A/HRC/13/32 enforce the rule of law and bridge the gap between de jure equality and de facto discrimination, including by affirmative action. 57. A rights-based approach to trade liberalization, focusing on protecting vulnerable individuals and groups is important to lead Governments to engage in public consultations with stakeholders including women subsistence farmers and those most affected by food insecurity. Governments, in their mandates to respect, protect and fulfil must ensure that women without purchasing power are enabled to face episodes of high prices or market disruptions without continuing chronic hunger or asset shedding that would erode their future productivity and jeopardize their livelihoods (and the livelihoods of those who depend on them). 58. According to the World Health Organization, the health of women and girls is of particular concern because, in many societies, they are disadvantaged by discrimination rooted in socio-cultural factors. For example, women and girls face increased vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. Since women play an essential role in food security, it is widely known that the health of women is important for the health of their societies. Underweight and malnourished mothers are more likely to give birth to underweight babies who end up having mental or physical disorders. To enhance women’s right to food and right to health in order to break the vicious circle, all barriers depriving women from proper health care, housing, potable water, sanitation and healthy food must be removed. Studies also show that income earned and managed by women is positively correlated to economic and nutritional well-being for the entire household.38 Women are more likely to spend their incomes on food and children’s needs. Research has shown that a child’s chances of survival increase by 20 per cent when the mother controls the household budget.39 E. Legal and social protection of other vulnerable groups exposed to the risk of hunger and its other human rights implications 59. Among the most vulnerable groups to hunger and malnutrition are children and indigenous people (see above). It is not surprising that their extreme vulnerability has led States to increase their legal protection at the international, regional and national levels. 60. More than one third of child deaths worldwide are attributed to malnutrition. A key indicator of chronic malnutrition is stunting - when children are too short for their age group compared to the WHO child growth standards. About 178 million children globally are stunted, resulting from not enough food, a vitamin- and mineral-poor diet, and disease. As growth slows down, brain development lags and stunted children learn poorly. Although fewer children are undernourished today than in the 1990s, one out of four children (143 million) under the age of five in the developing world is still underweight and only 38 per cent of children under six months are exclusively breastfed.40 School meals programmes in developing countries constitute a recommended strategy that provides better nutrition and improves access to education for children (see below section. IV.D) The United Nations Millennium Project Hunger Task Force (HTF) has recently recommended continued breast-feeding until age of two as one of the three pillars expected to reduce malnutrition in children under the age of five. In an attempt to reduce the vulnerabilities of those affected by malnutrition, HTF makes clear that household composition and size, 38 39 40 16 IFPRI, Women: The Key to Food Security, 1995, p. 9. Walsh, M., 1998, Women in Food Aid Interventions: Impacts and Issues, Time for Change: Food Aid and Development, WFP, Rome, 23–24 October WHO Fact File: http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/nutrition/facts/en/index.html