E/2007/27 E/CN.6/2007/9 achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, Recalling previous General Assembly resolutions on the rights of the child, the most recent of which is resolution 61/146 of 19 December 2006, Reaffirming the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,10 which states that men and women of full age have the right to marry and to found a family and that marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses, and concerned that in many countries the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is violated as marriages occur without the free and full consent of the intending spouses, primarily the girl child and young girls, Recognizing the serious, immediate and long-term implications for health, including sexual and reproductive health, as well as an increased vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, and the negative impact on the psychological, social and economic development that violence against women and girls represents for individuals, families, communities and States, Deeply concerned about the pervasiveness of all forms of violence against women and girls in different forms and manifestations worldwide, and reiterating the need to intensify efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls throughout the world, Recognizing that women’s poverty and lack of empowerment, as well as their marginalization resulting from their exclusion from social policies and from the benefits of sustainable development, can place them at increased risk of violence, Deeply concerned about discrimination against the girl child and the violation of the rights of the girl child, which often result in less access for girls to education, nutrition and physical and mental health care and in girls enjoying fewer of the rights, opportunities and benefits of childhood and adolescence than boys and often being subjected to various forms of cultural, social, sexual and economic exploitation and to violence and harmful practices, such as female infanticide, rape, incest, early marriage, forced marriage, prenatal sex selection and female genital mutilation, Recognizing that early marriage and early childbearing continue to be impediments to improvements in the educational, economic and social status of women in all parts of the world, and that early motherhood can severely curtail their educational and employment opportunities and is likely to have a long-term, adverse impact on the quality of their lives and the lives of their children, Recognizing also that forced marriage, among other factors, contributes to girls faring disproportionately worse than boys in terms of access to primary school in some countries, Recognizing further that forced marriage of the girl child has adverse psychological effects on girls and that early pregnancy and early motherhood entail complications during pregnancy and delivery and a risk of maternal mortality and morbidity that is much greater than average, and deeply concerned that early childbearing and limited access to the highest attainable standard of health, including sexual and reproductive health, including in the area of emergency obstetric care, cause high levels of obstetric fistula and maternal mortality and morbidity, 07-28248 29