CDWD Women and the Beijing+30 Review: Persistent Gaps in National Reports

The 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) in 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. As governments and stakeholders meet to assess global progress on gender equality, the continued exclusion of women from Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (CDWD) remains a concern. To…

How has The Gambia progressed in recognising CDWD rights: UPR Fact sheets

How has The Gambia progressed in recognising CDWD rights: UPR Fact sheets

The Gambia continues to grapple with deeply rooted caste and descent-based discrimination (DWD), a pervasive issue affecting marginalized communities across the country. Despite national and international commitments to eradicate such discrimination, systemic inequalities persist, particularly in education, gender equality, political representation, and protection from violence. Communities identified as “slave castes” face widespread stigma and exclusion-especially…

Understanding the many faces of poverty

Understanding the many faces of poverty

Understanding the many faces of poverty Discrimination based on work and descent (DWD) is the UN terminology used in international contexts to describe the systemic marginalization experienced by certain communities, like Roma in Europe, Dalits in Asia, Burakumin in Japan, Haratin in Africa, and Quilombola in Brazil, due to their caste or similar inherited forms…

Dalit Women in South Asia – Access to Economic Rights Focus on Land Higher Education and Employable Skills for Livelihood

This study attempts to draw attention to the current existing policies on land, higher educationand skill development for employment. The study is carried out in 4 South Asian countries ofBangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. We have under taken this study to create an evidencebase on the existing gaps in policy and budgetary frameworks on…

UN Mechanisms and Caste – Discrimination Based on Work and Descent

UN Mechanisms and Caste – Discrimination Based on Work and Descent

This report provides systemic understanding of hidden apartheid still under represented and widely practiced. The comprehensive study was prepared by Asia Dalit Rights Forum (ADRF) in association with Regions Refocus 2015 and Asia Parliamentarians Forum on Dalit Concerns (APFDC). As a background document for the series of events “Annihilate Caste and Structural Inequalities inImplementing the…