A/HRC/RES/56/21 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 12 July 2024 Original: English Human Rights Council Fifty-sixth session 18 June–12 July 2024 Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 12 July 2024 56/21. Accelerating progress towards preventing adolescent girls’ pregnancy The Human Rights Council, Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, Reaffirming the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and recalling other relevant instruments of international human rights law, Recalling that gender equality has been recognized in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences, and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Recalling also that States have the primary responsibility to respect, protect and fulfil all human rights and fundamental freedoms, Reaffirming that motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance, Deeply concerned that, every year, 1.5 out of every 1,000 women who give birth are girls aged 10–14 years and that more than 21 million girls and women aged 15 to 19 years become pregnant, with approximately 50 per cent of those pregnancies being unintended, resulting in an estimated 12 million births, which profoundly affect the lives of girls and their children, especially those in situations of vulnerability and marginalization, and noting with concern the unavailability of reliable data on the number of girls becoming pregnant at younger ages, Expressing profound concern that adolescent pregnancy may have major mental and physical health consequences for adolescent girls and their children, including higher risks of preventable maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity, severe neonatal conditions, eclampsia, puerperal endometritis, systemic infections and obstetric fistula, Noting with deep concern that pregnant adolescent girls face social and economic consequences, inter alia, stigmatization, discrimination, pressure to drop out of school, GE.24-12821 (E)