Experts to meet on adolescent girls and their rights

Abstract

The adolescent girl child is defined as a girl between the ages of 10 and 15, and is one of the 12 critical areas of concern in the Beijing Platform for Action, adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. The Platform underlines that "discrimination and neglect in childhood can initiate a life-long downward spiral of deprivation and exclusion from the social mainstream". It recommends that "initiatives be taken to prepare girls to participate actively, effectively and equally with boys at all levels of social, economic, political and cultural leadership." the expert group meeting will examine various aspects of the situation of adolescent girls and their rights. They will make action recommendations for accelerating the implementation of the Platform of Action.