ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The present guide is the product of a two-year collaboration between the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) – the institutional expression of a global commitment to human
rights – and the Equal Rights Trust – the leading international civil society organization supporting those
working to secure the adoption and implementation of equality laws.
The research, development and drafting of the guide was carried out by a joint team. For OHCHR, the lead
on drafting and development was taken by the Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Section, in consultation with
a broad range of its staff working in the field and at headquarters. For the Equal Rights Trust, two members
of staff – Jim Fitzgerald and Sam Barnes – were responsible for drafting and development, a process that also
drew on the expertise of the Trust’s wide-ranging networks, with particular thanks due to Latham & Watkins
law firm for its valuable research on part one of the guide.
The process of developing the guide – from conceptualization through to final review – was guided by an
independent advisory committee composed of leading experts in anti-discrimination and equality law, which
included experienced advocates, academics and activists and individuals with experience in government,
non-governmental and intergovernmental settings, representing a broad range of different legal systems and
traditions. OHCHR and the Equal Rights Trust wish to acknowledge and thank the members of the Committee
for their support throughout the process: Catalina Devandas Aguilar, Niall Crowley, Sandra Fredman, Nazila
Ghanea, Nahla Haidar, Margarita S. Ilieva, Imrana Jalal, Tarun Khaitan, Abdul Koroma, Gay McDougall,
Vitit Muntarbhorn and Grace Mumbi Ngugi.
OHCHR and the Equal Rights Trust also wish to thank an additional group of experts who volunteered
their time to review, comment upon and validate all or parts of the guide, in particular: Barbora Bukovská
(Article 19: International Centre against Censorship); Joshua Castellino (Minority Rights Group); Sophia
Fernandes (Westminster Foundation for Democracy); Beth Gaze (Melbourne Law School); Nena Georgantzi
(AGE Platform Europe); Tamas Kadar (European Network of Equality Bodies); John Kinahan (Forum 18);
Kseniya Kirichenko (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association); Antonia Kirkland
(Equality Now); Susheela Math and Julia Harrington Reddy (Open Society Justice Initiative); Dragana Ciric
Milovanovic (Disability Rights International); David Oppenheimer (Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality
and Anti-Discrimination Law); Simon Rice (University of Sydney); Bridget Sleap (HelpAge International); and
Meghan Campbell (Oxford Human Rights Hub).
OHCHR and the Equal Rights Trust gratefully acknowledge the many States, national human rights institutions,
civil society organizations, United Nations entities and human rights defenders that provided information
during the preparation of the guide, either by responding to calls for information, and/or by taking part in
one or more of the four consultation meetings.
Finally, OHCHR and the Equal Rights Trust wish to recognize and thank all those survivors of discrimination
whose experience, activism and litigation has helped to develop understanding of the right to non-discrimination
and to shape the content of comprehensive anti-discrimination law. The legal standards that we set out here
are the product of their struggle and we dedicate the guide to them.
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