A/HRC/42/26 26. Mr. Oelz stated that a redefinition of jobs and workplaces in the transition could improve skills and reduce health and safety risks, which were often worse for women. New labour market opportunities could facilitate the formalization of the jobs in the informal economy held by women in rural and urban areas and green sector development could address gender inequalities. In the rural economy, grassroots women, including indigenous and tribal women, played an important role in the management of natural resources, agriculture and forestry – critical sectors for both mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. Ensuring respect for women’s rights as part of a just transition increased the resilience of communities and economies more broadly. A just transition also strengthened climate action by women workers, entrepreneurs, care providers and custodians of traditional knowledge. 27. In closing, Mr. Oelz highlighted the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work, in which the International Labour Conference had called for a transformative agenda for gender equality that ensured respect for women’s rights at work. In the Declaration, the Conference had pointed to the transformative change in the world of work driven by environmental and climate change, globalization, persistent inequalities, technological innovations and demographic shifts. 28. In her remarks, Ms. Haidar referred to general recommendation No. 37 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the first general recommendation by a human rights treaty body on the gender dimensions of disaster risk reduction in the context of climate change, adopted by the Committee in March 2018. In general recommendation No. 37, the Committee had set out to give States parties guidance on how to implement disaster risk reduction measures, in particular in addressing climate change-induced disasters, which were gender-responsive, sensitive to the knowledge of indigenous peoples and respectful of human rights. Situations of crisis exacerbated preexisting gender inequalities and compounded intersecting forms of discrimination that affected disadvantaged groups of women, particularly women with disabilities. Genderbased violence against women and girls was more common in humanitarian crises and could become more acute in the wake of disasters and conflicts when there was heightened physical and food insecurity, as well as impunity for perpetrators of violence. 29. Ms. Haidar said that in general recommendation No. 37, the Committee had sought to ensure that women’s human rights as enshrined in the Convention were respected, protected and fulfilled at all stages of climate action, particularly in disaster risk reduction, response, recovery and adaptation. It had also sought to contribute to coherence, accountability and the mutual reinforcement of different international agendas on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation by focusing on the impact of climate disruption and disasters on women’s human rights. In general recommendation No. 37, the importance of reading the provisions of the Convention together with specific international frameworks that governed disaster risk reduction, climate change, humanitarian assistance and sustainable development had been recognized. They included the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Goals. 30. In general recommendation No. 37, the Committee had addressed a number of substantive rights covered under the Convention, including substantive equality and nondiscrimination and the obligations of States parties to guarantee equality between men and women. That also included adopting participatory and gender-responsive policies related to disaster risk reduction and climate change. Other substantive rights covered included participation and empowerment, accountability and access to justice, health and social services and throughout this, the need to address gender-based violence against women and girls. In closing, Ms. Haidar stated that through general recommendation No. 37 the Committee had been able to assist States parties in measuring the steps taken in implementing gender-responsive actions to address climate change and identifying the constraints on implementation. It had also allowed for the sharing of best practices to fully respect, protect and fulfil the rights of women and girls in climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. 6