The Girl Child

A/RES/56/139View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 115 Promotion and protection of the rights of children, published in 2002.

What other versions does this mandate have?

19 versions · 1996–2023

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/78/188

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2023	A/RES/78/188	The girl child	7,836	95%Compare
2022	A/RES/76/146	The girl child	7,603	75%Compare
2020	A/RES/74/134	The girl child	5,818	100%Compare
2018	A/RES/72/154	The girl child	5,815	74%Compare
2016	A/RES/70/138	The girl child	5,428	56%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

10 reports · 2007–2025

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2025	A/80/273	The girl child and the impacts of digital and emerging technologies report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/78/188
2023	A/78/284	Impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on girls and the recovery from it report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/76/146
2021	A/76/204	Well-being and empowerment of girls living in rural areas report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/74/134
2019	A/74/246	The girl child report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/72/154
2017	A/72/218	The girl child report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/70/138

What’s in this document?

23 operative paragraphs

Stresses the need for full and urgent implementation of the rights of the girl child as guaranteed to her under all human rights instruments, including the Convention on the Rights of the ChildError: Reference source not found and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,Error: Reference source not found as well as the need for universal ratification of those instruments;

Urges States to consider signing, ratifying or acceding to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;¹¹

¹¹Resolution 54/4, annex.

Welcomes the adoption of the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict¹² and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography,¹³ and invites States to consider signing and ratifying the Optional Protocols as a matter of priority with a view to their entry into force as soon as possible;

¹²Resolution 54/263, annex I.

¹³Ibid., annex II.

Welcomes also the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative launched by the Secretary-General at the World Education Forum;

Urges all Governments and the United Nations system to strengthen efforts bilaterally and with international organizations and private sector donors in order to achieve the goals of the World Education Forum, in particular that of eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and to implement the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative as a means of reaching this goal, and reaffirms the commitment contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration;¹⁴

¹⁴See resolution 55/2.

Calls upon all States to take measures to address the obstacles that continue to affect the achievement of the goals set forth in the Beijing Platform for Action,¹⁵ as contained in paragraph 33 of the further actions and initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action,Error: Reference source not found where appropriate, including the strengthening of national mechanisms to implement policies and programmes for the girl child and, in some cases, to enhance coordination among responsible institutions for the realization of the human rights of girls, as indicated in the further actions and initiatives;

¹⁵Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4–15 September 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annex II.

Urges all States to take all necessary measures and to institute legal reforms to ensure the full and equal enjoyment by the girl child of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, to take effective action against violations of those rights and freedoms and to base programmes and policies for the girl child on the rights of the child;

Urges States to enact and enforce strictly laws to ensure that marriage is entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses, to enact and enforce strictly laws concerning the minimum legal age of consent and the minimum age for marriage and to raise the minimum age for marriage where necessary;

Urges all States to fulfil their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, as well as the commitment to implement the Beijing Platform for Action;

Also urges all States to enact and enforce legislation to protect girls from all forms of violence, including female infanticide and prenatal sex selection, female genital mutilation, rape, domestic violence, incest, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, child prostitution and child pornography, and to develop age-appropriate safe and confidential programmes and medical, social and psychological support services to assist girls who are subjected to violence;

Calls upon all States and international and non-governmental organizations, individually and collectively, to implement further the Beijing Platform for Action, in particular the strategic objectives relating to the girl child and including the further actions and initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action;

Urges States to take special measures for the protection of war-affected girls and in particular to protect them from sexually transmitted diseases, such as human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), and gender-based violence, including rape and sexual abuse, torture, sexual exploitation, abduction and forced labour, paying special attention to refugee and displaced girls, and to take into account the special needs of the war-affected girl child in the delivery of humanitarian assistance and disarmament, demobilization and reintegration processes;

Urges all States and the international community to respect, protect and promote the rights of the child, taking into account the particular vulnerabilities of the girl child in pre-conflict, conflict and post-conflict situations, and calls for special initiatives designed to address all of the rights and needs of war-affected girls;

Welcomes the holding of the International Conference on War-Affected Children at Winnipeg, Canada, from 10 to 17 September 2000, and takes note with appreciation of the Winnipeg Agenda for War-Affected Children;¹⁶

¹⁶A/55/467-S/2000/973, annex.

Urges States to formulate comprehensive, multidisciplinary and coordinated national plans, programmes or strategies to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls, which should be widely disseminated and should provide targets and timetables for implementation, as well as effective domestic enforcement procedures through the establishment of monitoring mechanisms involving all parties concerned, including consultations with women’s organizations, giving attention to the recommendations relating to the girl child of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on violence against women, its causes and consequences;

Calls upon Governments, civil society, including the media, and non-governmental organizations to promote human rights education and the full respect for and enjoyment of the human rights of the girl child, inter alia, through the translation, production and dissemination of age-appropriate information material on those rights to all sectors of society, in particular to children;

Requests the Secretary-General, as Chairman of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination,¹⁷ to ensure that all organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, individually and collectively, in particular the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Development Fund for Women, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Development Programme and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, take into account the rights and the particular needs of the girl child in the country programme of cooperation in accordance with the national priorities, including through the United Nations Development Assistance Framework;¹⁸

¹⁷Formerly known as the Administrative Committee on Coordination (see Economic and Social Council decision 2001/321 of 24 October 2001).

¹⁸See A/53/226, paras. 72–77, and A/53/226/Add.1, paras. 88–98.

Requests all human rights treaty bodies, special procedures and other human rights mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights and its Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights to adopt regularly and systematically a gender perspective in the implementation of their mandates and to include in their reports information on the qualitative analysis of violations of the human rights of women and girls, and encourages the strengthening of cooperation and coordination in that regard;

Calls upon States and international and non-governmental organizations to mobilize all necessary resources, support and efforts to realize the goals, strategic objectives and actions set out in the Beijing Platform for Action and the further actions and initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action;

Stresses the importance of a substantive assessment of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action with a life-cycle perspective so as to identify gaps and obstacles in the implementation process and to develop further actions for the achievement of the goals of the Platform;

Welcomes the convening of the Second World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, at Yokohama, Japan, from 17 to 20 December 2001, and the regional consultative meetings for the preparation thereof, which aim to review the progress made in implementing the Declaration and Agenda for Action adopted by the first World CongressError: Reference source not found and to strengthen actions to eradicate commercial sexual exploitation of children, and invites Member States and observers to ensure their representation at the Second World Congress at a high political level;

Encourages the regional commissions and other regional organizations to carry out activities in support of the Second World Congress;

Stresses the importance of integrating a gender perspective and of considering the needs and rights of the girl child in the work of the special session of the General Assembly on children.

The Girl Child

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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