The Girl Child

Convenor : Carin Benninger Budel (World Organization Against Torture)

Objective
The Working Group on the Girl Child addresses the root causes of gender inequality and discrimination against girls and works towards the equal enjoyment by girls and boys regarding the human rights of children, enshrined in the Convention of the Rights of the Child and other relevant instruments.

Although the human rights of girls are laid down in several human rights instruments, either explicitly or implicitly, they often tend to be neglected. To ensure that all girls enjoy their human rights on an equal basis with boys in all areas of life, such as equal access to education, nutrition, health care and the protection from all forms of violence, the working group focuses on the integration of the human rights of girls into the work of the United Nations. The Working Group on the Girl Child raises awareness of serious violations of the human rights of girls and seeks changes in laws, attitudes, and practises which perpetuate such violations.

To this end, the Working Group acts as a forum for information sharing among NGOs and with relevant UN agencies or human rights mechanisms. It liases with other relevant groups such as Working Group on Girls in New York (which is established under UNICEF) and is part of the Network for girls. It also collaborates with other Working Groups of the Committee on the Status of Women, with the Sub-Groups for the Committee on the Rights of the Child on Sexual Exploitation, Child Labour and Armed Conflict, Education and with the Liaison Unit of the National Coalitions.

Activities

• Planning and preparing for the Commission on Human and the gender caucus and the child rights’ caucus which meet during the Commission. The Working Group as such focuses on the integration of the human rights of girls under all the agenda items of the Commission on Human Rights, including the items on the human rights of women and the human rights of children so that a girls’ perspective is ensured.
• Providing the relevant UN Special Rapporteurs with important information during and outside the Commission on Human Rights.
• Examining Government reports submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child and attracting the Committee members’ attention to gender-specific forms of human rights violation against girls in the country under examination. Moreover, the Working Group contributes to the annual thematic discussion day of the CRC.
• Preparing for and following up on Conferences and Meetings at the international level and regional levels, which are of particular importance for the protection and promotion of the human rights of girls such as the Special Session of the General Assembly of Children, the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, the Special Session of the General Assembly on Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the 21st Century and the World Conference on Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.

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