A/RES/79/158 Child, early and forced marriage interests of the child as their basic concern, information on sexual and reproductive health and HIV prevention, gender equality and the empowerment of women, human rights, physical, psychological and pubertal development and power in relationships between women and men, to enable them to build self-esteem and foster informed decision-making, communication and risk reduction skills and to develop respectful relationships, in full partnership with young persons, parents, legal guardians, caregivers, educators and healthcare providers, in order to contribute to ending child, early and forced marriage; 17. Recognizes that education is one of the most effective ways to prevent and eliminate child, early and forced marriage and to help married women and girls to make informed decisions about their lives, and urges States to remove barriers to education, including by investing in quality primary and secondary education for every child in a safe environment, through adequate financing, ensuring that married girls and boys, pregnant girls and women and young parents continue to have access to schooling, improving access to quality formal education and skills development, especially for those living in remote or insecure areas, improving the safety of girls at and on the way to and from school, providing safe and adequate sanitation, including for menstrual hygiene management, adopting and implementing laws and policies to prohibit, prevent and address violence and to hold perpetrators accountable, strengthening and intensifying their efforts to implement effective violence prevention and response activities in schools and com munities, engaging men and boys, community leaders and parents, educating children from a young age regarding their human rights and the importance of treating all people with dignity and respect and designing educational programmes and teaching materials that support respectful relationships, non-violent behaviours, gender equality and empowerment of women and girls; 18. Encourages States to mitigate the impact of past and present school closures, particularly for those learners who are among the poorest and in vulnerable situations, especially girls, and to continue to strengthen the protection of schools, making them free from all forms of violence, including on the way to and from and at school, bearing in mind that special measures to ensure equal access contribute to achieving equal opportunity and combating exclusion by eliminating social, economic and gender disparities in education and ensuring school attendance, in particular for girls, children with disabilities, pregnant adolescent girls, children living in poverty, Indigenous children, children of African descent, children living with HIV/AIDS, persons belonging to national, ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities, internally displaced, refugee or migrant children, children living in rural or remote areas, and children in vulnerable situations, including those living in humanitarian and armed conflict situations; 19. Calls upon States to promote and encourage international cooperation in matters relating to education, taking the needs of developing countries into particular account, and with a view to contributing to the elimination of illiteracy, access to modern teaching methods, and ensuring inclusive, accessible and equitable quality education throughout the world in order to prevent, address and eliminate child, early and forced marriage; 20. Also calls upon States to pursue efforts and ensure greater connectivity to bridge the digital divides in access to the Internet, both between and within countries, and the gender digital divide, including in school and learning opportunities, with a view to reducing the widening gap between developed and developing countries and achieving greater accessibility for the most affected girls and women, such as those who live in rural and remote areas or refugee camps or those who come from lowerincome households and girls with disabilities, and address all forms of discrimination 10/15 24-24151