E/2007/27 E/CN.6/2007/9 family reunification in an expeditious and effective manner, with due regard for applicable laws; 14.13. Empowering girls (a) Promote people-centred sustainable development, including sustained economic growth, through the provision of basic education, lifelong education, literacy and training, and health care for all girls and women, and assist girls to secure economic independence, particularly girls heading households; (b) Facilitate girls’ empowerment, including through developing and adequately funding safe and supportive spaces, promoting mentoring and networking among women leaders and girls at all levels, peer education programmes, life skills programmes, and other gender-sensitive youth-friendly services, and provide enhanced opportunities for girls, particularly adolescent girls, to meet and interact with their peers and develop leadership capacities and networking opportunities; (c) Invest in awareness campaigns, and provide education and training, including specialized training on violence, gender issues, discrimination and human rights, to parents and legal guardians, families, political, religious, traditional and community leaders, and all professions relevant to the protection and empowerment of girls, including educators, social workers, police officers, judges, lawyers, prosecutors and the media, to increase awareness and commitment to the promotion and protection of the rights of girls and appropriate responses to rights violations; 14.14. Participation of girls (a) Respect and promote the right of girls to express themselves freely and to take the views of girls into account in all matters affecting them, including by taking all necessary actions to empower girls to exercise this right, according to their evolving capacity, and to build self-esteem and acquire knowledge and skills and provide them with adequate information on health, social and education services, programmes and initiatives to facilitate their participation in all sectors, including civil society; (b) Involve girls, including girls with special needs, and their representative organizations, in decision-making processes, as appropriate, and include them as full and active partners in identifying their own needs and in developing, planning, implementing and assessing policies and programmes to meet these needs; 14.15. Gender mainstreaming Mainstream a gender perspective, including special attention to the girl child, into all legislation, policies and programmes, and strengthen national monitoring and evaluation, inter alia, by utilizing gender budgeting and gender impact assessment, and compile and disseminate lessons learned and good practices; 07-28248 13