A/HRC/50/25 right to sexual and reproductive health. 2 The Working Group also issued press releases, individually and jointly with other mandate holders, treaty bodies and regional mechanisms. 3 D. Other activities 7. The experts also undertook numerous activities in their capacity as Working Group members.4 In particular, the Chair addressed the sixty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women and presented an oral report to the seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly. In relation to the preparation of the present thematic report, the Working Group organized a series of virtual regional consultations focusing on girls’ activism with over 150 young activists across all regions of the world.5 II. Thematic analysis: Girls’ and young women’s activism A. Contextual and conceptual framework Context 8. Girls and young women are mobilizing worldwide to demand and catalyse change on critical global issues. They are at the forefront of initiatives aimed at transforming societies towards social justice, gender equality and sustainability. This is occurring despite, and frequently in reaction to, the barriers that they continue to face in participating in public and political life, as a result of persistent gender-based discrimination and violence within families, communities and society at large. 9. Girls and young women experience unique challenges to their activism, rooted in the intersection of gender and age, exacerbated by factors including, but not limited to, economic insecurity; lack of access to education; restrictions on access to sexual and reproductive health goods, services and information; unequal access to quality education; narrowing civic spaces, both online and offline; rising fundamentalism in many countries; armed conflict; environmental disasters; and health crises.6 Disability, race, ethnic origin, gender identity, refugee status, early pregnancy and motherhood place some girls in a particularly disadvantaged situation. Conservative narratives that perpetuate discriminatory gender and age-related stereotypes suggesting that women’s and girls’ role should be limited to the private sphere, family and procreation also affect their participation in public life, 7 silence their voices and render their contributions invisible. 8 10. The empowerment of girls and young women through the respect, protection and fulfilment of their fundamental human rights is an indispensable precondition for just, inclusive, peaceful and sustainable societies and the achievement of gender equality. 9 While in recent years their participation has increasingly been promoted, major gaps persist. The girls and young women the Working Group met identified the critical challenges they have been facing at many levels. Despite the importance of their participation, research on girls in 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 4 See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/Communications.aspx. See https://www.ohchr.org/en/latest?field_content_category_target_id%5B158%5D=158&field_content_ category_target_id%5B162%5D=162&field_content_category_target_id%5B161%5D=161&field_co ntent_category_target_id%5B159%5D=159&field_entity_target_id%5B1314%5D=1314. www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WGWomen/Pages/Activities.aspx. Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, South West Asia and North Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and from minority communities such as Roma and indigenous girls. See A/HRC/38/46 and A/75/184. See A/HRC/40/60 and A/HRC/47/38. See A/75/184. See A/HRC/38/46.