E/2010/27 E/CN.6/2010/11 Deeply concerned about discrimination against the girl child and the violation of the rights of the girl child, which often result in less access for girls to education, nutrition and physical and mental health care, in girls enjoying fewer of the rights, opportunities and benefits of childhood and adolescence than boys, and in their often being subjected to various forms of cultural, social, sexual and economic exploitation and to violence and harmful practices, such as female infanticide, rape, incest, early marriage, forced marriage, prenatal sex selection and female genital mutilation, Concerned about evidence of increased carrying out of female genital mutilation by medical personnel in all regions in which it is practised, Welcoming the call for Africa to be free of female genital mutilation, pledged at the African Union second Pan-African Forum on Children: midterm review, held in Cairo from 29 October to 2 November 2007, as well as the adoption of the call for accelerated action on the implementation of the Plan of Action towards Africa Fit for Children (2008-2012), 86 Recognizing that strong leadership is required to make progress in eliminating female genital mutilation and that a multidisciplinary, comprehensive, coordinated and coherent approach at all levels towards achieving abandonment of female genital mutilation worldwide is required, and welcoming the fact that such an approach is at the core of the United Nations Population Fund-United Nations Children’s Fund joint programme to accelerate the abandonment of female genital mutilation, Stresses that the empowerment of women and girls is key to breaking the 1. cycle of discrimination and violence and for the promotion and protection of human rights, including the right to the highest attainable standard of mental and physical health, including sexual and reproductive health, and calls upon States parties to fulfil their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child67 and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,68 as well as their commitments to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, 87 the Beijing Platform for Action,70 and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”,71 and of the special session of the General Assembly on children 88 and the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development;72 2. Emphasizes that awareness-raising, community mobilization, education and training are needed to ensure that all key actors, Government officials, including law enforcement and judicial personnel, immigration officials, health-care providers, religious and community leaders, teachers, employers, media professionals and those directly working with girls, as well as parents, families and communities, work to eliminate attitudes and harmful practices that negatively affect girls; Calls upon States to strengthen advocacy and awareness-raising 3. programmes, to mobilize girls and boys to take an active part in developing preventive and elimination programmes to address harmful traditional practices, __________________ 86 87 88 34 A/62/653, annex. General Assembly resolution 48/104. General Assembly resolution S-27/2, annex.. 10-30576