A/HRC/34/44 14. Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Education is a key component of empowerment, however in times of conflict, children’s access to education is often severely restricted, with a particular effect on girls as their schools are often directly targeted by attacks. Even when schools are operating in situations of armed conflict where girls’ enrolment rates were high prior to the conflict, some parents prevent girls from going to schools due to insecurity, or because the facilities have been used by armed actors. The military use of schools exposes girls to an increased likelihood of sexual violence by armed elements and also increases the likelihood of attack by other parties to the conflict. In addition, girls are sometimes given extra household responsibilities that oblige them to stay home. There is also increased vulnerability to forced early marriage in situations of conflict, which is at times encouraged by families with the aim of providing their child with physical and financial security and results in girls withdrawing from schooling. Forced marriage is another practice that has increasingly been used by armed groups as an expression of power and control over populations. Given these susceptibilities, it is important to develop protection and education programmes for conflict-affected girls in order to provide them with support and avoid long out-of-school interruptions. In this regard, the Special Representative welcomes the call by the Human Rights Council for all States to strengthen and intensify their efforts to realize progressively the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl and encourages a focus on girls affected by armed conflict. 5 B. Deprivation of liberty and screenings of children as an emerging aspect of counter-terrorism strategies 15. In the light of the gravity and scale of the concern relating to children deprived of their liberty in situations of armed conflict, the Special Representative continues to bring this matter to the attention of the Human Rights Council. It is stipulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child that children must be detained only as a measure of last resort, in exceptional circumstances and for the shortest appropriate period of time. These provisions are recognition of the detrimental long-term impact that deprivation of liberty has on a child and his or her development, however for thousands of children around the world, these safeguards are compromised and their rights are denied, particularly in the context of counter-terrorism operations or other security responses. 16. In countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Nigeria and Somalia, as well as others, hundreds of children have been detained, sometimes for specific criminal offences, but often purely for association with parties to conflict. Given the vulnerability of children who have been recruited and used, the Special Representative once again urges Member States to ensure that children’s reintegration is the prevailing approach and that children are treated primarily as victims of recruitment. This approach is in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, in which it is stated that children should be the object of special respect and that parties to the conflict should provide them with the care and aid that they require. This protection is not lost even in cases where a child has been recruited and used by a party to conflict. In addition, Member States that have ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict should strongly heed the provisions stipulating that all feasible measures should be taken to ensure that persons recruited or used in hostilities are demobilized and that appropriate assistance is afforded for their physical and psychological recovery and their social reintegration. Standard operating procedures for the handover of children encountered during military operations to child protection actors are important tools for adhering to the 5 6 See Human Rights Council resolution 32/20.