A/RES/70/138
The girl child
world fit for children”, 8 the Beijing Declaration 9 and Platform for Action, 10 the
outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, entitled
“Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty -first
century”, 11 the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population
and Development, 12 the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social
Development, 13 the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS adopted at the
twenty-sixth special session of the General Assembly on HIV/AIDS, entitled
“Global Crisis — Global Action”, 14 and the Political Declarations on HIV/AIDS
adopted by the high-level meetings of the General Assembly held in 2006 15 and
2011, 16 and reiterating that their full and effective implementation is essential to
achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including the Sust ainable
Development Goals,
Recognizing that chronic poverty remains one of the biggest obstacles to
meeting the needs of and promoting and protecting the rights of children, including
the girl child, and that poverty continues to impede access to clean wa ter, sanitation
and hygiene, among other basic social services for children,
Recognizing also that urgent national and international action is required to
eliminate poverty, in particular extreme poverty, and noting that the ongoing effects
of the global financial and economic crisis, volatile energy and food prices and
continuing food insecurity as a result of various factors are felt directly by
households, especially those headed by girls,
Recognizing further that social protection, education, adequate health care,
nutrition, full access to clean water, including safe drinking water, sanitation and
hygiene, skills development and combating discrimination and violence against
girls, among other things, are all necessary for the empowerment of the girl child,
and recalling the importance of mainstreaming a gender perspective across the
United Nations system in relation to the girl child,
Deeply concerned about the serious social problem of child-headed
households, in particular those headed by girls, whic h may result from the death of
parents and legal guardians and other economic, social and political realities, and
that the impact of the HIV and AIDS epidemic, including illness and mortality, the
erosion of the extended family, the exacerbation of povert y, unemployment and
underemployment and migration, as well as urbanization, have contributed to the
increase in the number of child-headed households,
Deeply concerned also about the extreme vulnerability of children who are
heads of households and those raised in child-headed households, particularly girls,
who suffer from the lack of adult support and may be particularly vulnerable to
_______________
8
Resolution S-27/2, annex.
Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4–15 September 1995 (United Nations
publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annex I.
10
Ibid., annex II.
11
Resolution S-23/2, annex, and resolution S-23/3, annex.
12
Report of the International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, 5–13 September 1994
(United Nations publication, Sales No. E.95.XIII.18), chap. I, resolution 1, annex.
13
Report of the World Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen, 6–12 March 1995 (United Nations
publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.8), chap. I, resolution 1, annex II.
14
Resolution S-26/2, annex.
15
Resolution 60/262, annex.
16
Resolution 65/277, annex.
9
2/12