E/CN.4/2002/73/Add.2 page 54 should also intensify its efforts to make States aware of the negative implications of traditional practices (levirate, polygamy, forced marriage, etc.) in regard to sexually transmitted diseases and especially the spread of the AIDS virus.. 220. Cooperation by United Nations bodies, in particular UNICEF, should be strengthened for the purpose of conducting sensitization campaigns to change negative attitudes towards women and girls.285 In the area of education, the work of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is also useful in, inter alia, improving the content of curricula in subjects such as biology and providing information on the negative effects of harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/10/Add.1 and Corr.1). 221. Also, the persistence of certain practices would appear to be due to a lack of political will on the part of the Governments concerned and failure to inform and educate the public.286 International human rights bodies and organizations should encourage States through ongoing awareness campaigns to refrain from misusing the argument of cultural or religious relativism to evade their responsibilities under relevant international instruments for the protection of the rights of women and girls. In general terms, international bodies and organizations should strengthen their financial and logistical support to women’s organizations at the local and national levels, political personnel, health professionals, religious and civil society leaders and media officials with a view to the abolition of practices harmful to women. (b) Information gathering 222. It has been seen that, with the exception of female genital mutilation, there is a shortage, if not absence, of governmental or official information on other traditional and cultural practices which may or may not have a basis in religion, including crimes of honour, dowry-related practices, son preference and many other customary practices in Africa and Asia. The Special Rapporteur on traditional practices affecting the health of women and the girl child has repeatedly deplored this insufficiency and it is NGOs and press reports that enable her to carry out her mandated tasks, albeit in difficult conditions (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1999/14, paras. 69 ff.). 223. It is therefore essential that all parties involved, including States, undertake, through the impetus of relevant international bodies and organizations, a systematic and exhaustive study of such practices in all continents with a view to identifying their basis, scope and negative impact on women’s status. It would be particularly useful to know the extent to which many of these practices have evolved in relation to their original ancestral function and to verify, with the help of enlightened religious officials, their supposedly religious origin. 2. Protection (a) Strengthening of instruments 224. Overall, women’s status in the light of religion and traditions does not appear to suffer from legal gaps or insufficient texts. Legal bases are on the whole extensive and rights are generally well defined. As stated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, it is now less urgent to define new rights than to prevail on States to adopt existing instruments and implement them effectively.287 That conclusion has to be qualified or rather modified since the protection of women’s rights is a relatively recent development.