A/HRC/21/39 free and unconstrained and that food and other resources are equally distributed within the household. 30. Women must be ensured equal access to public services, including health, education and social protection, and equality in the labour market, including equal wages, conditions of employment and social security benefits. In particular, sexual and reproductive health services and information, early childhood education and post-primary education must be made available to women and girls. 31. States must articulate gender equality as a goal in policies, strategies, budgets, programmes and projects. They must increase targeted national resources and official development assistance for gender equality, and pay attention to women’s economic empowerment in the context of international trade. D. Rights of the child 32. Given that most of those living in poverty are children and that poverty in childhood is a root cause of poverty in adulthood, children’s rights must be accorded priority. Even short periods of deprivation and exclusion can dramatically and irreversibly harm a child’s right to survival and development. To eradicate poverty, States must take immediate action to combat childhood poverty. 33. States must ensure that all children have equal access to basic services, including within the household. At a minimum, children are entitled to a package of basic social services that includes high-quality health care, adequate food, housing, safe drinking water and sanitation and primary education, so that they can grow to their full potential, free of disease, malnutrition, illiteracy and other deprivations. 34. Poverty renders children, in particular girls, vulnerable to exploitation, neglect and abuse. States must respect and promote the rights of children living in poverty, including by strengthening and allocating the necessary resources to child protection strategies and programmes, with a particular focus on marginalized children, such as street children, child soldiers, children with disabilities, victims of trafficking, child heads of households and children living in care institutions, all of whom are at a heightened risk of exploitation and abuse. 35. States must promote children’s right to have their voices heard in decision-making processes relevant to their lives. E. Agency and autonomy of persons living in extreme poverty 36. Persons living in poverty must be recognized and treated as free and autonomous agents. All policies relevant to poverty must be aimed at empowering persons living in poverty. They must be based on the recognition of those persons’ right to make their own decisions and respect their capacity to fulfil their own potential, their sense of dignity and their right to participate in decisions affecting their life. F. Participation and empowerment 37. Effective and meaningful participation is an affirmation of the right of every individual and group to take part in the conduct of public affairs. It is also a means of promoting social inclusion and an essential component of efforts to combat poverty, not least by ensuring that public policies are sustainable and designed to meet the expressed needs of the poorest segments of society. 8