A/HRC/22/50 I. Introduction 1. Women's rights are protected through a range of human rights instruments. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides for the right to an adequate standard of living, including the right to food, to be guaranteed without discrimination (art. 2, para. 1). A non-discrimination requirement is also imposed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both in the enjoyment of the rights listed in the Covenant (art. 2, para. 1) and in other spheres of life (art. 26). Moreover, both Covenants, in their respective article 3, oblige States Parties to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of their civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women guarantees equality of treatment between women and men in a range of areas; it has a specific provision on women in rural areas, guaranteeing the rights of women to equal treatment, in particular, in land and agrarian reform as well as in land resettlement schemes (art. 14). The Convention also guarantees adequate nutrition for women during pregnancy and lactation (art. 12). The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which sets out rights that should be guaranteed without discrimination (art. 2, para. 1), also refers to the duty of States to protect the right to health of the child, inter alia, by the promotion of breastfeeding (art. 24, para. 2 (e)). 2. Despite these requirements, discrimination against women remains pervasive in all spheres of life. It may result from laws that are themselves discriminatory. More often however, the discrimination women face is the result of social norms or customs, linked to certain stereotypes about gender roles; unequal access to productive resources such as land and to economic opportunities, such as decent wage employment; unequal bargaining position within the household; gendered division of labor within households, that result both in time poverty for women and in lower levels of education; and women‟s marginalization from decision-making spheres at all levels. Only by addressing these different levels, including by challenging the existing distribution of family responsibilities between women and men, shall the root causes of discrimination women face be effectively addressed. 3. The various forms of discrimination discussed in this report are interrelated. Disempowerment of women results in women facing discrimination as economic agents. This in turn means women are less economically independent, are exposed to violence and have a weaker bargaining position within the household and the community. As a result, they continue to assume a highly unequal share of tasks and family responsibilities within the household – taking care of the children and the elderly or the sick, fetching wood and water, buying and preparing the food. This "care economy" for which they remain chiefly responsible results in time poverty for women. Women work more hours than men, although much of the work they perform remains informal, essentially performed within the family, and unremunerated, and thus is neither valued nor even recognized.1 This leads to lower levels of education for women, and in an inability to seek better employment opportunities outside the home. They may also be discouraged from improving their qualifications because of the lack of such opportunities, due to the discrimination they are confronted with in the labour market. This may further feed into negative prejudices about 1 In middle-income countries, unpaid care work would represent the equivalent of 15 per cent of the GDP if it were to be valued in monetary terms; the figure is 35 per cent for low-income countries. If this unpaid care work were to be financed by the public purse, it would represent 94 per cent of the total tax revenue of South Korea, and 182 per cent of the total tax revenue of India (D. Budlender, ed., Time Use Studies and Unpaid Care Work, London, Routledge, 2010). 3