A/HRC/50/25 18. Article 5 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women obliges States to take all appropriate measures with a view to eliminating prejudices and customary and all other practices that are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women. Further, in resolution 41/6, the Human Rights Council urged States to remove barriers, whether political, legal, practical, structural, cultural, economic, institutional or resulting from the misuse of religion, that prevent the full, equal, effective and meaningful participation of women and girls in all fields. 19. The Working Group emphasizes that whereas the obligation to implement girls’ and young women’s rights rests on States, in practice the roles and responsibilities of a number of different actors are involved, including parents and extended families, local communities, faith groups, non-State services, intergovernmental organizations, civil society organizations, the private sector and young women and girls themselves. 24 Ensuring that girls and young women can be active participants in their own lives and in public affairs requires an integrated approach that takes into account the roles and responsibilities of all those actors and is also mindful of the interconnection between all human rights of girls and young women. In that regard, the Working Group reasserts the interdependence of all human rights.25 Features of girls’ and young women’s activism C. 20. Girl and young women activists engage in a wide and varied array of topics. These encompass, among others, gender equality, gender-based violence, harmful practices, children’s rights, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights, climate justice, social and economic inequalities, inclusive development, racial justice, good governance, defence of territories, land and resources, and peace-building and conflict resolution. They often mobilize on more than one topic, drawing attention to intersectional oppression and the complex dynamics at play in their activism. They organize across movements because, as the Working Group heard during the consultations it held, “there is no justice for one issue without justice for all”. 21. The initiatives of girl and young women activists are often aimed at bringing about transformative changes in the local, national and international contexts. For example, owing to their mobilization, some of the activists who participated in the Working Group’s consultations had obtained the distribution of free sanitary items for menstrual hygiene at school or essential products in refugee centres. Others had helped girls from their communities escape female genital mutilation or assisted in the rescue of girls and women who were victims/survivors of human trafficking. Yet others had achieved the inclusion of classes on human rights in school curricula and the development of age-adapted media materials to raise awareness of gender equality and human rights within their communities. In one country, they had launched campaigns to destigmatize testing for sexually transmitted infections among youth and in another they had succeeded in drawing national attention to the problem of sexual harassment in the schoolyard. They also stood at the forefront of the defence of nature and climate in several countries. 22. Personal development, self-awareness and empowerment are also major components of their activism. As one young activist noted, “I was living as a young woman in oppression without noticing it. I viewed it as normal before learning more about the topic”. Activism increases girls’ and young women’s confidence and helps them build a sense of agency in their own lives, provides the power to shape their communities and societies, become leaders and agents for change or make career choices that have traditionally been dominated by men. 23. Their activism is in many cases triggered by personal experience of discrimination, violence and human rights violations, or arises as a need to respond to perceived injustice. For many activists with whom the Working Group spoke, becoming an activist “was not so much an inspiration as a response to a need”. Some had started engaging during the 24 25 See Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 5 (2005) and Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 14 (2000), para. 42. See A/HRC/38/46. 7