Unifem

1. The Charter of the United Nations
2. The International Bill of Rights
3. Treaties and their monitoring bodies

Through these apparatuses, assigned UN  members commit themselves to upholding and promoting the principles of gender equality.

The Charter of the United Nations was signed on 26th June 1945 in San Francisco and came into force on 24th October 1945. It was the first global treaty which recognised equality between women and men. It declares the United Nation’s ambition to “reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained.”

International Bill of Rights
The International Bill of Rights, established after World War II  sets out a series of declarations, covenants and protocols in an attempt to articulate a notion of universal human rights and enshrine values of equality. The International Bill of Rights consists of five core areas:

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948
The UDHR was the first comprehensive statement to articulate a series of inalienable human rights. The UDHR is not a treaty and is therefore not directly legally binding on member States. It has however been invoked on a number of matters of international human rights law, and has therefore come to hold sway as a binding force through customary international law.

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966
Enshrined in The  International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights  is a belief that there is a universal right to: an adequate standard of living, an education and safe working conditions.

The ICESCR requires member States to take legislative steps to make progress in these areas.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966
The International Covenant Civil and Political Rights is a binding treaty designed to protect civil and political rights, the right to freedom of conscience and religion. The right to be free from torture and the right to a free trial. While binding, not all of the rights outlined in the Covenant are considered absolute. The right not to be held in slavery and the right to be free from torture are considered absolute, while in other areas there are considered to be limitations in certain situations. It may be considered reasonable to limit certain rights if it is necessary in the name of protecting national security or the welfare of a democratic society.

The ICCPR further contains two optional protocols, which establishes an extra set of obligations for signatory countries.

Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
The first Optional Protocol  enables the citizens of signatory countries to direct complaints to the United Nations, if they believe their rights to have been violated by their government.

Australia agreed to be bound by this protocol in 1991.

Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty
The Second Optional Protocol commits the signatory State to eliminate the death penalty.

Treaties
There are nine core international human rights treaties, one of which has not yet entered into force (on enforced disappearance). A treaty is an international legal instrument which legally binds those States who chose to accept its obligations. Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, all UN Member States have ratified at least one core international human rights treaty, and 80 percent have ratified four or more. Some of the treaties are supplemented by optional protocols dealing with specific concerns.

There are nine core treaties:

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1969
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women 1979
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment 1984
Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their GFamilies.
International Convention  for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

To find out more about UN Treaties and Women's Rights please see the resources below.

New Internationalist Magazine guide has resources on gender, girls and women