E/2007/27 E/CN.6/2007/9 “Noting also that negative discriminatory stereotypical attitudes and behaviours have direct implications for the status and treatment of girls and that such negative stereotypes impede the implementation of legislative and normative frameworks that guarantee gender equality and prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, “Reaffirming that harmful traditional or customary practices, including female genital mutilation, constitute a serious threat to the health of women and girls and may have fatal consequences, and that the abandonment of this harmful practice can be achieved only as a result of a comprehensive movement that involves all public and private stakeholders in society, “Recognizing that female genital mutilation is an irreparable, irreversible abuse that affects one hundred to one hundred and forty million women and girls alive today and that each year, a further two million girls are at risk of undergoing the procedure, “1. Stresses that the empowerment of girls is key to breaking the cycle of discrimination and violence and the promotion and protection of their human rights, and calls upon States to fulfil their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, as well as the commitment to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Beijing Platform for Action 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’, and of the twenty-seventh special session on children; “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 officers, 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; “3. Calls upon States to strengthen advocacy and awareness-raising programmes on harmful traditional practices, especially female genital mutilation, to engage communities and religious leaders, educational institutions and families and to provide increased financial support to efforts at all levels to end these practices; “4. Urges States to promote gender-sensitive, empowering educational processes by reviewing and revising, as necessary, school curricula, educational materials and teacher-training programmes and by elaborating policies and programmes of zero tolerance for violence against girls, including female genital mutilation, and to further integrate a comprehensive understanding of the causes and consequences of such violence against girls into education and training curricula at all levels; “5. Also urges States to provide education and training on the rights of girls to families, community leaders and members of all professions relevant to the protection and empowerment of girls, such as social workers, police officers, judges, lawyers and prosecutors, in order to increase awareness of and commitment to the promotion and protection of the rights of girls and 42 07-28248