The girl child A/RES/72/154 1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General; 18 2. Stresses the need for the full and urgent implementation of the rights of the child, including the girl child, as provided under international human rights instruments, and urges States to consider signing and ratifying or acceding to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1 the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 2 the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 3 and the Optional Protocols thereto 4 as a matter of priority; 3. Urges all States that have not yet ratified or acceded to the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), 19 and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182),20 of the International Labour Organization to consider doing so; 4. Urges States to develop or review relevant programmes that promote gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls and equal access to basic social services, such as education, nutrition, water and sanitation, birth registration, health care, vaccinations and protection from diseases representing the major causes of mortality, including non-communicable diseases, and to mainstream a gender perspective into all development policies and programmes, including those specific to the girl child; 5. Also urges States to improve the situation of girl children living in poverty, including extreme poverty, deprived of adequate food and nutrition, water and sanitation facilities, with limited or no access to basic physical and mental health care services, shelter, education, participation and protection; 6. Recognizes that ensuring equal access to inclusive, equitable and quality education requires transformations in education systems, mainstreaming a gender perspective into educational programmes, infrastructure development and teacher training, and in this regard calls upon States to invest in quality education, including through adequate financing, to ensure that all girls, including those who are marginalized or in vulnerable situations, enjoy their right to education; 7. Notes the role of the United Nations in supporting national Governments in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 21 and in realizing girls’ right to education; 8. Calls upon States to recognize the right to education on the basis of equal opportunity and non-discrimination by making primary education compulsory and available free to all children, including those living in rural areas, and ensuring that all children have equal access to quality education, as well as making secondary and tertiary education available and accessible to all, in particular through the progressive introduction of free secondary education, bearing in mind that special measures to ensure equal access, including affirmative action, ensuring physical access to education, including by increasing financ ial incentives to families, improving the safety of girls on the way to and from school, ensuring that all schools are accessible, safe, secure and free from violence and providing hygienic, separate and adequate sanitation facilities, contribute to achieving equal opportunity and combating exclusion and ensuring school attendance, in particular for girls and children from low-income families and children who become heads of households; 9. Calls upon all States to place enhanced emphasis on quality education for the girl child, including catch-up and literacy education for those who did not receive formal education, special initiatives for keeping girls in school through post -primary education, including those who are already married or pregnant, to promote access to skills and entrepreneurship training for young women and to tackle gender __________________ 18 19 20 21 17-22960 A/72/218. United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1015, No. 14862. Ibid., vol. 2133, No. 37245. Resolution 70/1. 5/11