18. Also urges Member States to address the challenges faced by girls and young women, as well as gender stereotypes that perpetuate all forms of discrimination and violence against girls and young women, including harmful practices, and the stereotypical roles of men and women that hinder social and personal development, by implementing the commitments to the empowerment of women and gender equality and the human rights of all women and girls, and to engage, educate, encourage and support men and boys to take responsibility for their behaviour in this regard, including their sexual and reproductive behaviour;

45. Further recognizes the special needs of women and girls living in areas affected by complex humanitarian emergencies and in areas affected by terrorism, and that global health threats, climate change, more frequent and intense natural disasters, conflicts, violent extremism as and when conducive to terrorism, and related humanitarian crises and the forced displacement of people threaten to reverse much of the development progress made in recent decades and have particular negative impacts on women and girls that need to be comprehensively assessed and addressed;

Noting with great concern the fact that a gender digital divide persists in women’s access to and use of information and communications technologies, including in education, employment and other areas of economic and social development, and in this regard welcoming the many initiatives that focus on access, skills and leadership to promote the equal participation of women and girls in the digital age, such as the International Girls in ICT Day of the International Telecommunication Union and the Global Partnership for Gender Equality in the Digital Age, known as the Equals Partnership,

(f) Promoting consultation with and the participation of rural women and, as appropriate, girls, including those who are indigenous, those with disabilities and older women, through their organizations and networks, in the design, development and implementation of and follow-up to programmes and strategies for gender equality, the empowerment of women and rural development;

59. Also encourages Member States, in cooperation with relevant United Nations humanitarian organizations, to ensure that women and girls have access to basic health-care services, including reliable and safe access to sexual and reproductive health-care services and mental health and psychosocial support, from the onset of emergencies, in this regard recognizes that such assistance protects women, adolescent girls and infants from preventable mortality and morbidity that occur in humanitarian emergencies, and calls upon Member States, the United Nations and other relevant actors to give such programmes due consideration;

38. Encourages Governments to promote the full, equal and effective participation and leadership of women, as well as of persons with disabilities, in the design, management, resourcing and implementation of gender-responsive and disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction policies, plans and programmes, and recognizes in this regard that women and girls are disproportionately exposed to risk, increased loss of livelihoods and even loss of life during and in the aftermath of disasters, and that disasters and the consequent disruption to physical, social, economic and environmental networks and support systems disproportionately affect persons with disabilities and their families;

17. Strongly urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of discrimination and other human rights violations against women and girls, to take measures to ensure protection for women and girls against violence and their equal protection and access to justice, to address the concerning incidence of child, early and forced marriage, as recommended by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, to promote, support and enable women’s participation in political and other decision-making processes, and, while recognizing the high enrolment of women in all levels of education in the Islamic Republic of Iran, to lift restrictions on women’s equal access to all aspects of education and women’s equal participation in the labour market and in all aspects of economic, cultural, social and political life, including participation in and attendance at sporting events;

61. Urges multilateral donors and invites international financial institutions, within their respective mandates, and regional development banks to review and implement policies that support national efforts to ensure that a higher proportion of resources reaches women and girls, in particular in rural and remote areas;

13. Calls upon States to scale up scientifically accurate and age-appropriate comprehensive education, relevant to cultural contexts, that provides adolescent girls and boys and young women and men, in and out of school, consistent with their evolving capacities, and with appropriate direction and guidance from parents and legal guardians, with the best interests of the child as their basic concern, with information on sexual and reproductive health and HIV prevention, gender equality and women’s empowerment, 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 people, parents, legal guardians, caregivers, educators and health-care providers, in order to, inter alia, enable them protect themselves from HIV infection and other risks;

19. Further urges Member States to condemn violence against girls and young women, including sexual harassment, and reaffirms that they should not invoke any custom, tradition or religious consideration to avoid their obligations with respect to its elimination and should pursue, by all appropriate means and without delay, a policy of eliminating violence against women, as set out in the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women; 22

Recognizing further the challenges and obstacles to changing discriminatory attitudes, negative social norms and gender stereotypes, which perpetuate multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination against women and girls and stereotypical roles of men and women, and stressing that challenges and obstacles remain in the implementation of international standards and norms to eliminate gender inequality,

Recalling its resolutions 73/154 of 17 December 2018 on protecting children from bullying, 73/148 of 17 December 2018, entitled “Intensification of efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls: sexual harassment”, 69/194 of 18 December 2014 on the United Nations Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Children in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and 72/195 of 19 December 2017 on improving the coordination of efforts against trafficking in persons, Economic and Social Council resolutions 2011/33 of 28 July 2011 on prevention, protection and international cooperation against the use of new information technologies to abuse and/or exploit children and 2004/27 of 21 July 2004 on the guidelines on justice for child victims and witnesses of crime and Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice resolution 16/2 of 27 April 2007 on effective crime prevention and criminal justice responses to combat sexual exploitation of children, 6

Underlining that, globally, the gross domestic product growth rate could increase significantly if every country achieved gender equality and the full participation of women in the workforce, and recognizing that the economic and social losses owing to a lack of progress in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are significant,

6. Also expresses its deep concern that, while women contribute more than 50 per cent of the food produced worldwide, they also account for 70 per cent of the world’s hungry, that women and girls are disproportionately affected by hunger, food insecurity and poverty, in part as a result of gender inequality and discrimination, that in many countries girls are twice as likely as boys to die from malnutrition and preventable childhood diseases, and that it is estimated that almost twice as many women as men suffer from malnutrition;

39. Reaffirms the right to education for all and the importance of ensuring safe enabling learning environments in humanitarian emergencies, as well as quality education at all levels, including for girls, including technical and vocational training opportunities, where possible, including through adequate funding and infrastructura l investments, for the well-being of all, in this regard recognizes that access to quality education in humanitarian emergencies can contribute to long-term development goals and reiterates the need to protect and respect educational facilities in accordan ce with international humanitarian law, strongly condemns all attacks directed against schools and the use of schools for military purposes, when in contravention of international humanitarian law, and encourages efforts to promote safe and protective school environments in humanitarian emergencies;

(v) Promoting the rights of women and girls with disabilities in rural areas, including by ensuring access on an equal basis to productive employment and decent work, economic and financial resources and disability-sensitive infrastructure and services, in particular in relation to health and education, as well as by ensuring that their priorities and needs are fully incorporated into policies and programmes, through, inter alia, their participation in decision-making processes;

(q) Eliminating all forms of violence against rural women and girls in public and private spaces through multisectoral and coordinated approaches to prevent and respond to violence against rural women and girls, to investigate, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of violence against rural women and girls and end impunity and to provide protection as well as equal access to comprehensive social, health and legal services for all victims and survivors to support their full recovery and reintegration into society, including by providing access to psychosocial support and rehabilitation, and bearing in mind the importance of all women a nd girls living free from violence, such as gender-related killings, including femicide, and harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation, as well as of addressing the structural and underlying causes of violenc e against women and girls through enhanced prevention measures, research and strengthened coordination and monitoring and evaluation, by, inter alia, encouraging awareness - raising activities;

Reaffirming that achieving gender equality, empowering all women and girls, and the full realization of their human rights are essential to achieving sustained, inclusive and equitable economic growth and sustainable development, and in that regard reiterating the need for gender mainstreaming, including targeted actions and investments in the formulation and implementation of all financial, economic, environmental and social policies,

Deeply concerned further that women and girls are particularly at risk of and exposed to attacks, sexual and gender-based violence, harassment and other threats to their safety while collecting household water and when accessing sanitation facilities outside their homes or, when lacking adequate sanitation facilities, practisi ng open defecation and urination, limiting their ability to move freely and safely in the public sphere,

39. Notes measures taken by States to prevent discrimination against, in particular but not limited to, persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, people of African descent, Roma, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, and to ensure their integration into society, urges States to ensure the full and effective implementation of legal, policy and institutional measures protecting these individuals and groups, including women and girls, and recommends that States effectively guarantee to everyone, without discrimination of any kind, their human rights, including those related to safety and security, access to justice, adequate reparation and appropriate information about their rights, and pursue prosecution and adequate punishment, as appropriate, of those responsible for racist and xenophobic crimes against them, including the possibility of seeking reparation or satisfaction for damages suffered as a result of such crimes;

Recalling also its resolution 71/243 of 21 December 2016 on the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for development of the United Nations system, which reaffirms that promoting gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls, in accordance with the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of relevant United Nations conferences and resolutions of the General Assembly, including through investing in the development of women and girls and promoting their economic and political participation and equal access to economic and productive resources and education, is of fundamental importance and has a multiplier effect for achieving sustained and inclusive economic growth, poverty eradication and sustainable development,

29. Urges States to adopt national gender-responsive migration policies and legislation, in line with relevant obligations under international law, to protect the human rights of all migrant women and girls, regardless of migration status; recognize the skills and education of women migrant workers to promote their economic empowerment in all sectors and, as appropriate, facilitate their productive employment, decent work and integration into the labour force, including in the fields of education and science and technology; recognize the importance of protecting labour rights and a safe environment for women migrant workers and those in precarious employment, including preventing and addressing abuse a nd exploitation, protecting women migrant workers in all sectors and promoting labour mobility; provide newly arrived migrant women with targeted, gender-responsive, child- sensitive, accessible and comprehensive information and legal guidance on their rights and obligations, including on compliance with national and local laws, obtaining work and resident permits, status adjustments, registration with authorities, access to justice to file complaints about rights violations, as well as access to basic services; encourage cooperation among various stakeholders, including countries of origin, transit and destination, in ensuring that migrant women and girls have adequate identification and the provision of relevant documents to facilitate access to social protection mechanisms; and facilitate the sustainable reintegration of returning migrant women and girls by providing them with equal access to social protection and services;

Stressing that social inclusion policies should promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls and equal access to opportunities and social protection for all, in particular for those in vulnerable or marginalized groups or situations, including women and girls who experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence, considering that the empowerment of women and girls will make a crucial contribution to progress across all the Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,

Emphasizing that violence against women and girls is a major impediment to the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls and that it violates and impairs or nullifies their full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms,

18. Reaffirms its commitment to embracing diversity in cities and human settlements, to strengthening social cohesion, intercultural dialogue and understanding, tolerance, mutual respect, gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, innovation, entrepreneurship, inclusion, identity and safety, and the dignity of all people, as well as to fostering liveability and a vibrant urban economy and to taking steps to ensure that local institutions promote pluralism and peaceful coexistence within increasingly heterogeneous and multicultural societies;

Reaffirming that evidence shows that gender equality, women’s empowerment and women’s full and equal participation and leadership in the economy are vital to achieve sustainable development and significantly enhance economic growth and productivity, that women play a critical role in development and contribute to structural transformation and that their full and equal participation in decision-making and the economy is vital in order to achieve sustainable development, and reaffirming also that gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls will make a crucial contribution to progress in realizing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,

10. Stresses that the primary responsibility of States is to promote and protect the right to food and that the international community should provide, t hrough a coordinated response and upon request, international cooperation in support of national and regional efforts by providing the assistance necessary to increase food production and access to food, including through agricultural development assistanc e, the transfer of technology, food crop rehabilitation assistance and food aid, ensuring food security, with special attention to the specific needs of women and girls, and promoting innovation, support for the development of adapted technologies, researc h on rural advisory services and support for access to financing services, and ensure support for the establishment of secure land tenure systems;

10. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session a report on the improvement of the situation of women and girls in rural areas.

Recognizing that, despite gains in providing access to quality education, rural girls are still more likely than rural boys to remain excluded from education and that among the gender-specific barriers to girls’ equal enjoyment of their right to education are the feminization of poverty, child labour undertaken by girls, child, early and forced marriage, female genital mutilation, early and repeat pregnancies, all forms of violence, including gender-based violence, abuse and harassment on the way to and from and at school, in their technology-mediated environment, the lack of safe and adequate sanitation facilities, including for menstrual hygiene management, the disproportionate share of unpaid care and domestic work performed by girls and gender stereotypes and negative social norms that lead families and communities to place less value on the education of girls than that of boys and may influence the decision of parents to allow girls to attend school,

Reaffirming the obligation of all States to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms, and also that all forms of discrimination, including discrimination against women and girls, are contrary to the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1 the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 2 the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 2 the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 3 the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 5 the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 6 and other relevant human rights instruments,