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.
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), General Recommendation No. 39 (2022) on the Rights of Indigenous Women and Girls, CEDAW/C/GC/39, 31 October 2022, https://www.refworld.org/legal/general/cedaw/2022/149168 [accessed 30 April 2026]
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UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNHCR's Dialogues with Refugee Women, 14 February 2013, https://www.refworld.org/policy/strategy/unhcr/2013/17173 [accessed 30 April 2026]
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United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); Bureau for Europe, Ensuring Gender Sensitivity in the Context of Refugee Status Determination and Resettlement. Module 1: Ensuring Gender Sensitivity in Refugee Status Determination (Resource Package), 1, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), October 2005, https://www.refworld.org/reference/manuals/unhcr/2005/91878 [accessed 30 April 2026]