International Gender and Women's Studies Topics : United Nations
UN Conventions for Human Rights
These are some of the main United Nations Conventions related to women and International Human Rights.
To find the status of ratification, reservations and declarations for each convention, you can either:
1. Go to the Status of Ratification Interactive Dashboard. Choose the convention from the dropdown "Select a treaty" box.
or
2. Go to the United Nations Treaty Collection Depositary. Use the Title Search to look up the convention you want to know more about.
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Universal Declaration of Human RightsAdopted by the UN in 1948
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International Convenant on Civil and Political RightsAdopted by the UN in 1966
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International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural RightsAdopted by the UN in 1966
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International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial DiscriminationAdopted by the UN in 1965
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Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against WomenAdopted by the UN in 1979
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Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or PunishmentAdopted by the UN in 1984
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Convention on the Rights of the ChildAdopted by the UN in 1989
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Convention on the Rights of Persons with DisabilitiesAdopted by the UN in 2006
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Convention against Transnational Organized CrimeAdopted by the UN in 2000. Includes:
-Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (protocol starts on 49th page of PDF)
-Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air (protocol starts on 61st page of PDF) -
Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of RefugeesConvention adopted by the UN in 1951, protocol in 1967
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Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of MarriageAdopted by the UN in 1962
UN divisions and sites with women-focused information
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UN WomenUN Women is the UN organization delivering programmes, policies and standards that uphold women’s human rights and ensure that every woman and girl lives up to her full potential.
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Asia and the Pacific Gender PortalAn initiative of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific to support governments and stakeholders in the region in gender equality and women’s empowerment.
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UN-Habitat - GenderUN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) empowers women through facilitation of gender related projects and activities with a special focus on equal accessibility, public transport and safety.
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Disarmament and genderFrom the Office for Disarmament Affairs
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UN Economic Commission for Europe - Gender EqualityWork towards advancing the situation of women and men in the economies of Europe through capacity building, policy dialogue and data collection.
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Focal Point for Women and Gender Focal PointsProvide strategic and technical support to UN entities on issues related to gender parity and the creation of enabling environments
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UN NewsUnited Nation News website - search for women-related articles or go to the Topics --> Women page
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Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN - GenderMaking gender equality and women's empowerment a reality for sustainable agriculture, food security and nutrition
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UN Peacekeeping - Women, Peace and SecurityEnsure women’s priorities are central to peace and security decisions at all levels; address social, cultural and political barriers and risks that limit women’s full participation in sustaining peace.
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Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girlsFrom the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - Promoting gender equality is central to the humanitarian community’s commitment to protect and help people affected by emergencies
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UN Population FundThe UN's sexual and reproductive health agency - go to the Data section, scroll down and choose a topic
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Population Division of the Dept. of Economic and Social AffairsSee the Publications and Data tabs for information on fertility, family planning, marriage, and more topics
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ReliefWeb - GenderUnderstanding how crises affect women and men, girls and boys of different ages and disparities
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UN Research Institute for Social DevelopmentSee the Research and Library sections for policy papers, summaries of conference presentations, videos, and more
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Stop Rape NowUN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict - see the Digital Library for reports, press releases, and other documents
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UNICEFUnited Nations Children's Fund - Look at data under focus areas such as gender, search reports by topic and country, or do keyword searches of the whole site.
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UN Refugee AgencyDedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution. - Search for "refugee women" or other keywords
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World survey on the role of women in developmentPresented every five years to the Economic and Financial Committee of the UN General Assembly - a research product covering economic and development issues with a gender perspective.
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United Nations main websiteFor general information about the UN, its structure, offices, etc.
UN Digital Library
United Nations Digital Library provides access to the full text of many documents published by the United Nations, including votes, speeches, public domain publications, and more.
- Most documents are from the 1940s and afterwards, but some go back as far as the 1870s.
- You can narrow your search by resource type or specific UN body.
- Use the Advanced Search to choose a specific set of dates, select multiple types of resources, and more.
Citing UN documents
Not every citation manual provides exact examples of how to cite United Nations documents, but the following resources may help. You can check the index of your citation manual for the sections that deal with "United Nations" or "government documents" for examples and guidance.
Also, remember to apply your style's rules about citing electronic publications to any citations of government documents. In some cases, this could mean including a URL or "date accessed" information.
GENERAL
The Complete Guide to Citing Government Information Resources: a Manual for Social Science & Business Research. Bethesda, MD: LexisNexis; Congressional Information Service, c2002.
- Best sections for examples: section L3.1, page 34, and section 5.3d, pages 129-131. Also check the index for "United Nations" and "masthead documents."
- This guide is not specific to any one style, but gives some examples and principles of how to cite UN materials.
APA
Nothing specific about UN documents.
Chicago Manual of Style
Chicago Manual of Style Online. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006-.
- Section 14.302 covers treaties (CEDAW can be considered a treaty).
- Section 14.317 addresses "international legal and public documents online."
In print: The Chicago Manual of Style. 17th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017.
MLA
MLA Handbook. 9th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2021.
Section 5.5.20 has general guidelines on citing several kinds of government publications.
Turabian
A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Kate L. Turabian. 7th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
- Index term for all government documents is "public documents."
- Government/public documents section is on pages 205-215; "international bodies" are covered on page 214.