II. GENERAL COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

•          CEDAW General Recommendation 19 (Eleventh session, 1992): Violence Against Women, A/47/38 (1992) 5 at paras. 21 and 24(o) and (q).

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21. Rural women are at risk of gender-based violence because traditional attitudes regarding the subordinate role of women that persist in many rural communities. Girls from rural communities are at special risk of violence and sexual exploitation when they leave the rural community to seek employment in towns.

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24. In light of these comments, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women recommends:

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(o) States parties should ensure that services for victims of violence are accessible to rural women and that where necessary special services are provided to isolated communities;

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(q) States parties should report on the risks to rural women, the extent and nature of violence and abuse to which they are subject, their need for and access to support and other services and the effectiveness of measures to overcome violence...

•          CEDAW General Recommendation 24 (Twentieth session, 1999): Article 2: Women and Health, A/54/38/Rev.1 part I (1999) 3 at paras. 7 and 28.

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7. The Committee notes that the full realization of women's right to health can be achieved only when States parties fulfil their obligation to respect, protect and promote women's fundamental human right to nutritional well-being throughout their life span by means of a food supply that is safe, nutritious and adapted to local conditions. Towards this end, States parties should take steps to facilitate physical and economic access to productive resources especially for rural women, and to otherwise ensure that the special nutritional needs of all women within their jurisdiction are met.

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28. When reporting on measures taken to comply with article 12, States parties are urged to recognize its interconnection with other articles in the Convention that have a bearing on women's health. Those articles include...article 14 (2) (b), which requires States parties to ensure access for rural women to adequate health care facilities, including information, counseling and services in family planning...

•          CEDAW General Recommendation 25 (Thirtieth session, 2004): Article 4, Paragraph 1: Temporary Special Measures, A/59/38 part I (2004) 78 at para. 38.

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38. States parties are reminded that temporary special measures should be adopted to accelerate the modification and elimination of cultural practices and stereotypical attitudes and behaviour that discriminate against or are disadvantageous for women. Temporary special measures should also be implemented in the areas of credit and loans, sports, culture and recreation, and legal awareness. Where necessary, such measures should be directed at women subjected to multiple discrimination, including rural women.

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•          CRC General Comment 3 (Thirty-second session, 2003): HIV/AIDS and the Rights of the Child, A/59/41 (2004) 89 at para. 21.

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21. In some countries, even when child- and adolescent-friendly HIV-related services are available, they are not sufficiently accessible to children with disabilities, indigenous children, children belonging to minorities, children living in rural areas, children living in extreme poverty or children who are otherwise marginalized within the society. In others, where the health system’s overall capacity is already strained, children with HIV have been routinely denied access to basic health care. States parties must ensure that services are provided to the maximum extent possible to all children living within their borders, without discrimination, and that they sufficiently take into account differences in gender, age and the social, economic, cultural and political context in which children live.

•          ICESCR General Comment 4 (Sixth session, 1991): Article 11 (1): The Right to Adequate Housing, E/1992/23 (1991) 114 at para. 8(f). For text of General Comment, see ADEQUATE OR DECENT STANDARD OF LIVING - FOOD, CLOTHING, SHELTER.

•          ICESCR General Comment 14 (Twenty-second session, 2000): Article 12: The Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health, E/2001/22 (2000) 128 at paras. 12(b) and 36. For text of General Comment, see HEALTH - GENERAL.

•          ICESCR General Comment 15 (Twenty-ninth session, 2002): The Right to Water (arts. 11 and 12 of the Covenant), E/2003/22 (2002) 120 at paras. 16(c), 16(f), 20, 26 and 29. For text of General Comment, see ADEQUATE OR DECENT STANDARD OF LIVING - FOOD, CLOTHING, SHELTER.