Human rights

Commonwealth books on human rights aim to strengthen the respect, protection and promotion of human rights across the Commonwealth. 

Series title: Gender Equality in the Commonwealth
Number within series: 1
Publication date: 18 March 2019
Format: Paperback

This report documents progress made by the Commonwealth’s 53 member countries in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. It records performances on available indicators covering four themes: women in leadership, women’s economic empowerment, ending violence against women and girls and gender and climate change.

Contributor: Niaz A. Shah
Publication date: 19 March 2018
Format: Paperback

The Judicial Resource Book on Violence Against Women for Asia deepens our understanding of the forms of VAWG and raises awareness of the role that the judiciary can play in tackling them. It can be used by judicial officers and other professionals to promote justice and fairness in the judicial process for women who have been victims of violence.

Publication date: 9 January 2017
Format: Paperback

The Judicial Bench Book on Violence Against Women in Commonwealth East Africa situates VAW in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. By placing VAW within the socio-cultural and legal context of the region, the bench book will enhance the ability of judicial officers to handle cases of VAW, both within a human rights as well as a gender perspective.

Publication date: 17 October 2013
Format: Paperback

This publication will help policy-makers and development practitioners to make informed decisions about programme design and delivery so that beneficiaries’ access to and participation in social protection mechanisms are fully realised.

Contributor: Richard Rieser
Publication date: 19 March 2012
Format: Paperback

This revised and expanded second edition of Implementing Inclusive Education shows how Commonwealth countries are attempting to undertake inclusion in education, and will encourage all those charged with ensuring education for all to make certain that disabled children are fully included in all aspects of the education system.

Publication date: 11 October 2011
Format: Paperback

At the centre of the HIV/AIDS response are the 12 million people who need care and treatment. Yet their carers are often invisible to the system that relies on them. Focusing on the carer directs assistance where it is most effective and most needed, will respect human rights, and will help achieve the millennium development goals in health.

Publication date: 15 July 2011
Format: Paperback

This book examines the UN Human Rights Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism two years after its inception. It draws together the lessons of Commonwealth countries’ experiences in 2008 and 2009, and hopes and expectations for the future of UPR.

Contributor: Purna Sen, Jena Patel
Publication date: 15 December 2010
Format: Paperback

Human Rights in the Commonwealth 2010 presents a survey of the state of human rights, as indicated by each country’s formal engagement with the main international standards and norms, across the fifty-four member countries of the association.

Publication date: 1 June 2010
Format: Paperback

CEDAW - the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women - is a powerful international human rights instrument that reflects a global determination to achieve gender equality. This book looks at the cultural and legal challenges relating to the implementation of CEDAW, and the individual approaches adopted.

Publication date: 1 December 2009
Format: Paperback

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) acknowledged the modern understanding of childhood. It formulated what children can expect as a set of rights as distinct from welfare or kindness from adults. This book examines the importance of child rights, and provides an overview of the key themes of the CRC.

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