rights can be ensured and protected. They key message of the recommendations is that we all
have to work together and that we all have a role to play to ensure that these recommendations
are implemented.
While are appreciate the holistic approach visible in the Draft Recommendations, I wish to
highlight that the issue of minority women and the process of gender integration in these draft
recommendations needs further deliberations. The current Draft Recommendations highlight the
issue of gender and minority women in several places such as in paragraph 14, 17, 19, 25, 28
and a few other paragraphs, the gender-specific challenges that minority women face in all areas
of their life is not fully addressed in all sections of the draft recommendations. Since women
face multiple discriminations because they are a minority and because they are women, we
strongly recommend that the gender-specific obstacles of minority women should be highlighted
and integrated in each section of these draft recommendations. It is well documented that
minority women face multiple forms of discriminations because in most countries of the world
women are already marginalized and are systematically excluded from the power structures at
all levels. Therefore there is an extra need to highlight the gender-specific issues, discriminations,
needs and priorities in order to formulate practical recommendations that will benefit minority
women and girls. For example the section B, paragraph 34 that highlights how national human
rights institutions should work with the government in times of crisis, a special focus on the
situation of minority women in time of crisis is critically important because we know from our
first hand experience of working in the field that the most marginalized are often the most