2006. Article (3) thereof referred to ensuring the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment
of all civil and political rights set forth in the Covenant. In addition, the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which the Kingdom of Bahrain acceded pursuant to Law
No. (10) of 2007, affirmed the undertaking of the States Parties to the Covenant to ensure the equal
right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights set forth in it.
10. In all cases, the principle of equal opportunity and non-discrimination in its abstract sense is not
always sufficient to achieve de facto and substantive equality between men and women, which
means that at times, or in specific circumstances, the State is required to take special measures
aimed at achieving gender equality.
11.
The principle of equality and non-discrimination is one of the goals of the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals 2030; the fifth goal therein stipulates to “Achieve gender equality
and empower all women and girls”. This goal, as developed by the United Nations, consists of
a set of targets that the States need to pursue and realize through the elimination of all forms of
discrimination against women and girls everywhere, and the elimination of all forms of violence
against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including human trafficking, sexual
and other forms of exploitation.
12. In addition, these targets include the recognition and appreciation of unpaid care and domestic
work through the provision of public services, infrastructures, and social protection policies and the
promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family, as nationally appropriate;
and ensuring women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership, on an
equal footing with men, at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life.
13. Moreover, these targets include ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health services
and reproductive rights, as agreed in accordance with the Program of Action of the International
Conference on Population and Development, and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome
documents of their review conferences; and undertaking reforms to give women equal rights
to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of
property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws.
14. These targets also emphasize the enhancing the use of enabling technology, in particular information
and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women; and adopting sound
policies and enforceable legislation, and the strengthening of such existing policies and legislation
for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels.
15. It should be noted that the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs), is a Global Plan of Action
adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, and entered into force in January 2016.
It consists of (17) goals, and (169) targets, which principally aims at encouraging States over the
next fifteen years to take concrete and transformative actions towards building a more sustainable
world by bringing together all the relevant governmental and non-governmental bodies. The
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