Guiding Principles

The Charter of the United Nations, 1945
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948
The Geneva Convention of 1949
The 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol
International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights, 1976
Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions 1949 (Protocol I), 1977
Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions 1949 (Protocol II), 1977
International Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1976
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), 1979
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 1989
World Conference on Human Rights Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, 1993
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 1995
Beijing Optional Protocol, 1999
CEDAW Optional Protocol, 1999
Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (2000) including Security Council Resolution 1820 (2008), Resolution 1888 (2009), Resolution 1889 (2009), Resolution 1960 (2010), Resolution 2106 (2013), Resolution 2122 (2013) and Resolution 2242 (2015).
CRC Optional Protocols, 2000
Convention on Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocols, 2003
Protocol additional to the Geneva Conventions 1949 (Protocol III), 2005
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2008
Istanbul Convention (Council of Europe 2011)
UN Sustainable Development Goals, 2015

Other useful sources of information on women’s rights issues:

Women’s Human Rights Documents Database
Women’s UN Report Network
NGO CSW New York
NGO CSW Geneva