Part I The human rights of women and girls Chapter 3: The institutional framework for women’s and girls’ human rights KEY QUESTIONS • How do the United Nations human rights mechanisms help protect women’s and girls’ human rights? • How does the CEDAW Committee function? • What other specialized mechanisms identify and respond to violations of women’s and girls’ human rights? • What avenues are available to complain about violations of women’s and girls’ human rights? The international legal framework around women’s and girls’ human rights described in Chapter 2 is overseen by a range of different mechanisms and procedures, operating at both the international and the regional levels. Some of these procedures are specifically focused on the rights of women and girls, while others deal with the full range of human rights or with a particular issue or group that has special relevance for women and girls and their rights. Part A: The international human rights system 3.1. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL The Human Rights Council is a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly. It is the principal intergovernmental body responsible for human rights within the United Nations system. The Council was established in 2006 by General Assembly resolution 60/251 to replace the former Commission on Human Rights. It is a political body, with its membership consisting of governmental representatives. The Council meets regularly in Geneva and is also able to hold special sessions. It is mandated to: • Promote universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of any kind and in a fair and equal manner • Address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations, and to make recommendations about them • Promote the effective coordination and the mainstreaming of human rights within the United Nations system. Human Rights Council resolution 6/30 – on integrating the human rights of women throughout the United Nations system – commits the Council to incorporate into its programme of work “sufficient and adequate time, at a minimum an annual full-day meeting, to discuss the human rights of women, including measures that can be adopted by States and other stakeholders [such as NHRIs], to address human rights violations experienced by women” and “an annual discussion on the integration of a gender perspective throughout its work and that of its mechanisms, including the evaluation of progress made and challenges experienced”.62 The first annual meeting took place in 2008 at the Council’s seventh session and focused on the elimination of violence against women in all its forms and manifestations. 62 Human Rights Council resolution 6/30, paras. 20 and 22. Chapter 3: The institutional framework for women’s and girls’ human rights | 25