The Fourth World Conference on Women
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Chapter 1. Resolution 1. Annex II - The Beijing Platform for Action
IV. Strategic Objectives and Actions
L. The girl child
Strategic objective L.1.
Strategic objective L.2.
Strategic objective L.3.
Strategic objective L.4.
Strategic objective L.5.
Strategic objective L.6.
Strategic objective L.7.
Strategic objective L.8.
Strategic objective L.9.
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.
Eliminate all forms of discrimination against the girl child
Actions to be taken
274. By Governments:
(a) 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;
(b) 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;
(c) Take steps to ensure that children receive appropriate financial support from their
parents, by, among other measures, enforcing child-support laws;
(d) 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;
(e) 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;
(f) 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;
(g) 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:
(a) 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;
(b) Generate social support for the enforcement of laws on the minimum legal age for
marriage, in particular by providing educational opportunities for girls.
Eliminate negative cultural attitudes and practices against girls
Actions to be taken
276. By Governments:
(a) 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;
(b) 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;
(c) 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;
(d) 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:
(a) 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;
(b) 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;
(c) 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;
(d) 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.
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:
(a) 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;
(b) 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;
(c) 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;
(d) Facilitate the equal provision of appropriate services and devices to girls with
disabilities and provide their families with related support services, as appropriate.
Eliminate discrimination against girls in education, skills
development and training Actions to be taken
279. By Governments:
(a) 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;
(b) Take steps to integrate functional literacy and numeracy programmes, particularly for
out-of-school girls in development programmes;
(c) 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;
(d) 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;
(e) 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;
(f) 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:
(a) Provide education and skills training to increase girls' opportunities for employment
and access to decision-making processes;
(b) Provide education to increase girls' knowledge and skills related to the functioning
of economic, financial and political systems;
(c) Ensure access to appropriate education and skills-training for girl children with
disabilities for their full participation in life;
(d) Promote the full and equal participation of girls in extracurricular activities, such
as sports, drama and cultural activities.
Eliminate discrimination against girls in health and nutrition
Actions to be taken
281. By Governments and international and non-governmental organizations:
(a) Provide public information on the removal of discriminatory practices against girls in
food allocation, nutrition and access to health services;
(b) 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;
(c) 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;
(d) 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;
(e) 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;
(f) 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;
(g) 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;
(h) Develop information and training programmes for health planners and implementors on
the special health needs of the girl child;
(i) 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/
Eliminate the economic exploitation of child labour and protect young
girls at work Actions to be taken
282. By Governments:
(a) 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;
(b) 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;
(c) Protect young girls at work, inter alia, through:
(i) A minimum age or ages for admission to employment;
(ii) 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);
(iii) Application of social security coverage;
(iv) Establishment of continuous training and education;
(d) Strengthen, where necessary, legislation governing the work of children and provide
for appropriate penalties or other sanctions to ensure effective enforcement of the
legislation;
(e) 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.
Eradicate violence against the girl child Actions to
be taken
283. By Governments and, as appropriate, international and
non-governmental organizations:
(a) 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;
(b) 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;
(c) 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;
(d) 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.
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:
(a) Provide access for girls to training, information and the media on social, cultural,
economic and political issues and enable them to articulate their views;
(b) Support non-governmental organizations, in particular youth non-governmental
organizations, in their efforts to promote the equality and participation of girls in
society.
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:
(a) 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;
(b) 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;
(c) 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. * As defined in para. 29 above.
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