A/RES/52/106 Page 2 Summit for Children, held in New York on 29 and 30 September 1990,5 the World Declaration on Education for All and the Framework for Action to Meet Basic Learning Needs adopted at the World Conference on Education for All6 and the Declaration and Agenda for Action of the World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, held at Stockholm from 27 to 31 August 1996,7 Deeply concerned that girls, in particular adolescent girls, continue to be silent and invisible victims of violence, abuse and exploitation and that some legal systems do not adequately address the vulnerability of girls in the administration of justice, including the need for better protection of child victims and witnesses, Recalling that in 1998 the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights8 will be observed, the mid-term review of the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development will be carried out and the Commission on the Status of Women will review, at its forty-second session, the implementation of the sections of the Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women on the girl child and the human rights of women, Welcoming the appointment of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the impact of armed conflict on children, in accordance with section II of its resolution 51/77 of 12 December 1996, Stressing that discrimination and neglect of the girl child can initiate a lifelong downward spiral of deprivation and exclusion from the social mainstream, 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, 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 incest, early marriage, female infanticide, prenatal sex selection and female genital mutilation, Deeply concerned also that, in situations of poverty, war and armed conflict, girl children are among the victims most affected and that thus their potential for full development is limited, Concerned that the girl child has become a victim of the human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and sexually transmitted diseases, which affect the quality of her life and leave her open to further discrimination, 5 A/45/625, annex. 6 Final Report of the World Conference on Education for All: Meeting Basic Learning Needs, Jomtien, Thailand, 5-9 March 1990, Inter-Agency Commission (UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank) for the World Conference on Education for All, New York, 1990, appendices I and II. 7 A/51/385, annex. 8 Resolution 217 A (III). /...