1 Answers
Gender equality is the notion that all men and women should receive equal treatment in all aspects and that one should not be discriminated based on their sex. Gender equality is a human right and this is recognised by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The right to be free of discrimination on the grounds of sex is found pursuant to Article 2 of the declaration.
Gender equality is increasingly framed as being central to the realisation of both modernisation and economic efficiency, and its achievement presented as a key to good governance. As a result, the New Zealand government has implemented institutional mechanisms to promote the advancement of women and gender equality. In 2016, New Zealand was ranked 9th out of a total of 144 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report which ranks countries in terms of women's gender equality in the population under four heads: economic participation, health, education and political empowerment.
Albeit, New Zealand has committed to supporting the work of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and other key United Nations organisations in agreeing to uphold the UDHR. It has participated in human rights deliberations at the United Nations General Assembly and in the annual session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and proposes to support the rights of women, children and indigenous people.
Further, New Zealand ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on 10 January 1985, and its optional protocol on 7 September 2000. The Ministry for Women is responsible for administrating the CEDAW and its Optional Protocol. The committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women makes recommendations on any issues affecting women that the state should address. As of April 2015, the committee has made 29 general recommendations on issues affecting women that states should devote more attention to.