A/RES/66/140 other practices related to health and well-being, with the result that fewer girls than boys survive into adulthood, Deeply concerned that the phenomenon of child-headed households, in particular those headed by girls, is becoming a serious social problem, Deeply concerned also that the impact of the HIV and AIDS epidemic, including illness and mortality, erosion of the extended family, exacerbation of poverty, unemployment and underemployment, and migration, as well as urbanization, have contributed to the increase in the number of child-headed households, Recognizing that women and girls bear the disproportionate burden of caring for and supporting those living with and affected by HIV and AIDS, and that this impacts negatively on girls by depriving them of their childhood and diminishing their opportunities to receive an education, Stresses the need for full and urgent implementation of the rights of the 1. girl child as provided to her under human rights instruments, and urges States to consider signing and ratifying or acceding to the Convention on the Rights of the Child,1 the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,2 the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities3 and the Optional Protocols thereto4 as a matter of priority; 2. Urges all States that have not yet signed and ratified or acceded to the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) 18 and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), 19 of the International Labour Organization to consider doing so; 3. Urges all Governments and the United Nations system to strengthen efforts bilaterally and with international organizations and private sector donors in order to achieve the goals of the World Education Forum, 20 in particular that of eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, which have not been fully met, and to implement the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative as a means of reaching this goal, and calls for the implementation of and reaffirms the commitments contained in the Education for All goals and the Millennium Development Goals, particularly those related to gender and education; Calls upon all States to place enhanced emphasis on quality education for 4. the girl child, including catch-up and literacy education for those who did not receive formal education, to promote access to skills and entrepreneurial training for young women and to tackle male and female stereotypes in order to ensure that young women entering the labour market have opportunities to obtain full and productive employment and decent work; Encourages States to promote the development of gender-sensitive 5. curricula for educational programmes at all levels and to take concrete measures to ensure that educational materials portray women and men, youth, girls and boys in positive and non-stereotypic roles, particularly in the teaching of scientific and technological subjects, in order to address the root causes of segregation in working life; _______________ 18 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1015, No. 14862. Ibid., vol. 2133, No. 37245. 20 See United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Final Report of the World Education Forum, Dakar, Senegal, 26–28 April 2000 (Paris, 2000). 19 5