A/HRC/39/34 While too small a sample size might not be statistically significant, not capturing such diversity would likely mean that certain groups remained invisible and excluded. 27. Furthermore, several experts emphasized that the majority of women, girls and gender non-conforming persons belonging to marginalized groups were still made invisible and excluded in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Elements that hindered the participation of those women and girls and data collection on them included lack of citizenship; being in detention (including in penitentiary facilities, immigration centres, residential institutions and hospitals); being criminalized (for example, sex workers, drug users, undocumented migrants or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons); barriers in relation to infrastructure, transport, communication or information; and harmful stereotypes and discrimination. It was suggested that States might need to engage proactively with women and girls belonging to marginalized groups, as they might lack sufficient resources and representation in general processes of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. 28. The experts pointed out that marginalized groups often had to insist on and fight for their recognition. Civil society organizations and organizations representing marginalized groups had a vital role to play in demanding such recognition. At the same time, views and positions on certain issues might be divided among organizations representing a particular group (such as organizations of persons with disabilities or representatives of indigenous peoples) and among organizations working on different issues (for example, women’s rights, children’s rights and the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons). Such divisions could undermine their collective mobilization. More dialogue might be needed among organizations representing marginalized groups themselves and more cooperation and collaboration among human rights organizations, women’s organizations and organizations representing marginalized groups would be beneficial. In order to capture the diversity of various groups of women and girls, some experts underscored the need for intercultural and intergenerational dialogue and for the recognition of diverse world views held by different groups, including the concept of collective rights. The importance of cultural identity and cultural integrity was also noted. V. Monitoring progress on gender equality and women’s rights 29. The discussion on data also covered the issue of how to measure progress made on gender equality and the realization of women’s rights in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. 30. One expert emphasized that indicators identified for monitoring progress in reaching the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals focused on measuring progress in the condition of women and girls, such as their health status, but did not measure how their social positions had been improved. Unless the social positions of women and girls were improved, progress made on their condition would not be sustainable. For example, investing in reproductive health-care service delivery would not lead to sustainable access to such services by women and girls unless they gained an autonomous decision-making capacity and control over the social and financial resources to gain access to such services. As a methodology to measure gender-transformative outcomes of programmes, Plan International Canada had developed the Women and Girls Empowerment Index. 11 It measured changes directly associated with the root causes of gender inequality across five domains: roles and responsibilities; resource access and control; participation and decision-making; social norms; and institutional change. In order to measure gender transformative changes, changes in attitudes and perceptions concerning gender relations should be measured not only for women and girls but also for men and boys. 11 8 See “Plan International Canada’s Architecture for Gender Transformative Programming and Measurement: A Primer”.

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