A/HRC/56/51 public life, economic and social life, family and cultural life, and health and safety – which the Working Group has used to guide its work since its inception in an effort to address discrimination in all aspects of women’s and girls’ lives.31 1. Advancing gender equality 23. In its report on girls’ and young women’s activism, the Working Group noted that girls and young women were at the forefront of initiatives aimed at transforming societies towards social justice, gender equality and sustainability, despite, and frequently in reaction to, the barriers that they continued to face in participating in public and political life. Some States had adopted specific legislation that expressly contemplated the right of children and young people to participate in decision-making processes concerning them and provided for the adoption of special measures to encourage their participation. In some other States, dedicated programmes, policies and strategies had been adopted to promote the participation of children and young people in decision-making. A number of initiatives had been introduced to promote and support the engagement of children and young people, including girls, with independent national human rights mechanisms. In addition, international human rights bodies were increasingly involving children.32 The Working Group has incorporated a girls’ rights approach into its work, has been meeting with girls and young women during its country visits and has carried out specific consultations with them for its thematic reports. 24. In its report on women’s human rights in the changing world of work, the Working Group noted that important trends, including technological change, demographic change, accelerated globalization and the shift to sustainable economies, were affecting the world of work and would shape its future. Those trends provided some opportunities to advance gender equality and women’s rights in the world of work, provided that structural and systemic discrimination against women and girls was addressed. In this respect, the Working Group welcomed the adoption of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190), which marked a significant advancement towards creating a world of safe and decent work for all, with a particular focus on addressing women’s experiences of violence and harassment.33 25. More generally, regarding strategies to address the poverty and socioeconomic inequality faced by women and girls, in its report on gendered inequalities of poverty, the Working Group highlighted the contribution of social movements advocating for transformative change from the perspective of feminist political economy and human rights, which had drawn attention to the existence of alternatives to unjust economic and social policies and institutions. Several social movements were championing a feminist and decolonial Global Green New Deal, which would entail a redistribution and revalidation of labour, and investments in the care sector, as well as a reimagining of the global public commons and goods so that they were used equitably and sustainably. It was highlighted in the report that poverty and inequality were not inevitable. Poverty was a gendered phenomenon that resulted from specific policy choices and structures that urgently needed transformation with a feminist and human rights-based approach.34 26. In its report on women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health rights in crisis, the Working Group noted that some States had enshrined women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health rights in their constitutions. Moreover, sexual and reproductive health services had been formally recognized as essential in certain States. The Working Group highlighted the interventions, in some States, of national human rights institutions and courts aimed at protecting sexual and reproductive health rights during situations of crisis, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, by drawing attention to shortcomings in the design and/or implementation of crisis responses. 35 Furthermore, States had been held responsible for failing to protect the sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls in cases 31 32 33 34 35 GE.24-07559 A/HRC/20/28, para. 21. A/HRC/50/25, paras. 8, 61, 62, 64 and 66. See A/HRC/44/51. A/HRC/53/39, paras. 13, 16 and 23. A/HRC/47/38, paras. 28 and 38. 7