges the constraints due to the limits of available resources, it also imposes various obligations which are of immediate effect. Of these, two are of particular importance in understanding the precise nature of States parties’ obligations. One of these, which is dealt with in a separate general comment, and which is to be considered by the Committee at its sixth session, is the ‘undertaking to guarantee’ that relevant rights ‘will be exercised without discrimination ...’”.11 26. CESCR general comment No. 16 (2005) on the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights (art. 3), interprets article 2, paragraph 2 of ICESCR, which provides for a guarantee of non-discrimination on the basis of sex among other grounds. Here, the Committee asserts that the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of 9 See also ICERD art. 2, para. 1 (c) and (d); ICCPR arts. 2, 4, para. 1; 20, para. 2; 24, para. 1, and 26; ICESCR arts. 2, para. 1 and 10, para. 3; Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) art. 2, paras. (a), (b) and (f); Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) art. 2, paras. 1 and 2; International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (ICRMW) art. 7; and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) art. 4, paras. 1 (a) and (b) and 5, para. 2. 10 11 Paragraph 1. CESCR general comment No. 3 (1990) on the nature of States parties’ obligations (art. 2, para. 1, of the Covenant), para. 1.