GENEVA (7 December 2022) – Independent United Nations experts today urged all UN member states to prioritise enacting, enforcing and implementing anti-discrimination legislation, as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released new guidance on how to meet commitments to implement effective legal frameworks. Ahead of this month’s anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – and its milestone 75th next year – the experts made the following statement: “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ‘common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations’ begins with the proclamation that ‘all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights’. The Declaration recognises that all people are equal before the law and entitled without discrimination to equal protection of the law and provides that all human rights must be afforded to everyone without discrimination. The 2030 Agenda and Declaration for Sustainable Development, with its pledge that ’no one will be left behind’, places equality at the heart of the global effort to eradicate poverty, secure human rights and protect the planet. These declarations, published 65 years apart, demonstrate States’ recognition that efforts to create just, inclusive and peaceful societies, to eliminate poverty and to ensure enjoyment of human rights for all, necessitate to focus on addressing inequality. Yet in 2022, despite these repeated commitments, many United Nations member states lack effective and genuinely comprehensive legal frameworks for the prevention of discrimination and promotion of equality. Comprehensive anti-discrimination laws translate international legal commitments to equality into actionable and enforceable rights under national law. In the absence of such frameworks, discrimination is likely to persist on myriad grounds and in all areas of life. A wide range of grounds have been recognised under international law, including age; birth; civil, family or carer status; colour; descent, including caste; disability; economic status; ethnicity; gender and gender expression; gender identity; genetic or other predisposition towards illness; health status; indigenous origin; language; marital status; maternity or paternity status; migrant status; minority status; national origin; nationality; place of residence; political or other opinions; pregnancy; property; race; refugee or asylum status; religion or belief; sex; sex characteristics; sexual orientation; social origin; social situation; status as a victim of slavery or human trafficking; work or occupation, or any other status. In a general context of the escalating global backlash against human rights and equality norms, as independent human rights experts mandated to work on diverse and wide-ranging themes, every area of our work is touched by questions of equality and non-discrimination. The ban on discrimination is a red line running through every part of the international human rights legal order. Cases and scenarios involving questions of inequality are the substance of our daily work. One year remains before the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We call on all United Nations Member States to take this opportunity to renew and reinforce their commitment to a society in which all are free and equal in rights and in which no one is left behind, including those affected by intersecting or multiple forms of discrimination. In this perspective, we invite all Member States that have not yet done so to ratify international human rights treaties and recognise their procedures and translate them into national laws and policies. In calling on all United Nations Member States to adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, we direct them to new guidance issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: Protecting Minority Rights: A Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation. This guide provides clear and complete guidance for States on the laws which are required to meet their obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the rights to equality and non-discrimination and to deliver their ambitions to leave no one behind. It summarises international legal standards and provides accessible guidance on the necessary scope and content of these laws. We urge States to use the Guide and relevant human rights standards as practical tools for the development and reform of their legal frameworks on equality and non-discrimination. With one year remaining before the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration: We call on all States which have yet to develop comprehensive anti-discrimination laws to make this a priority for the coming year. We urge States now developing, drafting or consulting on comprehensive anti-discrimination laws to accelerate the process; and We ask States which have enacted laws aiming to provide comprehensive protection to review these in order to ensure that they are effective and consistent with international law, and to ensure effective implementation and adequate remedies. The Practical Guide provides an essential roadmap, detailing the necessary elements of anti-discrimination legislation which is comprehensive, effective and consistent with the requirements of international human rights law. We urge States to take the publication of this guidance as a catalyst to action.” ENDS The experts: Ms. Nazila Ghanea, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief; Fernand de Varennes, Special Rapporteur on minority issues; Saad Alfarargi, Special Rapporteur on the right to development; Livingstone Sewanyana, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order; Alexandra Xanthaki, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights; Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Victor Madrigal-Borloz, Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights; Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression; David Boyd, Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment; Michael Fakhri, Special Rapporteur on the right to food; Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism; Claudia Mahler, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons; Alice Jill Edwards, Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; Alice Cruz, Special Rapporteur on the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members; Muluka-Anne Miti-Drummond, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism; Dorothy Estrada Tanck (Chair), Ivana Radačić (Vice-Chair), Elisabeth Broderick, Meskerem Geset Techane and Melissa Upreti, Working Group on discrimination against women and girls; Fernanda Hopenhaym (Chairperson), Pichamon Yeophantong (Vice-Chairperson), Elżbieta Karska, Robert McCorquodale and Damilola Olawuyi, Working Group on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises; Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; Tomoya Obokata, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery; Mama Fatima Singhateh; Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material; Felipe González Morales, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants; Ashwini K.P., Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; Reem Alsalem,Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences; Aua Baldé (Chair-Rapporteur), Gabriella Citroni (Vice-Chair), Angkhana Neelapaijit, Grażyna Baranowska, Luciano Hazan, Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; Paula Gaviria Betancur, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons; Vitit Muntarbhorn, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia; Tom Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar; Alioune Tine, Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Mali; Isha Dyfan, Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia; Committee on Enforced Disappearances; Committee on the Rights of the Child. For more information and media requests, please contact Erik Fattorelli (erik.fattorelli@un.org) or write to hrc-sr-freedomofreligion@un.org For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts, please contact Renato Rosario De Souza (renato.rosariodesouza@un.org) or Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org) Follow news related to the UN"s independent human rights experts on Twitter @UN_SPExperts Concerned about the world we live in? Then STAND UP for someone"s rights today. #Standup4humanrights and visit the web page at http://www.standup4humanrights.org