Status of Communities Discrimninated on Work and Descent in Asia- Report 2023

Asia is the largest continent, with the majority of the Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (CDWD) population in the world.The concept of equality does define its concepts of non-discrimination and safeguards through legal procedures and standards. Marginalized communities could achieve equality by abolishing discrimination in all forms.

However, when discrimination becomes core to the identity of the system itself, there needs to be a combined effort by all sections to eliminate such systems in society. Caste is one such concept in South Asia, which has a cultural anchor that established the status quo, even after states have implemented legal provisions and targeted policies for half a decade. Similar concepts exist, such as caste around the world called communities discriminated on work and descent (CDWD).

The term ‘Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (CDWD)' evolved from the decadeslong struggles against caste discrimination in South Asia and Buraku bias in Japan. In this sense, the communities in the Asian continent played an initiation of the Internationalization of CDWD as we
know it today.