A/HRC/RES/29/8 child, early and forced marriage, held during the twenty-sixth session,2 and the summary report of the panel discussion held by the General Assembly on 5 September 2014, during its sixty-eighth session, Taking note of joint general recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women/general comment No. 18 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on harmful practices,3 Recognizing that child, early and forced marriage is a harmful practice that violates, abuses and impairs human rights and is linked to and perpetuates other harmful practices and human rights violations and that such violations have a disproportionately negative impact on women and girls, and underscoring the human rights obligations and commitments of States to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls and to prevent and eliminate the practice of child, early and forced marriage, Bearing in mind that, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund, approximately 15 million girls are married every year before the age of 18, and more than 700 million women and girls alive today were married before their eighteenth birthday, Recognizing that child, early and forced marriage constitutes a serious threat to multiple aspects of the physical and psychological health of women and girls, including but not limited to their sexual and reproductive health, significantly increasing the risk of early, frequent and unintended pregnancy, maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity, obstetric fistula and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, as well as increasing vulnerability to all forms of violence, and that every girl and woman at risk of or affected by these practices must have equal access to quality services such as education, counselling, shelter and other social services, psychological, sexual and reproductive health-care services and medical care, Recognizing also that child, early and forced marriage is itself a barrier to sustainable development and contributes to perpetuating the cycle of poverty and that the risk of child, early and forced marriage is also highly exacerbated in conflict and humanitarian crisis situations, Deeply concerned by the impact of deep-rooted gender inequalities, norms and stereotypes and of harmful practices, perceptions and customs that are obstacles to the full enjoyment of human rights, in particular of women and girls, and are among the primary causes of child, early and forced marriage, Deeply concerned also that poverty and lack of education are also among the drivers of the practice of child, early and forced marriage, and recalling the fact that child, early and forced marriage is a significant obstacle to access to and/or completion of women’s and girls’ education, Recognizing that child, early and forced marriage remains an impediment not only to the economic, legal, health and social status of women and girls but also to the development of society as a whole, and that the empowerment of and investment in women and girls, the meaningful participation of girls in all decisions that affect them, and women’s full, equal and effective participation at all levels of decision-making are a key factor in breaking the cycle of gender inequality and discrimination, violence and poverty and are critical for, inter alia, sustainable development, peace, security, democracy and inclusive economic growth, 2 3 2 A/HRC/27/34. CEDAW/C/GC/31-CRC/C/GC/18.