This set of Principles is intended to offer practical guidance to business and other stakeholders on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community.

Developed through a year-long multi-stakeholder consultation process led by UNIFEM and the UN Global Compact, the Principles are informed by actual business practices and expertise gathered from across the globe. They are designed to support companies in reviewing existing policies and practices – or establishing new ones – to realize women’s empowerment. Subtitled Equality Means Business, the Principles emphasize the business case for corporate action to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. They also reflect the interests of governments and civil society and serve to support interactions among stakeholders, as achieving gender equality requires the participation of actors at all levels.

Jointly produced by the IPU and UNODC, the Handbook on Combating Trafficking in Persons is intended to encourage parliamentarians to take an active part in stopping human trafficking. It contains a compilation of international laws and good practices developed to combat human trafficking. It offers guidance on how national legislation can be brought in line with international standards. It outlines measures to prevent commission of the crime of trafficking in persons, to prosecute offenders and to protect victims. It also contains advice on how to report on this crime and how to enlist civil society in the cause.

It aims at providing the legislators with the necessary tools that would help them in assessing legislations and proposing them to promote social and democratic change in their countries. The guide highlights and discusses several important topics such as the role of the legislator in facilitating socio-political and economic change, the legislative theory, and the methodology for problem solving, in addition to assessing the technical sufficiency for the proposed law.