A/HRC/38/28
beyond Mexico and Latin America, to promote South-South and triangular cooperation
through training and learning exchanges.
31.
Population and housing censuses are a primary source of disaggregated data needed
to formulate, implement and monitor development policies and programmes, and it is
therefore of paramount importance to include the most vulnerable and marginalized groups.
In Guatemala, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and OHCHR supported the
National Statistics Institute with incorporating a rights-based approach to the 2018 national
population and housing census, and facilitated coordination with indigenous people and
people of African descent in that context. In Ghana, the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with the Commission on Human Rights and
Administrative Justice, undertook a background study on groups that are at risk of
statelessness and remain uncounted in national administrative registries, and advocated for
the inclusion of questions related to nationality status in the upcoming population and
housing census.
D.
Leaving no one behind and supporting gender equality
32.
Translating the commitment to leaving no one behind in a transformative way
focuses on the need to dismantle discrimination and reduce inequalities by addressing the
structural root causes that keep people in poverty, and that marginalize, exclude or
discriminate against them in laws, policies and social practices. Human rights technical
cooperation and capacity-building can make a crucial contribution to the realization of the
goals of the 2030 Agenda by unpacking the overarching principle of leaving no one behind,
and promoting gender equality. Support for States’ efforts to address inequalities and
discrimination against women and the most left behind in their societies — through
legislative, institutional and policy reforms — contributes to the removal of obstacles that
impede the effective horizontal and transversal implementation of the Sustainable
Development Goals, as such support seeks to address the root causes of discrimination as
well as the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. The following are some
examples of the support being provided to States’ efforts to address inequalities, including
those related to addressing structural barriers: reversing unequal distributions of power,
resources and opportunities; and challenging discriminatory laws, policies, social norms
and gender stereotypes.
1.
Gender equality and women’s rights
33.
Access to justice is an important driver of change and is recognized in the 2030
Agenda as a means of achieving peaceful and inclusive societies, including in Goal 16.
While for women in particular, access to justice is key to breaking cycles of violence,
shifting power relations and achieving empowerment and gender equality, women continue
to face numerous obstacles in accessing remedies and reparations, due to structural
inequalities, gender stereotyping and discrimination. Technical cooperation in that regard
can therefore contribute to both Goal 5 and Goal 16.
34.
In that respect, the landmark 2016 decision in the Sepur Zarco case in Guatemala set
an important precedent. It marks a major step forward in access to justice for indigenous
women, and contributes to Goal 16. For the first time in the history of Guatemala, sexual
violence committed during the country’s military conflict in the 1980s was successfully
prosecuted, leading to the conviction of two former members of the military for the murder,
rape and sexual enslavement of indigenous women. The court also ordered reparations in
order to address past denials of the rights to health, education and access to land. OHCHR
and UN-Women have provided support for years to help bring justice to these women, and
are currently engaged in technical assistance for the implementation of the reparation
measures.
35.
In 2017, UN-Women worked to enhance access to legal aid for women living with
HIV to reduce gender-based stigma and discrimination. In Viet Nam, for example, UNWomen helped the national network of women living with HIV to analyse specific forms of
discrimination that women face in the context of HIV and to identify gender-specific
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