A/HRC/23/36 understandings and perspectives of people living in poverty, and give value to these, rather than assuming that they will comply with officials’ assumptions, methods or thinking. 19 39. To fully respect dignity and autonomy, participatory processes must be meaningful for those living in poverty and they should be able to exert influence over the final outcome. They should be included in all stages of the relevant decision-making processes so that they have the chance to set priorities or question the agenda in fundamental ways. B. Non-discrimination and equality 40. All human beings must be able to enjoy and exercise their human rights on a basis of equality, free from discrimination of any kind. The principle of equality and nondiscrimination implies that everyone should have equal and effective opportunities for making their views known to other members of society, and to be part of decision-making processes. Particular efforts must be made to ensure that certain groups who suffer structural forms of discrimination - including but not limited to women, ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities - have equal opportunities to express their views, including by assigning specific resources, mechanisms and strategies for this purpose. 41. Non-discrimination and equality are core elements of the international human rights framework.20 These principles must be respected in all stages of the participatory process, from selection of the participants to evaluation. 42. People living in poverty experience discrimination on the grounds of poverty itself (E/C.12/GC/20, paras. 34–35), but also frequently due to membership in other disadvantaged sectors of the population, including but not limited to indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities and people living with HIV/AIDS. Particular attention must be paid to upholding the right to equality between men and women.21 Thus, when designing, implementing and monitoring participatory processes, States must take into account the different experiences of men and women and gender power relations in the community. They must recognize the multiple forms of discrimination that women experience, and address women’s specific needs throughout the different phases of their life cycle (childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age). Participatory processes must also acknowledge the responsibilities of care providers without reinforcing patterns of discrimination and negative stereotyping. 43. Even where participatory mechanisms exist, people living in poverty face serious constraints in accessing or exerting influence through them, 22 such as lack of information, low levels of education and illiteracy. At the logistical level, participatory processes often require time and resources that people living in poverty simply do not have; for example, they may have to pay for transportation to reach a meeting venue, find childcare or take 19 20 21 22 P. Beresford and M. Hoban, Participation in Anti-poverty and Regeneration Work and Research: Overcoming Barriers and Creating Opportunities, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2005, p. 34. See, e.g., Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 2; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, articles 2 and 26; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, article 2.2; International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, article 1; Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, article 1; Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 2; and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, article 5. See, e.g., International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 3; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, article 3; and Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, article 1. See Mansuri and Rao, Localizing Development, p. 5. 11