The Commission on the Status of Women,
Reaffirming the obligation of all States to promote and protect the human rights of women, including girls, and reaffirming relevant human rights instruments in this regard, in particular the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
Reaffirming the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the outcome documents of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly and the declaration adopted by the Commission on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women,
Recognizing that all forms of violence against women and girls impedes the social and economic development of communities and states, as well as the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals,
Recalling the previous resolutions of the General Assembly on the rights of the child, the most recent of which is resolution A/61/146 of 19 December 2006,
Reaffirming also the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that men and women of full age have the right to marry and to found a family, and that marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses, and concerned that in many countries the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is violated as marriages occur without the free and full consent of the intending spouses, primarily the girl child and young girls,
Recognizing the serious, immediate and long-term implications for health, including sexual and reproductive health, as well as an increased vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and other sexually-transmitted infections , and the negative impact on psychological, social and economic development that violence against women and girls represents for individuals, families, communities and states,
Deeply concerned about the pervasiveness of all forms of violence against women and girls in different forms and manifestations worldwide, and reiterating the need to intensify efforts to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls throughout the world,
Recognizing that women's poverty and lack of empowerment, as well as their marginalization resulting from their exclusion from social policies and from the benefits of sustainable development, can place them at increased risk of violence,
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 and in girls enjoying fewer of the rights, opportunities and benefits of childhood and adolescence than boys and 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,
Recognizing that early marriage and early child-bearing continue to be impediment s to improvements in the educational, economic, and social status of women in all parts of the world; and that early motherhood can severely curtail educational and employment opportunities and are likely to have a long-term, adverse impact on the quality of their lives and the lives of their children,
Recognizing that forced marriage, among other factors , contributes to girls faring disproportionately worse than boys in terms of access to education, in particular to primary school , in some countries,
Recognizing that forced marriage of the girl child has adverse psychological effects on girls and also that early pregnancy and early motherhood entails complications during pregnancy and delivery and a risk of maternal mortality and morbidities that is much greater than average, and deeply concerned that early childbearing and limited access to the highest attainable standard of health, including sexual and reproductive health, including in the area of emergency obstetric care, causes high levels of obstetric fistula and maternal mortality and morbidity,
Concerned that forced marriage can involve threatening behavior, abduction, imprisonment, physical, psychological and sexual violence, rape, and even murder,
Recognizing women who marry at a young age are more likely to experience domestic violence than women who marry at an older age, resulting from gender inequalities, in particular their lack of status and power in the marriage and household,
Recognizing that forced marriage of the girl child and the trend towards early sexual experience, combined with the lack of information, undermines national and international efforts to fight HIV/AIDS and to improve maternal and child health, chances of survival, and welfare.
OP 1. Urges States:
(a) To enact and strictly enforce laws to ensure that marriage is only entered into with the free and full consent of the intending spouses, and in addition, to enact and strictly enforce laws concerning the minimum legal age of consent and the minimum age for marriage and raise the minimum age for marriage where necessary,
(b) To adopt and enforce requirements for birth registration and marriage registration, with the aim of definitively determining age at the time of marriage,
(c) To include in their reports to human rights treaty bodies, as appropriate, information on national efforts to address this problem,
(d) To ensure that the right of children to express themselves and participate in all matters affecting them, in accordance with their age and maturity, is fully and equally enjoyed by girls ,
(e) To ensure that gender inequalities in primary and secondary education are eliminated by the earliest possible date and at all educational levels by 2015, and to create an enabling environment in order to retain girls and young women in school,
(f) To increase resources at all levels, particularly in the education and health sectors, to enable young people, especially girls, to gain the knowledge, attitudes and skills that are needed to prevent HIV/AIDS and other sexually-transmitted infections and to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including sexual and reproductive health,
(g) To develop and implement at all level s a multisectoral, multidisciplinary, comprehensive and integrated strategy of prevention of forced marriage and support to victims who have entered into such marriages , including the training of, inter alia, health workers, teachers, law enforcement officials, military personnel, social workers, judicial personnel, community leaders and the media,
(h) To promote policies and measures aimed at the economic empowerment of young women, especially those living in rural and remote areas, inter alia, by increasing their access to economic resources, enhancing the employability of young women, developing their skills and broadening their access to career choices, as well as by facilitating better reconciliation of work and family life,
(i) To monitor progress in efforts to address forced marriage through collection and analysis of age- and sex-disaggregated data, and to disseminate information on causes and consequences of such marriages,
OP 2. Urges States, and invites, as appropriate, relevant funds and programmes, agencies and entities within the UN System
(a) To support and implement the development of national and international strategies of prevention, care and treatment to effectively address sexual and reproductive health , maternal mortality and morbidities, including obstetric fistula and to further develop a multisectoral, multidisciplinary , comprehensive, and integrated approach to ensure access to the highest attainable standard of health, including sexual and reproductive health and to bring about lasting solutions and meaningful response s to maternal mortality, morbidity, and obstetric complications , including the problem of obstetric fistula,
(b) To develop, support and implement initiatives ensuring that the rights of the girl child, as a part of all human rights, are not violated by forced marriage, forced early sexual activities, or harmful traditional practices,
(c) To give increased attention to national capacity building, where necessary, to overcome the challenges of collecting accurate information on these practices,
OP 3. Urges States, and encourages, as appropriate, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, other civil society actors, and the international community:
(a) To design and implement educational programs at all levels and develop information campaigns about the health-related risks, and causes and consequences of forced marriage of the girl child, unprotected and premature sexual relations, and early pregnancy, as well as to develop teaching materials and textbooks, as appropriate, to accelerate a sociocultural change towards gender equality, in particular through sensitizing and informing women, girls, men, and boys about the illegality and harmful effects of forced marriage,
(b) To support and allocate resources for programmes to strengthen preventive action, in particular education for women and men, as well as for boys and girls, on gender equality, self-respect and mutual respect and eliminating gender stereotypes, and campaigns to increase public awareness of the issue at the national and grass-roots levels, especially keeping in mind those who may be in positions of particular influence, including parents, legal guardians, families , teachers, community and religious leaders, and the media,
(c) To provide appropriate protection, safe shelter, counseling, comprehensive information and education, legal aid, family planning, rehabilitation and reintegration into society to victims of such marriages,
(d) To increase access to the highest attainable standard of health, including sexual and reproductive health, by providing medical facilities, training for health care providers, including traditional birth attendants, equipment, supplies, and transportation in communities that practice forced marriage of the girl child,
(e) To continue to study the links between poverty, underdevelopment and certain harmful practices, such as forced marriage of the girl child, child prostitution and trafficking in persons, as well as the links between such harmful practices and customs and traditions; health; education; and economic empowerment,
(f) Encourages the international community, including bilateral donors and multilateral development organizations, to assist developing countries in ensuring the provision of basic social services for women and girls,
(g) Reiterating that eradicating poverty is the greatest global challenge facing the world today and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, in particular for developing countries, and recognizes that chronic poverty remains the single biggest obstacle to meeting the needs and protecting and promoting the rights of girls, and that urgent national and international action is therefore required to eliminate it,
OP 4. Invites non-governmental organizations and other civil society actors:
(a) To continue to advocate at the local, national, regional, and international levels against forced marriage , including through building and strengthening networks among those who may call attention to its adverse consequences,
(b) To continue to increase coordination and cooperation in addressing forced marriage of the girl child, and to present their observations and conclusions to governments.
OP 5. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the fifty-second session of the Commission on the Status of Women on the implementation of the present resolution.
The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department. External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.