Gender equality: The UN defines gender equality as the equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of all individuals, regardless of whether they are born male or female, ensuring that life choices are not restricted by sex. It focuses on recognizing the diverse needs and interests of all genders. (United Nations, n.d.)

Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) : The United Nations' most comprehensive global policy framework and agenda for women's empowerment and gender equality, adopted by 189 countries. It established women's rights as human rights and provides a roadmap for removing systemic barriers to equality in 12 critical areas. (United Nations, n.d.)

Gender Based Violence: is an umbrella term for any harmful act that is perpetrated against a person’s will and that is based on socially ascribed (gender) differences between females and males. The nature and extent of specific types of GBV vary across cultures, countries and regions. Examples include sexual violence, including sexual exploitation/abuse and forced prostitution; domestic violence; trafficking; forced/early marriage; harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation; honour killings; and widow inheritance.
(United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia [ESCWA], 2016)

Domestic work: Housework such as sweeping, cleaning utensils, washing clothes, cooking, caring of children and such other work which is carried out for an employer for remuneration. Comprise a significant part of the global workforce in informal employment and are among the most vulnerable groups of workers. They work for private households, often without clear terms of employment, unregistered in any book, and excluded from the scope of labour legislation. (ESCWA, 2016)

Gender gap: The term gender gap refers to any disparity between women and men’s condition or position in society. It is often used to refer to a difference in average earnings between women and men, e.g. “gender pay gap.” However, gender gaps can be found in many areas, such as the four pillars that the World Economic Forum uses to calculate its Gender Gap Index, namely: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment. (ESCWA, 2016) 

Reproductive health: the UN views reproductive health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being regarding the reproductive system, not merely the absence of disease. It encompasses the right to a safe, satisfying sex life and the freedom to decide if, when, and how often to reproduce. (Fourth World Conference on Women, 1995)

Policies: The course of action for an undertaking adopted by a government, a person or another party. Instruments that exist to support policy and tools used to achieve policy objectives comprise some or all of the following: societal instruments, economic and command and control instruments, direct government involvement and institutional and organisational arrangements. It is to be mentioned that although law may be used as a policy instrument, there are cases where law may impose constraints on what policies may be adopted. For example, if the Constitution states that the shore is the patrimony of the nation or requires the payment of compensation for the expropriation of the land, this would restrict the policies which could be adopted for Integrated Coastal Area Management (ICAM) (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, n.d.).

The Rule of Law: A principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private, including the State itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards. It requires measures to ensure adherence to the principles of supremacy of the law, equality before the law, accountability to the law, fairness in the application of the law, separation of powers, participation in decision-making, legal certainty, avoidance of arbitrariness, and procedural and legal transparency. (United Nations, 2023)

List of References

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (n.d.). Annex 5. Glossary. https://www.fao.org/4/x2465e/x2465e0h.htm

United Nations. (2023, October 11). What is the rule of law? Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/what-is-the-rule-of-law/

United Nations. (n.d.). Fourth World Conference on Women. https://www.un.org/en/conferences/women/beijing1995

United Nations. (n.d.). Gender equality. Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/gender-equality

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. (2016, January 3). Gender-based violence. Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://archive.unescwa.org/gender-based-violence

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. (2016, January 3). Gender gap. Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://archive.unescwa.org/gender-gap

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. (2022). Domestic work. Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://www.unescwa.org/sd-glossary/domestic-work

United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (1995, September). Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing 1995: Platform for Action – Women and health. https://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform/health.htm