A/HRC/56/51 dedication and a focused recognition of the various intersectional identities of women and girls. 2. Challenging the challenges to substantive gender equality 76. The responses to the Working Group’s questionnaire and the inputs gathered through the regional consultations provide a comprehensive overview of the many challenges that globally impede full delivery on the world’s commitments to end discrimination against women and girls, beyond those stemming from the gender backlash described above. 77. Patriarchal power structures continue to perpetuate discrimination and inequality in all aspects of women’s and girls’ lives, often intersecting with other grounds of discrimination and power relations, including on a racial, ethnic or caste basis. Where advancements have taken place, including in areas such as political representation, education and the legal recognition of sexual and reproductive health rights, implementation gaps – often caused by a mix of lack of political will, non-harmonization of national frameworks with relevant international standards, insufficiently allocated resources and capacity, lack of support measures and the promotion of restrictive or regressive interpretations of existing legal guarantees, among other factors – hamper progress in practice and are frequently compounded by limited accountability for violations of women’s and girls’ rights. Attitudinal barriers, notably on the part of enforcement authorities, adversely affect access to justice and contribute to impunity and the normalization of discrimination and violence. 78. States and other stakeholders pointed out further obstacles to advancing gender equality, ranging from the disparate and disproportionate impact of climate change and environmental degradation on women and girls to the gender bias and discrimination inherent in artificial intelligence algorithms and technology design, the digital divide and online violence and harassment, among others. They emphasized the urgent need to invest in social protection measures to address, inter alia, gender gaps in employment, remuneration and pensions and the lack of universal access to early childhood education or childcare and their cost, alongside overarching concerns about the gendered dimensions of the care economy. More broadly, they pointed to the need for integrated approaches to tackle the root causes of inequalities and for a focus on collective rights, including the right to food sovereignty, the right to development and rights to territories, lands and resources. 79. In addition, they highlighted the situation of particular groups of women and girls, such as those living in conflict and post-conflict situations or under occupation, rural and Indigenous women and girls, refugees, displaced and migrant women and girls, Dalit women and girls, older women, and women and girls with disabilities, stressing the need for targeted attention. They furthermore shed light on the marginalization, abuse and criminalization of women using drugs and sex workers. 80. Taking into account the above, the Working Group sets out, as a starting point, to focus its next annual reports on the thematic areas outlined below. These are subject to change depending on the social or political momentum concerning women’s and girls’ rights. (a) Care and its gendered dimensions 81. Across the world, women perform three quarters of unpaid care work.88 This outsized responsibility for care is due to the prevalence of traditional gender norms and stereotypes about women’s role in the family and society and is compounded by the absence of adequate normative and policy frameworks to promote and ensure the recognition, reduction and redistribution of unpaid care work. The life opportunities and choices of women and girls are consequently deeply constrained, and their enjoyment of a wide range of human rights, including the rights to work, social security, education, health, rest and leisure, is adversely affected. At the same time, paid care workers – the majority of whom are women and many of whom are migrant workers – often face precarious working conditions, rights violations 88 GE.24-07559 ILO, Care Work and Care Jobs for the Future of Decent Work (Geneva, 2018). 17