A/HRC/40/29 21. Demands of unpaid care work often force women into informal jobs with precarious employment status, no access to social insurance benefits, such as paid maternity leave, unemployment insurance or pensions, and at times unsafe and unhealthy working conditions.8 Even when women combine unpaid care work with formal sector employment, their social insurance contributions are usually lower than those of men, owing to lower wages and interrupted work histories as a result of child-rearing or other unpaid care work. 22. Human rights treaties require States parties to ensure unpaid care work does not endanger women’s human rights (see A/68/293). For this reason, social insurance and social assistance programmes that take into account women’s unequal burden of unpaid care work, including child-rearing periods that prevented them from making equal contributions, are effective tools to promote gender equality (ibid. paras. 48–53). For example, Argentina introduced the Universal Child Allowance in 2009, consolidating several non-contributory cash transfer schemes and targeting children whose parents were unemployed or worked in the informal sector. The scheme aimed at ensuring the universal protection of children and adolescents. The programme was later expanded in 2016 to cover 1.6 million children and adolescents and had a major impact on reducing extreme poverty and inequality. The programme effectively implemented the provisions of the ILO Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202) and met the standards established in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 9 23. The situation of persons with disabilities, who should enjoy all their rights on an equal basis with others, including their rights to social security and an adequate standard of living, can demonstrate how social security can combat inequality and non-discrimination. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires States parties to ensure access of persons with disabilities to social protection and poverty reduction programmes and the right of those living in poverty and their families to have access to assistance from the State with disability-related expenses (art. 28). 24. A social protection scheme that ensures adequate income support to persons with disabilities would promote the autonomy and full participation in society of persons with disabilities, in particular women, and therefore their inclusion and enjoyment of rights in equality with others. National social protection floors aiming at the inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities could play a critical role in enabling States to comply with their obligations regarding the rights of persons with disabilities. However, according to the latest estimates, only 27.8 per cent of persons with severe disabilities worldwide receive a disability benefit to have a minimum level of income security. 10 C. A human rights-based approach to ensuring equality and inclusiveness 25. Leaving no one behind is not only about reaching the poorest of the poor. It also requires all stakeholders to work together, in a coherent and coordinated manner, in combating discrimination and rising inequalities within and among countries. In 2017, the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination adopted a system-wide framework to put the imperatives of addressing inequality and discrimination at the heart of efforts to support Member States in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. 11 The framework emphasizes that progress for all population groups needs to be supported by United Nations entities in-country, through the provision of legal, policy, institutional and other measures aimed at promoting equality and non-discrimination in accordance with international human rights. A human rights-based approach to leaving no one behind entails, inter alia: (a) disaggregating data to identify who is being excluded or discriminated 8 9 10 11 See ILO, Women at Work: Trends 2016 (Geneva, 2016). See ILO, “Universal social protection for children: Argentina”, fact sheet, December 2016; and Promoting Inclusion through Social Actions: Report on the World Social Situation 2018 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.17.IV.2). ILO, World Social Protection Report 2017-19: Universal Social Protection to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (Geneva, 2017), p. 69. Leaving No One behind: Equality and Non-discrimination at the Heart of Sustainable Development (New York, 2017). 7