A/HRC/35/11 IV. Girls at particular risk of being left behind 52. Even where educational opportunities are available, girls may experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination that restrict their enjoyment of the right to education, particularly in the transition from primary to secondary school. Gender-based obstacles may combine with, inter alia, identity, ethnicity, beliefs, health status, location, migration status or their particular situation at the given time, including, but not limited to, girls living in poverty, on the street, in rural and remote areas; with disabilities; belonging to national, ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities, a particular caste, of African descent; stateless, migrants, in particular those in an irregular situation and in immigration detention, displaced and/or fleeing conflict-affected or fragile environments; orphans and/or deprived of a family environment; living with HIV/AIDS; and lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex girls.71 53. Children, in particular girls, with psychosocial, intellectual, sensory or physical impairments are commonly segregated and face significant challenges in accessing quality, inclusive education. 72 Girls with disabilities are often confronted with a variety of discriminatory and/or lack of enabling laws, policies and practices that restrict their right to education: 73 they may be denied enrolment in public and private institutions ; parents/guardians or care facilities may refuse to allow them to attend school; they may not be given priority to obtain assistive devices and rehabilitative services to access education; and transportation and education infrastructure, including lack of accessibility to separate sanitation facilities or safe and adapted facilities to manage menstrual hygiene may be inadequate.74 54. Many States had taken a number of measures to reach girls most at risk of being left behind. The Bourses Maman programme in Mali provided women with grants for incomegenerating activities in return for ensuring that girls attended school and encouraged the recruitment of female teachers in rural schools. Schools in Finland were required to prepare annual plans on non-discrimination and gender equality, which also addressed discrimination faced by girls belonging to minorities. Nicaragua had adapted school curricula and materials to the specific situation of each region and language, in collaboration with girls in vulnerable situations. Plan International had worked in Sierra Leone supporting marginalized girls and children with disabilities to help them to stay in school, including through after-school study groups, payment of school fees, provision of textbooks, school uniforms and learning materials, as well as teacher training on genderand disability-sensitive education.75 55. States should address the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination that girls may face and provide quality, inclusive education that is accessible to all girls, with particular attention to those in the most vulnerable and marginalized situations. 76 States must ensure birth registration so that every girl is counted and has access to education. States should also ensure that all girls have the opportunity to access early childhood education to facilitate their smooth transition to primary education. 77 States should further adopt temporary special measures aimed at realizing de facto equality for girls and boys 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 12 Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 20 (2016), paras. 33-34, 48 and 70; A/HRC/29/23, paras. 55-57; UNESCO, Out in the Open: Education sector responses to violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression (2016). A/HRC/25/29, paras. 35-40 and 56. Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 3 (2016) on women and girls with disabilities, para. 56. Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 4 (2016) on the right to inclusive education, para. 38. Plan International, “Girls’ Education Policy Briefing” (2016), p. 5. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, arts. 6 and 24; Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 20 (2016), para. 70. Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 7; Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 7 (2005) on implementing child rights in early childhood, paras. 25, 28 and 30.