PROTECTING MINORITY RIGHTS – A Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation II. SPECIFIC MEASURES A. Participation and representation in public life Both international human rights treaties and the United Nations human rights mechanisms more broadly stress the centrality of the empowerment and participation of rights holders as part of States’ legal obligations to eliminate discrimination. This is true not only for reasons of justice and due remedy, but also because ensuring the representation and inclusion of groups exposed to discrimination in public and political life plays an important role in challenging prejudice, stereotypes and stigma. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities all establish a number of requirements for States in this respect. Article 2 (1) (e) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination obliges States parties to “encourage, where appropriate, integrationist multiracial organizations and movements and other means of eliminating barriers between races, and to discourage anything which tends to strengthen racial division”. This duty to support and strengthen civil society movements and activism complements the obligation contained in article 5 (c) to guarantee the equal enjoyment of political rights, which include “in particular the right to participate in elections – to vote and to stand for election – on the basis of universal and equal suffrage, to take part in the Government as well as in the conduct of public affairs at any level and to have equal access to public service”. Article 7 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women establishes a broad obligation on States to eliminate discrimination and ensure to women equality in “the political and public life of the country”. This includes ensuring equality in the right to vote and stand for election and “to participate in the formulation of government policy and the implementation thereof and to hold public office and perform all public functions at all levels of government”. Article 7 (c) requires States to ensure the equal right “to participate in non-governmental organizations and associations concerned with the public and political life of the country”. Article 8 goes further requiring States to “take all appropriate measures” to ensure women’s equal “opportunity to represent their Governments at the international level and to participate in the work of international organizations”. These obligations, taken together, reflect the value of such equal participation not only for those women who participate in public life, but the role that greater visible representation can play in challenging deep-seated prejudices and stereotypes. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities includes several provisions aimed at equal representation of people with disabilities and their representative organizations. Under article 29, States “guarantee to persons with disabilities political rights and the opportunity to enjoy them on an equal basis with others”. This includes both obligations to ensure non-discrimination in all aspects of political life and an obligation to “promote actively an environment in which persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in the conduct of public affairs”, including through participation in non-governmental organizations and political parties. Article 33 (3) sets out that “civil society, in particular persons with disabilities and their representative organizations, shall be involved and participate fully in the monitoring process” of the implementation of the Convention. Indeed, the participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations is a central feature of both the Convention and of commitments made throughout the wider human rights system to combat discrimination on grounds of disability. As the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities has noted: The active participation of persons with disabilities in decision-making is a requirement of the human rights model of disability. Participation is addressed as a cross-cutting issue in the Convention; it is recognized as a general principle (art. 3 (c)) and as an obligation for consulting and actively involving persons with disabilities in decision-making processes of their concerns (arts. 4 (3) and 33 (3)). Efforts to involve persons with disabilities in decision-making processes are important, not only because they result in better decisions and more efficient outcomes, but also because they promote citizenship, agency and empowerment.1247 1247 196 A/HRC/43/41, para. 46.