PROTECTING MINORITY RIGHTS – A Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation Rights, which both use the same list of grounds.125 The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, adopted in 1965, additionally recognizes “descent” and “ethnic origin” as forms of racial discrimination prohibited by the Convention.126 Subsequent treaties have recognized an increasing range of grounds. Under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, discrimination based on marital status, pregnancy and maternity (or paternity) status127 is prohibited.128 Article 2 (1) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child explicitly recognizes disability as a ground of discrimination, a position substantially re-enforced through the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2006.129 The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, adopted in 1990, captures many of these developments, restating a majority of the grounds listed above and further recognizing age, economic position130 and nationality as protected.131 In addition to providing an explicit list of grounds, many of the core human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, also prohibit discrimination on the basis of “other status”.132 Several regional human rights instruments contain similarly worded provisions.133 The term “other status” indicates that the list of grounds set out in the Covenants is illustrative, rather than comprehensive; allowing new grounds to be recognized as understanding of discrimination evolves.134 IDENTIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL GROUNDS OF DISCRIMINATION: INTERNATIONAL, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL PRACTICE In its general comment No. 20 (2009), the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights highlighted the importance of “a flexible approach” to the understanding of the term “other status.” According to the Committee: The nature of discrimination varies according to context and evolves over time. A flexible approach to the ground of “other status” is thus needed in order to capture other forms of differential treatment that cannot be reasonably and objectively justified and are of a comparable nature to the expressly recognized grounds in article 2, paragraph 2. These additional grounds are commonly recognized when they reflect the experience of social groups that are vulnerable and have suffered and continue to suffer marginalization.135 20 125 Article 1 of the ILO Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), contains a similar, albeit reduced, list of grounds. 126 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, art. 1 (1). 127 In this publication, we use the term “maternity or paternity status”, reflecting the phrasing adopted by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in its general comment No. 6 (2018). In its concluding observations, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has urged States to ensure equal maternity and paternity leave as a means to address gender inequality and women’s exclusion form the marketplace. See, for example, CEDAW/C/PRK/CO/2-4, paras. 35–36. 128 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, art. 11 (2). 129 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, art. 4 (1). 130 Referred to as “economic situation” in general comment No. 20 (2009) of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and “economic status” in general comment No. 6 (2018) of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The term “economic status” is used in the present publication. 131 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, art. 1 (1). The Convention also prohibits discrimination on the basis of “conviction”, a ground that is contiguous with the characteristic of religion or belief protected under a number of other international instruments. 132 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, arts. 2 (1) and 26; and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 2 (2). See also International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, art. 1 (1); and Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 2 (1). 133 Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights and article 1 (1) of Protocol No. 12 thereto also prohibit discrimination on the basis of “other status”. Each instrument uses the phrase “such as” to indicate that the list of grounds is illustrative rather than exhaustive. This is also true of article 21 (1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which does not use the term “other status”. Article 1 (1) of the American Convention on Human Rights prohibits discrimination on the basis of a set list of grounds “or any other social condition”. Article 1 (1) of the Inter-American Convention against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance drops the word “social” to prohibit discrimination based on “any other condition”. 134 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 20 (2009), para. 27. 135 Ibid.