GENERAL ASSEMBLY 67th SESSION: Children's rights on the agenda

Summary: The 67th session of the General Assembly will take place from 8 October to 28 November 2012 in New York. Find out how children's rights are being addressed.

The 67th session of the General Assembly closed in New York on 28 November. During the course of the session, children's rights featured in a number of discussions and adopted resolutions.

Below is a round up of discussions:

Resolutions adopted

Juvenile justice

After weeks of intense negotiations, including the rejection of five amendments introduced by Egypt, Singapore, Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, and Botswana, a draft resolution was approved on the death penalty. In the approved text, the General Assembly calls on States to establish a moratorium on executions, with a view to abolishing the practice; and not to impose capital punishment for offences committed to persons under the age of 18. Read the full press release here.

The General Assembly also adopted a revised version of the resolution on "Human rights in the administration of justice". The resolution urges States to “ensure that, under their legislation and practice, neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without the possibility of release, nor corporal punishment is imposed for offences committed by persons under 18 years of age”. It further invites States “to consider repealing all other forms of life imprisonment for offences committed by persons under 18”. You can read the full resolution here,

- Read CRIN's paper

“Stop making children criminals” here.

- Find out more about CRIN's inhuman sentencing campaign here.

Sexual orientation

References to sexual orientation and gender identity were included for the first time in a resolution condemning extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. Back in 2010, the General Assembly voted to leave out references to sexual orientation. More here. You can also read about the Human Rights Council’s first ever resolution on gender identity and sexual orientation, adopted in 2011, here.

Rights of the Child

The General Assembly adopted the Resolution on the Rights of the Child, which this year focused on indigenous children. For full details of the resolution, click here.

The resolution also recommends that the Secretary-General extend the mandate of the Special Representative on Violence against Children for a further period of three years and decides that for the effective performance of the mandate and the sustainability of the core activities the mandate of the SRSG shall be funded from the regular budget starting at the biennium 2014-2015. More here.

Female genital mutilation

On 28 November, UN Member States have approved the first-ever draft resolution aimed at ending the harmful practice of female genital mutilation, in a move hailed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as a major step forward in protecting millions of women and girls. More here. Read about harmful traditional practice here.