A/HRC/RES/35/16
matters pertaining to marriage, divorce, child custody and the economic consequences of
marriage and its dissolution;
4.
Also urges States to remove any provisions that may enable, justify or lead to
child, early or forced marriage, including provisions that enable perpetrators of rape, sexual
abuse, sexual exploitation, abduction, trafficking in persons or modern slavery to escape
prosecution and punishment by marrying their victims, in particular by repealing or
amending such laws;
5.
Further urges States to promote, respect and protect the human rights of all
women and girls, including their right to have control over and decide freely and
responsibly on matters related to their sexuality, including sexual and reproductive health,
free of coercion, discrimination and violence, and to adopt and accelerate the
implementation of laws, policies and programmes that protect and enable the enjoyment of
all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including reproductive rights, in accordance
with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and
Development, the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review
conferences;
6.
Calls upon States to promote and protect the right of women and girls to
equal access to education through enhanced emphasis on free and quality primary and
secondary education, including catch-up and literacy education for those who have not
received formal education or have left school early, including because of marriage and/or
childbearing, which empowers young women and girls to make informed decisions about
their lives, employment, economic opportunities and health, including through scientifically
accurate, age-appropriate comprehensive education, relevant to cultural contexts, that
provides adolescent girls and boys and young women and men, in and out of school,
consistent with their evolving capacities, with information on sexual and reproductive
health, gender equality and the empowerment of women, human rights, physical,
psychological and pubertal development and power in relationships between women and
men, to enable them to build self-esteem and informed decision-making, communication
and risk reduction skills and to develop respectful relationships, in full partnership with
young persons, parents, legal guardians, caregivers, educators and health-care providers, in
order to contribute to ending child, early and forced marriage;
7.
Also calls upon States, with the support of humanitarian partners, health-care
providers and experts, and in full collaboration with concerned communities and other
stakeholders, to strengthen monitoring and interventions to prevent, respond to and
eliminate child, early and forced marriage in humanitarian settings, including by integrating
and harmonizing such interventions into efforts focused on conflict-prevention, the
protection of civilians and access to information and services;
8.
Invites all stakeholders to promote the use of the Inter-Agency Standing
Committee Guidelines for Integrating Gender-based Violence Interventions in
Humanitarian Action;
9.
Encourages States to promote open dialogue with all parties concerned,
including religious and community leaders, women, girls, men and boys, parents, legal
guardians, and other family members, as well as humanitarian and development actors in
order to address the concerns and specific needs of those at risk of child, early and forced
marriage within humanitarian settings, and to address social norms, gender stereotypes and
harmful practices that contribute to the acceptance and continuation of the practice of child,
early and forced marriage, including by raising awareness of its harm to the victims and the
cost to society at large;
10.
Calls upon States to promote the meaningful participation of and active
consultation with children and adolescents affected by humanitarian settings, especially
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