A/HRC/39/34 inequalities within and across countries; and placed people at the centre. In other words, the 2030 Agenda could be seen as an operational plan for realizing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 6. At the same time, a recent review by UN-Women of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda based on robust statistics and new analysis had revealed the persistence of pervasive gender inequalities in every dimension of sustainable development, across all countries and regions, and had shown that in many areas progress remained too slow to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.2 In that context, the experts stressed that gender-based inequality and its interactions with other inequalities, including those based on sexual orientation, ethnicity, indigenous status, disability and age, should be thoroughly challenged and disrupted throughout the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. 7. To that end four key areas for action were suggested: (a) Improving monitoring of progress made for women and girls by strengthening gender statistics and supporting national statistical systems, including with regard to 6 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that lacked gender-specific indicators;3 (b) Placing gender equality at the centre of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda through gender-transformative policies; (c) Closing the financing gap for gender equality; (d) Strengthening accountability for gender equality commitments at all levels. 8. In relation to the first key area, participants recognized that it was crucial not to roll back on hard-won gains made under the Millennium Development Goals process, including in the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights, while advancing on gender equality and the rights of women and girls throughout the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its goals, in line with its key principles of indivisibility and comprehensiveness. 9. In her opening statement, the Deputy High Commissioner pointed out that people across the globe were amplifying their voices through social media — sometimes creatively and sometimes destructively. That new mode of engagement was happening far beyond the immediate reach of formal political representatives and was increasing the role of non-State actors, such as private actors, traditional actors and civil society actors. She questioned how the participation of women and girls, as active agents for development, could be ensured in that dynamic. 10. Several experts underlined the importance of demography. Currently, the world was witnessing the largest generation of young people in history, with 90 per cent of the young people concentrated in poorer countries. They were the ones who tended to be left out the most in decision-making. The impact on the lives of children and young people, in particular girls, would be a litmus test for the success or failure of the 2030 Agenda. 11. Lastly, participants emphasized that women and girls were not a homogeneous group and it was important to focus on women and girls who were most marginalized owing to the intersecting forms of discrimination they faced. Likewise, it was recognized that human beings were composed of a wide spectrum of gender identities, and thus the scope of gender equality should be understood to cover equality not only for heterosexual women and men, but also for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and other nonbinary persons.4 2 3 4 UN-Women, Turning Promises into Action: Gender Equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (New York, 2018). In its report, UN-Women identified that Goals 6 (clean water and sanitation), 7 (affordable and clean energy), 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), 12 (responsible consumption and production), 14 (life below water) and 15 (life on land) lacked gender-specific indicators. Also see Human Rights Council resolution 32/2; Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women general recommendation No. 35 (2017) on gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19, para. 12; and Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural 3