|
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.
|