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259.
The Convention on the Rights of
the Child recognizes that "States Parties shall respect and ensure
the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child within their
jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's
or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin,
property, disability, birth or status" (art. 2, para. 1). /11 However, in many countries
available indicators show that the girl child is discriminated against from
the earliest stages of life, through her childhood and into adulthood. In
some areas of the world, men outnumber women by 5 in every 100. The reasons
for the discrepancy include, among other things, harmful attitudes and
practices, such as female genital mutilation, son preference - which results
in female infanticide and prenatal sex selection - early marriage, including
child marriage, violence against women, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse,
discrimination against girls in food allocation and other practices related
to health and well-being. As a result, fewer girls than boys survive into
adulthood.
260. Girls are often treated as inferior and are socialized to put
themselves last, thus undermining their self-esteem. Discrimination and
neglect in childhood can initiate a lifelong downward spiral of deprivation
and exclusion from the social mainstream. Initiatives should be taken to
prepare girls to participate actively, effectively and equally with boys at
all levels of social, economic, political and cultural leadership.
261. Gender-biased educational processes, including curricula, educational
materials and practices, teachers' attitudes and classroom interaction,
reinforce existing gender inequalities.
262. Girls and adolescents may receive a variety of conflicting and
confusing messages on their gender roles from their parents, teachers, peers
and the media. Women and men need to work together with children and youth to
break down persistent gender stereotypes, taking into account the rights of
the child and the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents as stated in
paragraph 267 below.
263. Although the number of educated children has grown in the past 20
years in some countries, boys have proportionately fared much better than
girls. In 1990, 130 million children had no access to primary school; of
these, 81 million were girls. This can be attributed to such factors as
customary attitudes, child labour, early marriages, lack of funds and lack of
adequate schooling facilities, teenage pregnancies and gender inequalities in
society at large as well as in the family as defined in paragraph 29 above.
In some countries the shortage of women teachers can inhibit the enrolment of
girls. In many cases, girls start to undertake heavy domestic chores at a
very early age and are expected to manage both educational and domestic
responsibilities, often resulting in poor scholastic performance and an early
drop-out from schooling.
264. The percentage of girls enrolled in secondary school remains
significantly low in many countries. Girls are often not encouraged or given
the opportunity to pursue scientific and technological training and
education, which limits the knowledge they require for their daily lives and
their employment opportunities.
265. Girls are less encouraged than boys to participate in and learn about
the social, economic and political functioning of society, with the result
that they are not offered the same opportunities as boys to take part in
decision-making processes.
266. Existing discrimination against the girl child in her access to
nutrition and physical and mental health services endangers her current and
future health. An estimated 450 million adult women in developing countries
are stunted as a result of childhood protein-energy malnutrition.
267. The International
Conference on Population and Development recognized, in paragraph 7.3 of
the Programme of Action,/14 that
"full attention should be given to the promotion of mutually respectful
and equitable gender relations and particularly to meeting the educational
and service needs of adolescents to enable them to deal in a positive and
responsible way with their sexuality", taking into account the rights of
the child to access to information, privacy, confidentiality, respect and
informed consent, as well as the responsibilities, rights and duties of
parents and legal guardians to provide, in a manner consistent with the
evolving capacities of the child, appropriate direction and guidance in the
exercise by the child of the rights recognized in the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, and in conformity with the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women. In all actions concerning
children, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.
Support should be given to integral sexual education for young people with
parental support and guidance that stresses the responsibility of males for
their own sexuality and fertility and that help them exercise their
responsibilities.
268. More than 15 million girls aged 15 to 19 give birth each year.
Motherhood at a very young age entails complications during pregnancy and
delivery and a risk of maternal death that is much greater than average. The
children of young mothers have higher levels of morbidity and mortality.
Early child-bearing continues to be an impediment to improvements in the
educational, economic and social status of women in all parts of the world.
Overall, early marriage and early motherhood can severely curtail educational
and employment opportunities and are likely to have a long-term adverse
impact on their and their children's quality of life.
269. Sexual violence and sexually transmitted diseases, including
HIV/AIDS, have a devastating effect on children's health, and girls are more
vulnerable than boys to the consequences of unprotected and premature sexual
relations. Girls often face pressures to engage in sexual activity. Due to
such factors as their youth, social pressures, lack of protective laws, or
failure to enforce laws, girls are more vulnerable to all kinds of violence,
particularly sexual violence, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual
exploitation, trafficking, possibly the sale of their organs and tissues, and
forced labour.
270. The girl child with disabilities faces additional barriers and needs
to be ensured non-discrimination and equal enjoyment of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Standard Rules on the
Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities./30
271. Some children are particularly vulnerable, especially the abandoned,
homeless and displaced, street children, children in areas in conflict, and
children who are discriminated against because they belong to an ethnic or
racial minority group.
272. All barriers must therefore be eliminated to enable girls without
exception to develop their full potential and skills through equal access to
education and training, nutrition, physical and mental health care and
related information.
273. In addressing issues concerning children and youth, Governments
should promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender
perspective into all policies and programmes so that before decisions are
taken, an analysis is made of the effects on girls and boys, respectively.
Strategic
objective L.1.
Eliminate all forms of discrimination
against the girl child
Actions to be taken
274. By Governments:
- By States that have
not signed or ratified the Convention
on the Rights of the Child, take urgent measures towards signing and
ratifying the Convention, bearing in mind the strong exhortation made at
the World Conference on Human Rights to sign it before the end of 1995,
and by States that have signed and ratified the Convention, ensure its
full implementation through the adoption of all necessary legislative,
administrative and other measures and by fostering an enabling
environment that encourages full respect for the rights of children;
- Consistent with article 7 of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child,/11 take measures to
ensure that a child is registered immediately after birth and has the
right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as
far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her
parents;
- Take steps to ensure
that children receive appropriate financial support from their parents,
by, among other measures, enforcing child-support laws;
- Eliminate the
injustice and obstacles in relation to inheritance faced by the girl
child so that all children may enjoy their rights without
discrimination, by, inter alia, enacting, as appropriate, and enforcing
legislation that guarantees equal right to succession and ensures equal
right to inherit, regardless of the sex of the child;
- Enact and strictly
enforce laws to ensure that marriage is only entered into with the free
and full consent of the intending spouses; in addition, enact and
strictly enforce laws concerning the minimum legal age of consent and
the minimum age for marriage and raise the minimum age for marriage
where necessary;
- Develop and implement
comprehensive policies, plans of action and programmes for the survival,
protection, development and advancement of the girl child to promote and
protect the full enjoyment of her human rights and to ensure equal
opportunities for girls; these plans should form an integral part of the
total development process;
- Ensure the
disaggregation by sex and age of all data related to children in the
health, education and other sectors in order to include a gender
perspective in planning, implementation and monitoring of such
programmes.
275. By Governments and international and non-governmental organizations:
- Disaggregate
information and data on children by sex and age, undertake research on
the situation of girls and integrate, as appropriate, the results in the
formulation of policies, programmes and decision-making for the
advancement of the girl child;
- Generate social
support for the enforcement of laws on the minimum legal age for
marriage, in particular by providing educational opportunities for
girls.
Strategic
objective L.2.
Eliminate negative cultural attitudes and
practices against girls
Actions to be taken
276. By Governments:
- Encourage and support,
as appropriate, non-governmental organizations and community-based
organizations in their efforts to promote changes in negative attitudes
and practices towards girls;
- Set up educational
programmes and develop teaching materials and textbooks that will
sensitize and inform adults about the harmful effects of certain
traditional or customary practices on girl children;
- Develop and adopt
curricula, teaching materials and textbooks to improve the self-image,
lives and work opportunities of girls, particularly in areas where women
have traditionally been underrepresented, such as mathematics, science
and technology;
· Take steps so that tradition and religion
and their expressions are not a basis for discrimination against girls.
277. By Governments and, as appropriate, international and
non-governmental organizations:
- Promote an educational
setting that eliminates all barriers that impede the schooling of
married and/or pregnant girls and young mothers, including, as
appropriate, affordable and physically accessible child-care facilities
and parental education to encourage those who have responsibilities for
the care of their children and siblings during their school years to
return to, or continue with, and complete schooling;
- Encourage educational
institutions and the media to adopt and project balanced and
non-stereotyped images of girls and boys, and work to eliminate child
pornography and degrading and violent portrayals of the girl child;
- Eliminate all forms of
discrimination against the girl child and the root causes of son
preference, which result in harmful and unethical practices such as
prenatal sex selection and female infanticide; this is often compounded
by the increasing use of technologies to determine foetal sex, resulting
in abortion of female foetuses;
- Develop policies and
programmes, giving priority to formal and informal education programmes
that support girls and enable them to acquire knowledge, develop
self-esteem and take responsibility for their own lives; and place
special focus on programmes to educate women and men, especially
parents, on the importance of girls' physical and mental health and
well-being, including the elimination of discrimination against girls in
food allocation, early marriage, violence against girls, female genital
mutilation, child prostitution, sexual abuse, rape and incest.
Strategic
objective L.3.
Promote and protect the rights of the girl
child and increase awareness of her needs and potential
Actions to be taken
278. By Governments and international and non-governmental organizations:
- Generate awareness of
the disadvantaged situation of girls among policy makers, planners, administrators
and implementors at all levels, as well as within households and
communities;
- Make the girl child,
particularly the girl child in difficult circumstances, aware of her own
potential, educate her about the rights guaranteed to her under all international
human rights instruments, including the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, legislation enacted for her and the various measures undertaken
by both governmental and non-governmental organizations working to
improve her status;
- Educate women, men,
girls and boys to promote girls' status and encourage them to work
towards mutual respect and equal partnership between girls and boys;
- Facilitate the equal
provision of appropriate services and devices to girls with disabilities
and provide their families with related support services, as
appropriate.
Strategic
objective L.4.
Eliminate discrimination against girls in
education, skills development and training
Actions to be taken
279. By Governments:
- Ensure universal and
equal access to and completion of primary education by all children and
eliminate the existing gap between girls and boys, as stipulated in article 28 of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child;/11 similarly, ensure
equal access to secondary education by the year 2005 and equal access to
higher education, including vocational and technical education, for all
girls and boys, including the disadvantaged and gifted;
- Take steps to
integrate functional literacy and numeracy programmes, particularly for
out-of-school girls in development programmes;
- Promote human rights
education in educational programmes and include in human rights
education the fact that the human rights of women and the girl child are
an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights;
- Increase enrolment and
improve retention rates of girls by allocating appropriate budgetary
resources and by enlisting the support of the community and parents
through campaigns and flexible school schedules, incentives,
scholarships, access programmes for out-of-school girls and other
measures;
- Develop training
programmes and materials for teachers and educators, raising awareness about
their own role in the educational process, with a view to providing them
with effective strategies for gender-sensitive teaching;
- Take actions to ensure
that female teachers and professors have the same possibilities and
status as male teachers and professors.
280. By Governments and international and non-governmental organizations:
- Provide education and
skills training to increase girls' opportunities for employment and
access to decision-making processes;
- Provide education to
increase girls' knowledge and skills related to the functioning of
economic, financial and political systems;
- Ensure access to
appropriate education and skills-training for girl children with
disabilities for their full participation in life;
- Promote the full and
equal participation of girls in extracurricular activities, such as
sports, drama and cultural activities.
Strategic
objective L.5.
Eliminate discrimination against girls in
health and nutrition
Actions to be taken
281. By Governments and international and non-governmental organizations:
- Provide public
information on the removal of discriminatory practices against girls in
food allocation, nutrition and access to health services;
- Sensitize the girl
child, parents, teachers and society concerning good general health and
nutrition and raise awareness of the health dangers and other problems
connected with early pregnancies;
- Strengthen and
reorient health education and health services, particularly primary
health care programmes, including sexual and reproductive health, and
design quality health programmes that meet the physical and mental needs
of girls and that attend to the needs of young, expectant and nursing
mothers;
- Establish peer
education and outreach programmes with a view to strengthening
individual and collective action to reduce the vulnerability of girls to
HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, as agreed to in the
Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and
Development and as established in the report of that Conference,
recognizing the parental roles referred to in paragraph 267 of the
present Platform for Action;
- Ensure education and
dissemination of information to girls, especially adolescent girls,
regarding the physiology of reproduction, reproductive and sexual
health, as agreed to in the Programme of Action of the International
Conference on Population and Development and as established in the
report of that Conference, responsible family planning practice, family
life, reproductive health, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV infection
and AIDS prevention, recognizing the parental roles referred to in
paragraph 267;
- Include health and
nutritional training as an integral part of literacy programmes and
school curricula starting at the primary level for the benefit of the
girl child;
- Emphasize the role and
responsibility of adolescents in sexual and reproductive health and
behaviour through the provision of appropriate services and counselling,
as discussed in paragraph 267;
- Develop information
and training programmes for health planners and implementors on the
special health needs of the girl child;
- Take all the
appropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional practices
prejudicial to the health of children, as stipulated in article 24 of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child./11
Strategic
objective L.6.
Eliminate the economic exploitation of
child labour and protect young girls at work
Actions to be taken
282. By Governments:
- In conformity with article 32 of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child,/11 protect children from
economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be
hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful
to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social
development;
- Define a minimum age
for a child's admission to employment in national legislation, in
conformity with existing international labour standards and the Convention
on the Rights of the Child, including girls in all sectors of activity;
- Protect young girls at
work, inter alia, through:
- A minimum age or ages
for admission to employment;
- Strict monitoring of
work conditions (respect for work time, prohibition of work by children
not provided for by national legislation, and monitoring of hygiene and
health conditions at work);
- Application of social
security coverage;
- Establishment of
continuous training and education;
- Strengthen, where
necessary, legislation governing the work of children and provide for
appropriate penalties or other sanctions to ensure effective enforcement
of the legislation;
- Use existing
international labour standards, including, as appropriate, ILO standards
for the protection of working children, to guide the formulation of
national labour legislation and policies.
Strategic
objective L.7.
Eradicate violence against the girl child
Actions to be taken
283. By Governments and, as appropriate, international and
non-governmental organizations:
- Take effective actions
and measures to enact and enforce legislation to protect the safety and
security of girls from all forms of violence at work, including training
programmes and support programmes, and take measures to eliminate
incidents of sexual harassment of girls in educational and other
institutions;
- Take appropriate
legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect
the girl child, in the household and in society, from all forms of
physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent
treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse;
- Undertake gender
sensitization training for those involved in healing and rehabilitation
and other assistance programmes for girls who are victims of violence
and promote programmes of information, support and training for such
girls;
- Enact and enforce
legislation protecting girls from all forms of violence, including
female infanticide and prenatal sex selection, genital mutilation,
incest, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, child prostitution and child
pornography, and develop age-appropriate safe and confidential
programmes and medical, social and psychological support services to
assist girls who are subjected to violence.
Strategic
objective L.8.
Promote the girl child's awareness of and
participation in social, economic and political life
Actions to be taken
284. By Governments and international and non-governmental organizations:
- Provide access for
girls to training, information and the media on social, cultural,
economic and political issues and enable them to articulate their views;
- Support
non-governmental organizations, in particular youth non-governmental
organizations, in their efforts to promote the equality and
participation of girls in society.
Strategic
objective L.9.
Strengthen the role of the family in
improving the status of the girl child
Actions to be taken
285. By Governments, in cooperation with non-governmental organizations:
- Formulate policies and
programmes to help the family, as defined in paragraph 29 above, in its
supporting, educating and nurturing roles, with particular emphasis on
the elimination of intra-family discrimination against the girl child;
- Provide an environment
conducive to the strengthening of the family, as defined in paragraph 29
above, with a view to providing supportive and preventive measures which
protect, respect and promote the potential of the girl child;
- Educate and encourage
parents and caregivers to treat girls and boys equally and to ensure shared
responsibilities between girls and boys in the family, as defined in
paragraph 29 above.
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