A/HRC/31/27 take all effective measures to reduce disparities in the enjoyment of rights by children belonging to minority groups, and to pay particular attention to standards of living, health and education, and the enjoyment of their own culture, religion and language. In the case of Mexico, the Committee was concerned that indigenous and Afro-Mexican children continued to face discrimination and violence, and remained the most affected by extreme poverty, malnutrition, maternal and child mortality, early marriages, adolescent pregnancies, environmental contamination and lack of access to quality education and civil registration services. The Committee recommended that the State party should adopt comprehensive measures to ensure that indigenous and Afro-Mexican children enjoyed all their rights in practice, in particular in the areas of health, education, nutrition and access to justice and civil registration services. B. General comments and general recommendations 40. In its general recommendation No. 33 on women’s access to justice (CEDAW/C/GC/33), the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women noted that discrimination against women was compounded by intersecting factors, including ethnicity/race, indigenous or minority status, colour, socioeconomic status and/or caste, language, religion or belief, political opinion, national origin, marital and/or maternal status, age, urban/rural location, health status, disability, property ownership and identity as a lesbian, bisexual, transgender woman or intersex person, and that these factors made it more difficult for women from those groups to gain access to justice. The Committee recommended that States parties should, inter alia, develop targeted outreach activities and distribute, through specific units or desks for women, information about the justice mechanisms, procedures and remedies available, in various formats and also in community languages. It also recommended that such activities and information should be appropriate for all ethnic and minority groups in the population and designed in close cooperation with women from these groups and, especially, women’s and other relevant organizations. V. Special procedures 41. In March 2015, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues presented her annual thematic report to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-eighth session, on the theme of hate speech and incitement to hatred against minorities in the media (A/HRC/28/64). In her report, the Special Rapporteur identified a number of factors that lead to hate speech and incitement to hatred in the media, and highlighted a number of positive measures and initiatives implemented by a broad range of actors, including international organizations, States, civil society and individuals, to contest hateful speech and incitement to hatred in the media. 42. Also in March 2015, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief presented his annual thematic report to the Human Rights Council, on the theme of violence committed in the name of religion (A/HRC/28/66). According to the Special Rapporteur, violence in the name of religion should not be perceived as a natural outbreak of collective acts of aggression supposedly reflecting long-standing sectarian hostilities; it rather originated from contemporary factors and actors, including political circumstances. The Special Rapporteur recommended concerted action by all stakeholders, including States, religious communities, interreligious dialogue initiatives, civil society organizations and media representatives, in order to contain and eventually eliminate the scourge of violence committed in the name of religion. 43. In March 2015, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar presented her report on human rights developments in Myanmar to the Human Rights 10

Select target paragraph3

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