A/HRC/40/31 20. The right to work has been enshrined in various international human rights instruments,17 including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (arts. 6–8). ILO has produced a substantial body of international labour standards that reinforces the protection and understanding of the right to work. Of particular importance are the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), the Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142), the Termination of Employment Convention, 1982 (No. 158) and the Employment Promotion and Protection against Unemployment Convention, 1988 (No. 168). 21. The right to work is not an absolute right to obtain employment, nonetheless, it implies an immediate obligation on States to adopt policy, legislative and budgetary measures aimed at attaining full employment to the maximum of their available resources. 18 In addressing widespread unemployment among young people, the right to work requires that States create favourable macroeconomic conditions for the realization of the right and adopt specific job promotion policies targeted at youth. 22. One measure to improve the availability of work for young people is to put in place specialized services for youth that assist them in identifying and securing available employment.19 These specialized services must promote equality and accessibility, contributing to making the labour market open to everyone without discrimination. 23. Freedom to work and to choose a profession20 is an essential component of the right to work. For States, it involves prohibitions, such as the prohibition of forced labour, and positive duties, such as the adoption of measures conducive to freedom and opportunity. It entails the right to pursue professional options under equal conditions. As previously signalled, the use of unpaid internships could be an obstacle for the most disadvantaged youth to access certain career paths and could infringe upon this freedom component of the right to work. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in its general comment No. 23 (2016) on the right to just and favourable conditions of work, confirms that an excessive use of unpaid internships as well as short-term contracts are not in line with the right to work (para. 47). Unpaid internships limit young people’s freedom to choose and should be replaced by paid ones in order to give the opportunity even to the most marginalized to enter all kinds of career paths. 24. Equality and non-discrimination are fundamental human rights principles that apply to the realm of work. Ensuring equality and non-discrimination in access to work is crucial as the labour market mirrors prejudices and disadvantages that exist in society. Young people are not a homogenous group and States should adopt measures to combat discrimination against them based on age,21 but also on other prohibited grounds, such as ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability and health status, that may intersect and amplify the discrimination they suffer. 25. Closing the gender gap in education and the labour market and addressing issues such as the unequal share of unpaid care work and harmful stereotypes are essential steps to counter discrimination and create equal opportunities for young women.22 For example, by developing education policies that erode gender stereotypes regarding the division of 17 18 19 20 21 22 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (arts. 23–24); the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (art. 8 (3) (a)); the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (art. 5 (e) (i)); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (art. 11 (1) (a)); the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (arts. 11, 25–26, 40, 52 and 54); and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (art. 27). Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 18, para. 6. Ibid., paras. 12 and 26. Freedom to work is recognized in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (art. 23) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (art. 6). Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 23, para. 12. In A/HRC/38/24, OHCHR highlights the key lessons learned and promising practices to engage men and boys to promote and achieve gender equality and, in particular, an equal share of responsibility in domestic life, paras. 23–25. 5