• Develop and implement national legislation and
rights of girls in armed conflict to the appropriate
authorities and ensure adequate, accessible and
gender-sensitive support services and counselling;
policies prohibiting customary or traditional practices that are violations of women's human rights
and obstacles to the full enjoyment by women of
their human rights and fundamental freedoms and
prosecute the perpetrators of practices that are
harmful to the health of women and girls;
• Protect the girl child in situations of armed conflict
against participation in armed conflicts, recruitment, rape and sexual exploitation, in particular
through the adoption of an optional protocol to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, as recommended by the General Assembly;
• Make widely available information and counselling
to adolescent girls and boys, especially on human
relationships, reproductive and sexual health, sexually transmitted diseases and adolescent pregnancy,
that are confidential and easily accessible and
emphasize the equal responsibility of girls and boys;
• Take measures to address the special needs of girls
for protection and for gender-appropriate support
and counselling centres in refugee camps, and in
resettlement and reintegration efforts;
• Improve the health care for adolescent girls by health
• Create and respect zones of peace for children in
personnel and provide the latter with appropriate
training, and encourage health- care personnel to
work with girls to understand their special needs;
armed conflict.
• Recognize and protect from discrimination preg-
E. T
rafficking, including for purpose of
prostitution and other forms of sexual
exploitation
nant adolescents and young mothers and support
their continued access to information, health care,
nutrition, education and training;
• Support the activities of non governmental orga-
Actions to be taken by Governments, international
organizations and civil society:
nizations in the area of reproductive health and
health orientation centres for girls;
• Collect information and raise public awareness on the
• Enact laws concerning the minimum age for
issue of trafficking, physical and psychological abuse,
and sexual exploitation of girls in order to better
design and improve preventative programmes;
marriage and raise the minimum age for marriage
when necessary in order to ensure respect for the
rights of the child, as stipulated in the Convention
on the Rights of the Child.
• Consider implementing the recommendations of
the Declaration and Agenda for Action of the World
Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation
of Children, held in Stockholm in 1996;
D. Girls in armed conflict
• Establish recovery programmes for children who
Actions to be taken by the United Nations and
Governments:
have been abused or sexually exploited, with
specially trained personnel to provide a safe and
supportive environment.
• Incorporate information on the rights of the child in
the mandates and operational guidelines of peacekeeping forces, the military and humanitarian workers and provide them with gender-sensitive training;
Actions to be taken by Governments:
• Enact and enforce laws that prohibit sexual exploitation including prostitution, incest, abuse and trafficking of children, paying special attention to girls;
• Encourage girls and other individuals and communities to play a key role in reporting violations of
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