The Working Group on discrimination against women and girls, in preparation for its thematic report to be presented at the 53rd session of the Human Rights Council in June 2023, will be examining the topic of women’s and girls’ human security in the context of poverty and inequality. Human security can be understood as the protection from severe and critical threats encountered by persons and communities, and it encompasses economic security, food security, health security, environmental security, personal security, community security, and political security. The human security approach means creating systems that give people the building blocks of survival, livelihood and dignity. Human security is comprehensive, multidimensional, context-specific, and prevention-oriented. The common understanding of the concept reached by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in 2012 (A/Res/66/290) affirms that human security includes the right of people to live in freedom and dignity, free from poverty and despair, stressing that all individuals, in particular those living in situations of vulnerability, are entitled to an equal opportunity to enjoy all their rights, and it specifically asserts that human security ‘equally considers’ all human rights: civil, political, economic, social and cultural. As such, the scope of this questionnaire will cover the various aspects of risks experienced by women and girls living in poverty and inequality in relation to the enjoyment and fulfilment of their human rights. For more information on the report, please refer to the concept note.

In this regard, the Working Group would like to seek inputs from the States, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other stakeholders, such as National Human Rights Institutions, international economic institutions, and academic institutions or human rights clinics, to inform the preparation of the report in line with its mandate to maintain a constructive approach and dialogue with States and other stakeholders. The Working Group would greatly appreciate it if you could reply by 31 October 2022 in a Word document of no more than 2,500 words to the following email address: [email protected]. Responses to the questionnaire will be made publicly available at the time of the report publication, unless requested otherwise.

Download the questionnaire (PDF):
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