59th session of the Human Rights Council Interactive Dialogue with the Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls

Ministry Statements & Speeches:

I am pleased to deliver this statement on behalf of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

We thank the Working Group for its report on the “gendered dimensions of care and support”. Care and support, paid and unpaid, are fundamental to the wellbeing and prosperity of all people.

We share the Working Group’s concern that women and girls, including older women, face inequalities when providing and requiring care and support. Care and support systems must uphold all women and girls’ human rights and fundamental freedoms. This includes ensuring their safety and ensuring the availability, inclusivity and accessibility of health services, including in the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights.

We are also concerned that young women and girls who are required to provide unpaid and paid care work, disproportionately experience barriers to accessing and staying in formal education and gaining qualifications towards decent work.

The provision of care and support must not see care recipients as passive “dependents”. An approach that addresses the needs of all care recipients, including women and girls with disabilities, must ensure the meaningful participation and leadership of those providing and requiring care and support in decisions about that care and support.

We support the Working Group’s call to transform care and support systems to enable all women and girls to participate in society with dignity and autonomy, and with the full enjoyment of their human rights.

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