Annual Report 1999-2000 2.6 Indeed,in recent years,the clear and emphatic relationship between the promodon and protecdon ofhuman rights and human development has increasingly come to be recognized. The United Nations Human Development Reportfor the year 2000,for instance,expressly observes that human rights and human development'share a common vision and a common purpose—to secure freedom,well-being and dignity ofall people everywhere'. And it goes on to assert diat the first and foremostfreedom must be'freedom from discrimination',for without this the other freedoms essential to human development—freedom from want, freedom to develop and realize one's potendal,freedom fix)m fear ofthreats to personal safety, freedom from injustice and violations of the rule oflaw, freedom of thought and speech, freedom to secure decent work without exploitation—^\vill all remain elusive. 2.7 It is because ofthe centrality ofthe conceptoffreedom from discrimination to the vision ofthe Constitution and to human development that this section ofthis report will examine this matter further. While each ofthe grounds ofdiscrimination mendoned in Ardcle 14 of the Consdtution must be combated relendessly, and the Commission has been engaged in such a task since its establishment; the comments that follow will concentrate on freedom from discrimination on grounds ofgender and caste,as both ofthese matters have also been the subject ofobservations,during the period under revie^v,by treaty bodies established imder international conventions to which India is a party. In making the observadons that follow, the Commission would like to note thatno country or civilizadon has been free ofdiscriminadon. As the above-cited United Nadons report observes,'Every society has known racism,sexism, authoritarianism,xenopliobia—depriving men and women ofdieir dignity and freedom.And in all religions and cultures the struggle against oppression,injustice and discrimination has been common. The struggle condnues today in all countries, rich and poor.'' It is in tliis context, that the challenges confronting India must also be faced and overcome. DISCRIMINATIONI BASED ON GENDER 2.8 Gender discrimination, or the violation ofhuman rights based on sex, has now been medculously researched and documented.The evidence points to a pattern ofdiscrimination against women and girl diildren both within the family and outside,limitadons being imposed on their access to health care, nutridon, educadon and other essential rights. The female to male ratio in a country is an important indicator of gender sensitivity. Higher mortality rates forfemales in India are indicative ofdiscrimination and neglect ofwomen at practically every stage of their lives. In 1999, according to the United Nations Population Fund, the mortality rate for female children under five years ofage was 97 per 1000,as against 85 per 1000 for male children.Studies have established that higher female mortality in childhood actually occurs after the age of one and this has been shotvn to be the result of a 1 Human Development Report 2000, UNDP, Oxford University Press, p. 1. 4