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f) General Comment No. 16: The equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights (article 3) (2005)

(Adopted by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at the Thirty-fourth Session, E/C.12/2005/4, 11 August 2005)

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3. Obligation to fulfil

21. The obligation to fulfil requires States parties to take steps to ensure that in practice, men and women enjoy their economic, social and cultural rights on a basis of equality. Such steps should include:

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— To conduct human rights education and training programmes for judges and public officials;
— To conduct awareness-raising and training programmes on equality for workers involved in the realization of economic, social and cultural rights at the grass-roots level;
— To integrate, in formal and non-formal education, the principle of the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, and to promote equal participation of men and women, boys and girls, in schools and other education programmes;

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30. Article 13, paragraph 1, of the Covenant requires States parties to recognize the right of everyone to education and in paragraph 2 (a) stipulates that primary education shall be compulsory and available free to all. Implementing article 3, in relation to article 13, requires, inter alia, the adoption of legislation and policies to ensure the same admission criteria for boys and girls at all levels of education. States parties should ensure, in particular through information and awareness-raising campaigns, that families desist from giving preferential treatment to boys when sending their children to school, and that curricula promote equality and non-discrimination. States parties must create favourable conditions to ensure the safety of children, in particular girls, on their way to and from school.

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