UNHCR Protection Manual - Related sources

The present general recommendation provides guidance to States parties on legislative, policy and other relevant measures to ensure the implementation of their obligations in relation to the rights of Indigenous women and girls under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. There are an estimated 476.6 million Indigenous Peoples globally, of whom more than half (238.4 million) are women. Discrimination and violence are recurrent phenomena in the lives of many Indigenous women and girls living in rural, remote and urban areas. The present general recommendation applies to Indigenous women and girls both inside and outside Indigenous territories.

The research examined three countries (India, Egypt & Yemen) in which livelihoods assessments had been carried out, but where the right to work remains both out of reach for most urban refugees and a difficult topic on which to conduct advocacy, due to socio-economic conditions, the host government's position on integration or other factors. UNHCR has produced operational guidelines on urban livelihoods and is also creating practical guidelines on advocating for the right to work of displaced populations. This paper seeks to highlight challenges and opportunities in this area, and to contribute both to these guidelines and to the larger discussion around enhancing the space for realising urban refugees' right to work.