UN GA Resolution 2008: Rights of the Child

The General Assembly,

Recalling its previous resolutions on the rights of the child, the most recent of
which is resolution 61/146 of 19 December 2006, and its resolution 60/141 of
16 December 2005, as well as Commission on Human Rights resolution 2005/44 of
19 April 2005,1

Emphasizing that the Convention on the Rights of the Child2 must constitute
the standard in the promotion and protection of the rights of the child, and bearing
in mind the importance of the Optional Protocols to the Convention, 3 as well as
other human rights instruments,

Reaffirming the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, 4 the United
Nations Millennium Declaration5 and the outcome document of the twenty-seventh
special session of the General Assembly on children, entitled “A world fit for
children”,6 and recalling the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and
the Programme of Action,7 the Dakar Framework for Action adopted at the World
Education Forum, 8 the Declaration on Social Progress and Development, 9 the
Universal Declaration on the Eradication of Hunger and Malnutrition 10 and the
Declaration on the Right to Development,11
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1 See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2005, Supplement No. 3 and corrigenda (E/2005/23 and Corr.1 and 2), chap. II, sect. A.
2 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531.
3 Ibid., vols. 2171 and 2173, No. 27531.
4 A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III.
5 See resolution 55/2.
6 Resolution S-27/2, annex.
7 Report of the World Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen, 6–12 March 1995 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.8), chap. I, resolution 1, annexes I and II.
8 See United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Final Report of the World Education Forum, Dakar, Senegal, 26–28 April 2000 (Paris, 2000).
9 See resolution 2542 (XXIV).
10 Report of the World Food Conference, Rome, 5–16 November 1974 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.75.II.A.3), chap. I.
11 Resolution 41/128, annex.

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Recognizing the importance of the integration of child rights issues into the
follow-up of the outcome documents of all major United Nations conferences,
special sessions and summits,

Taking note with appreciation of the reports of the Secretary-General on
progress made towards achieving the commitments set out in the outcome document
of the twenty-seventh special session of the General Assembly12 and on the status of
the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the issues raised in Assembly
resolution 61/146,13 as well as the report of the Chairperson of the Committee on the
Rights of the Child,14

Recognizing the importance of incorporating a child-protection perspective
across the human rights agenda, as highlighted in the outcome of the 2005 World
Summit,15

Taking note with appreciation of the attention paid to children in the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 16 and in the International
Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance,17

Noting with appreciation the attention paid to children in the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,18

Profoundly concerned that the situation of children in many parts of the world
remains critical, in an increasingly globalized environment, as a result of the
persistence of poverty, social inequality, inadequate social and economic conditions,
pandemics, in particular HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, environmental
damage, natural disasters, armed conflict, foreign occupation, displacement,
violence, terrorism, abuse, exploitation, trafficking in children and their organs,
child prostitution, child pornography and child sex tourism, neglect, illiteracy,
hunger, intolerance, discrimination, racism, xenophobia, gender inequality,
disability and inadequate legal protection, and convinced that urgent and effective
national and international action is called for,

Reiterating that eradicating poverty is the greatest global challenge facing the
world today and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, in
particular for developing countries, and recognizing that chronic poverty remains
the single biggest obstacle to meeting the needs of and promoting and protecting the
rights of children, and that urgent national and international action is therefore
required to eliminate it,

Reaffirming that democracy, development, peace and security, and the full and
effective enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent
and mutually reinforcing and contribute to the eradication of extreme poverty,

Reaffirming also the need for mainstreaming a gender perspective in all
policies and programmes relating to children, and recognizing the child as a rights
holder in all policies and programmes relating to children,
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12 A/62/259.
13 A/62/182.
14 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-second Session, Third Committee, 14th meeting
(A/C.3/62/SR.14), and corrigendum.
15 See resolution 60/1, para. 128.
16 Resolution 61/106, annex I.
17 Resolution 61/177, annex.
18 Resolution 61/295, annex.
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Welcoming the holding of a commemorative high-level plenary meeting on 11
and 12 December 2007 to evaluate progress made in the implementation of the
Declaration and the Plan of Action contained in the document entitled “A world fit
for children”, recalling that particular attention must be paid to the protection and
the rights of children living in poverty, and encouraging the inclusion of children
and young people in delegations of Member States,
I
Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
and the Optional Protocols thereto
1. Reaffirms that the general principles of, inter alia, the best interests of the
child, non-discrimination, participation and survival and development provide the
framework for all actions concerning children, including adolescents;
2. Urges States that have not yet done so to become parties to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child2 and the Optional Protocols thereto3 as a
matter of priority and to implement them fully by, inter alia, putting in place
effective national legislation, policies and action plans, strengthening relevant
governmental structures for children and ensuring adequate and systematic training
in the rights of the child for all those working with and for children, as well as
ensuring child rights education for children themselves;
3. Urges States parties to withdraw reservations that are incompatible with
the object and purpose of the Convention or the Optional Protocols thereto and to
consider reviewing regularly other reservations with a view to withdrawing them in
accordance with the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action;4
4. Calls upon States to establish or strengthen national bodies, such as
independent ombudspersons for children, where appropriate, or other institutions for
the promotion and protection of the rights of the child;
5. Welcomes the work of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and
calls upon all States to strengthen their cooperation with the Committee, to comply
in a timely manner with their reporting obligations under the Convention and the
Optional Protocols thereto, in accordance with the guidelines elaborated by the
Committee, and to take into account its recommendations on implementation of the
Convention;
6. Takes note with appreciation of the initiatives undertaken by the
Committee aimed at promoting a better understanding of and fuller compliance with
the rights enshrined in the Convention, namely, through the organization of days of
general discussion and the adoption of general comments;
7. Requests all relevant organs and mechanisms of the United Nations
system regularly and systematically to incorporate a strong child rights perspective
throughout all activities in the fulfilment of their mandates, as well as to ensure that
their staff are trained in child rights matters, and calls upon States to continue to
cooperate closely with all those organs and mechanisms, in particular the special
rapporteurs and special representatives of the United Nations system;
8. Encourages States to strengthen their national statistical capacities and to
use statistics disaggregated, inter alia, by age, gender and other relevant factors that
may lead to disparities and other statistical indicators at the national, subregional,
regional and international levels to develop and assess social policies and
programmes so that economic and social resources are used efficiently and
effectively for the full realization of the rights of the child;
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II
Promotion and protection of the rights of the child
and non-discrimination against children
Non-discrimination
9. Calls upon all States to ensure the enjoyment by children of all their
civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights without discrimination of any
kind;
10. Notes with concern the large number of children who are victims of
racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, stresses the need
to incorporate special measures, in accordance with the principles of, inter alia,
non-discrimination, the best interests of the child, survival and development and
respect for his or her views, in programmes to combat racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and related intolerance, and calls upon States to provide special support
and ensure equal access to services for all children;
11. Calls upon States to take all necessary and effective measures, including
legal reforms where appropriate, to eliminate all forms of discrimination against
girls and all forms of violence, including female infanticide and prenatal sex
selection, rape, sexual abuse and harmful traditional or customary practices,
including female genital mutilation, early marriage, marriage without the free and
full consent of the intending spouses and forced sterilization, by enacting and
enforcing legislation and, where appropriate, by formulating comprehensive,
multidisciplinary and coordinated national plans, programmes or strategies to
protect girls;
12. Also calls upon States to take the necessary measures to ensure the full
and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by children with
disabilities in both the public and the private spheres, including access to good
quality education and health care and protection from violence, abuse and neglect,
and to develop and, where it already exists, to enforce legislation to prohibit
discrimination against them in order to ensure their inherent dignity, promote their
self-reliance and facilitate their active participation and integration in the
community, taking into account the particularly difficult situation of children with
disabilities living in poverty;
13. Urges all States to respect and promote the right of girls and boys to
express themselves freely, to ensure that their views are given due weight, in
accordance with their age and maturity, in all matters affecting them and to involve
children, including children with special needs, in decision-making processes,
taking into account the evolving capacities of children and the importance of
involving children’s organizations and child-led initiatives;
14. Also urges all States in particular to strengthen the participation of
children and adolescents in planning and implementation relating to matters that
affect them, such as health, environment, education, social and economic welfare
and protection against violence, abuse and exploitation;
Registration, family relations and adoption or other forms of alternative care
15. Once again urges all States parties to intensify their efforts to comply
with their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child2 to preserve
the child’s identity, including nationality, name and family relations, as recognized
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by law, to allow for the registration of the child immediately after birth, to ensure
that registration procedures are simple, expeditious and effective and provided at
minimal or no cost and to raise awareness of the importance of birth registration at
the national, regional and local levels;
16. Encourages States to adopt and enforce laws and improve the
implementation of policies and programmes to protect children growing up without
parents or caregivers, recognizing that, where alternative care is necessary, familyand
community-based care should be promoted over placement in institutions, and
in this context welcomes the ongoing process aimed at elaborating a set of United
Nations guidelines for the appropriate use and conditions of alternative care for
children, which are aimed at enhancing the implementation of the Convention and
of other relevant legal international human rights instruments, regarding the
protection and well-being of children who are in need of alternative care or who are
at risk of becoming so;
17. Calls upon States to guarantee, to the extent consistent with the
obligations of each State, the right of a child whose parents reside in different States
to maintain, on a regular basis, save in exceptional circumstances, personal relations
and direct contact with both parents by providing enforceable means of access and
visitation in both States and by respecting the principle that both parents have
common responsibilities for the upbringing and development of their children;
18. Also calls upon States to address and pay particular attention to cases of
international parental or familial child abduction, and encourages States to engage
in multilateral and bilateral cooperation to resolve these cases, preferably by
accession to or ratification of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of
International Child Abduction, 19 and therefore to be in full compliance with the
Convention, and to facilitate, inter alia, the return of the child to the country in
which he or she resided immediately before the removal or retention;
19. Further calls upon States to take all necessary measures to prevent and
combat illegal adoptions and all adoptions that are not in the best interests of the
child;
Economic and social well -being of children
20. Calls upon States and the international community to create an
environment in which the well-being of the child is ensured, including by
strengthening international cooperation in this field;
Eradication of poverty
21. Calls upon States to cooperate, support and participate in the global
efforts for poverty eradication at the global, regional and country levels, recognizing
that strengthened availability and effective allocation of resources are required at all
these levels, in order to ensure that all the internationally agreed development and
poverty eradication goals, including those set out in the United Nations Millennium
Declaration,5 are realized within their time framework, and reaffirms that
investments in children and the realization of their rights are among the most
effective ways to eradicate poverty;
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19 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1343, No. 22514.
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22. Reaffirms that the primary responsibility for ensuring an enabling
environment for securing the well-being of children, in which the rights of each and
every child are promoted and respected, rests with each individual State;
23. Calls upon all States and the international community to mobilize all
necessary resources, support and efforts to eradicate poverty, according to national
plans and strategies and in consultation with national Governments, including
through an integrated and multifaceted approach based on the rights and well-being
of children, and to continue their efforts to realize the internationally agreed
development and poverty eradication goals, including the Millennium Development
Goals;
Right to education
24. Recognizes the right to education on the basis of equal opportunity and
non-discrimination by making primary education compulsory and available free to
all children, ensuring that all children have access to education of good quality, as
well as making secondary education generally available and accessible to all, in
particular through the progressive introduction of free education, bearing in mind
that special measures to ensure equal access, including affirmative action, contribute
to achieving equal opportunity and combating exclusion, and ensuring school
attendance, in particular for girls and children from low-income families in order to
achieve the objectives of Education for All, with the aim of realizing millennium
development goal 2;
25. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Special Rapporteur on
the right to education, 20 which is devoted to the right to inclusive education of
persons with disabilities, and in this context calls upon States to consider carefully
the recommendations contained therein, namely, to take steps towards ensuring an
effective inclusive education system;
Right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health
26. Calls upon States:
(a) To take all necessary measures to ensure the right of the child to the
enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to develop sustainable
health systems and social services, ensuring access to such systems and services
without discrimination, paying special attention to adequate food and nutrition and
combating disease and malnutrition, to access to safe drinking water and sanitation,
to the special needs of male and female adolescents and to reproductive and sexual
health, and securing appropriate prenatal and post-natal care for mothers, including
measures to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and in this context to
realize millennium development goals 4, 5 and 6;
(b) To assign priority to developing and implementing activities and
programmes aimed at treating and preventing addictions, in particular addiction to
alcohol and tobacco, and the abuse of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and
inhalants;
(c) To support adolescents to be able to deal positively and responsibly with
their sexuality in order to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS infection and to
implement measures to increase their capacity to protect themselves from
_______________
20 A/HRC/4/29 and Add.1–3.
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HIV/AIDS through, inter alia, the provision of health care, including for sexual and
reproductive health, and through preventive education that promotes gender
equality;
(d) To develop and implement strategies, policies and programmes that
identify and address those factors that make individuals particularly vulnerable to
HIV infection in order to complement prevention programmes that address activities
that place individuals at risk for HIV infection, such as risky and unsafe behaviour
and injecting drug use;
(e) To promote initiatives aimed at reducing the prices of antiretroviral
drugs, especially second-line drugs, available to boys and girls, including bilateral
and private sector initiatives, as well as initiatives on a voluntary basis taken by
groups of States, including those based on innovative financing mechanisms that
contribute to the mobilization of resources for social development, especially those
that aim to provide further access to drugs at affordable prices to children in
developing countries on a sustainable and predictable basis, and in this regard takes
note of the International Drug Purchase Facility, UNITAID;
(f) To design and implement programmes to provide social services and
support to pregnant adolescents and adolescent mothers, in particular by enabling
them and also the adolescent fathers to continue and complete their education;
Right to food
27. Calls upon all States to take immediate steps to eliminate child hunger,
including through the adoption or strengthening of national programmes to address
food security and adequate livelihoods, as well as nutritional security, especially
regarding vitamin A, iron and iodine deficiencies, the promotion of breastfeeding, as
well as programmes (for example, for school meals) that should ensure adequate
nutrition for all children;
Promoting and protecting the rights of children, including ch ildren in
particularly difficult situations
28. Calls upon all States to prevent violations of the rights of children
working and/or living on the street, including discrimination, arbitrary detention and
extrajudicial, arbitrary or summary executions, torture and all kinds of violence and
exploitation, and to bring the perpetrators to justice, to adopt and implement policies
for the protection, social and psychosocial rehabilitation and reintegration of those
children and to adopt economic, social and educational strategies to address the
problems of children working and/or living on the street;
29. Also calls upon all States to protect refugee, asylum-seeking and
internally displaced children, taking into account their gender-specific needs, in
particular those who are unaccompanied, who are particularly exposed to violence
and risks in connection with armed conflict, such as recruitment, sexual violence
and exploitation, stressing the need for States as well as the international community
to continue to pay more systematic and in-depth attention to the special assistance,
protection and development needs of those children through, inter alia, programmes
aimed at rehabilitation and physical and psychological recovery, and to programmes
for voluntary repatriation and, where appropriate and feasible, local integration and
resettlement, to give priority to family tracing and family reunification and, where
appropriate, to cooperate with international humanitarian and refugee organizations,
including by facilitating their work;
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30. Further calls upon all States to ensure, for children belonging to
minorities and vulnerable groups, including migrant children and indigenous
children, the enjoyment of all human rights as well as access to health care, social
services and education on an equal basis with others and to ensure that all such
children, in particular victims of violence and exploitation, receive special
protection and assistance;
31. Calls upon all States to address, as a matter of priority, the vulnerabilities
faced by children affected by and living with HIV, by providing support and
rehabilitation to those children and their families, women and the elderly,
particularly in their role as caregivers, promoting child-oriented HIV/AIDS policies
and programmes and increased protection for children orphaned and affected by
HIV/AIDS, ensuring access to treatment and intensifying efforts to develop new
treatments for children, and building, where needed, and supporting the social
security systems that protect them;
32. Also calls upon all States to protect, in law and in practice, the
inheritance and property rights of orphans, with particular attention to underlying
gender-based discrimination, which may interfere with the fulfilment of these rights;
33. Encourages States to promote actions, including through bilateral and
multilateral technical cooperation and financial assistance, for the social
reintegration of children in difficult situations, considering, inter alia, views, skills
and capacities that those children have developed in the conditions in which they
lived and, where appropriate, with their meaningful participation;
Child labour
34. Calls upon all States to translate into concrete action their commitment
to the progressive and effective elimination of child labour that is likely to be
hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education or to be harmful to the child’s
health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development, to eliminate
immediately the worst forms of child labour, to promote education as a key strategy
in this regard, including the creation of vocational training and apprenticeship
programmes and the integration of working children into the formal education
system, and to examine and devise economic policies, where necessary, in
cooperation with the international community, that address factors contributing to
these forms of child labour;
35. Urges all States that have not yet signed and ratified or acceded to the
Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, 1973
(Convention No. 138) and the Convention concerning the Prohibition and
Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, 1999
(Convention No. 182) of the International Labour Organization to consider doing
so;
Children alleged to have infringed or recognized as having infringed penal law
36. Calls upon all States, in particular those States in which the death penalty
has not been abolished:
(a) To abolish by law, as soon as possible, the death penalty and life
imprisonment without possibility of release for those under the age of 18 years at
the time of the commission of the offence;
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(b) To comply with their obligations as assumed under relevant provisions of
international human rights instruments, including the Convention on the Rights of
the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;21
(c) To keep in mind the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of
those facing the death penalty and the guarantees set out in United Nations
safeguards adopted by the Economic and Social Council;
37. Also calls upon all States to ensure that no child in detention is sentenced
to forced labour or any form of cruel or degrading punishment, or deprived of
access to and provision of health-care services, hygiene and environmental
sanitation, education, basic instruction and vocational training;
Prevention and eradication of the sale of children, child prostitution and
child pornography
38. Calls upon all States:
(a) To criminalize and penalize effectively all forms of sexual exploitation
and sexual abuse of children, including all acts of paedophilia, including within the
family or for commercial purposes, child pornography and child prostitution, child
sex tourism, trafficking in children, the sale of children and the use of the Internet
and other information and communications technologies for these purposes, and to
take effective measures against the criminalization of children who are victims of
exploitation;
(b) To ensure the prosecution and punishment of offenders, whether local or
foreign, by the competent national authorities, either in the country in which the
crime was committed, in the country of which the offender is a national or resident,
in the country of which the victim is a national, or on any other basis permitted
under domestic law, and for these purposes to afford one another the greatest
measure of assistance and the necessary collaboration for prevention, detection,
investigations or criminal or extradition proceedings;
(c) To criminalize and penalize effectively the sale of children, including for
the purposes of transfer of organs of the child for profit, to increase cooperation at
all levels to prevent and dismantle networks trafficking in or selling children and
their organs and, for those States that have not yet done so, to consider signing and
ratifying or acceding to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime;22
(d) To give due consideration to the recommendations made by the Special
Rapporteur on the human rights aspects of the victims of trafficking in persons,
especially women and children, in her last report,23 which was devoted to the subject
of forced marriage in the context of trafficking in persons;
(e) In cases of trafficking in children, the sale of children, child prostitution,
child pornography and child sex tourism, to address effectively the needs of victims,
including their safety, legal assistance and protection, physical and psychological
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21 See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
22 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2237, No. 39574.
23 A/HRC/4/23 and Corr.1 and Add.1 and 2 and Add.2/Corr.1.
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recovery and full reintegration into society, paying particular attention to their
gender-specific needs, including through bilateral and multilateral technical
cooperation and financial assistance;
(f) To combat the existence of a market that encourages such criminal
practices against children, including through the adoption, effective application and
enforcement of preventive, rehabilitative and punitive measures targeting customers
or individuals who sexually exploit or sexually abuse children, as well as by
ensuring public awareness;
(g) To give priority to the identification of norms and standards on the
responsibilities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises,
particularly those involved in information and communications technologies, related
to respect for the rights of children, including the right to be protected from sexual
abuse and exploitation, particularly in the virtual realm, as prohibited by the
relevant legal instruments, and to outline basic measures to be taken for
implementation;
(h) To mobilize public awareness, involving families and communities, with
the participation of children, concerning the protection of children against all forms
of sexual exploitation and abuse;
(i) To contribute to the prevention and elimination of the sale of children,
child prostitution and child pornography by adopting a holistic approach, addressing
the contributing factors, including underdevelopment, poverty, economic disparities,
inequitable socio-economic structures, dysfunctional families, lack of education,
urban-rural migration, gender discrimination, criminal or irresponsible adult sexual
behaviour, child sex tourism, organized crime, harmful traditional practices, armed
conflicts and trafficking in children;
(j) To take measures to eliminate the demand that fosters all forms of
exploitation that leads to trafficking, including sexual exploitation and the sex
tourism demand;
Children affected by armed conflict
39. Strongly condemns any recruitment or use of children in armed conflict
contrary to international law, as well as other violations and abuses committed
against children affected by armed conflict, and urges all States and other parties to
armed conflict that are engaged in such practices to end them;
40. Recalls, in accordance with international humanitarian law, that
indiscriminate attacks against civilians, including children, are prohibited and that
they shall not be the object of attack, including by way of reprisal or excessive use
of force, condemns these practices, and demands that all parties immediately put an
end to them;
41. Calls upon States:
(a) When ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of
the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict,24 to raise the minimum
age for voluntary recruitment of persons into the national armed forces from that set
out in article 38, paragraph 3, of the Convention, bearing in mind that under the
Convention persons under 18 years of age are entitled to special protection, and to
adopt safeguards to ensure that such recruitment is not forced or coerced;
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24 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2173, No. 27531.
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(b) To take all feasible measures to ensure the demobilization and effective
disarmament of children used in armed conflicts and to implement effective
measures for their rehabilitation, physical and psychological recovery and
reintegration into society, in particular through educational measures, taking into
account the rights and the specific needs and capacities of girls;
(c) To ensure timely and adequate funding for rehabilitation and
reintegration efforts for all children associated with armed forces and groups,
particularly in support of national initiatives, to secure the long-term sustainability
of such efforts;
(d) To encourage the involvement of young people in activities concerning
the protection of children affected by armed conflict, including programmes for
reconciliation, peace consolidation, peacebuilding and children-to-children
networks;
(e) To protect children affected by armed conflict, in particular from
violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law, and to ensure
that they receive timely, effective humanitarian assistance, in accordance with
international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions of 12 August
1949,25 and calls upon the international community to hold those responsible for
violations accountable, inter alia, through the International Criminal Court;
(f) To take all feasible measures, in accordance with international
humanitarian law and human rights law, as a matter of priority, to prevent the
recruitment and use of children by armed groups, as distinct from the armed forces
of a State, including the adoption of policies that do not tolerate the recruitment and
use of children in armed conflict, and legal measures necessary to prohibit and
criminalize such practices;
42. Takes note of the updating of the Cape Town Principles on child
soldiers,26 which led to the Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with
Armed Forces or Armed Groups (the Paris Principles),27 encourages Member States
to consider using the Principles and Guidelines to inform their work in protecting
children from the effects of armed conflicts, and requests the relevant entities of the
United Nations system, within their mandates, and invites civil society to assist
Member States in this field;
43. Reaffirms the essential roles of the General Assembly, the Economic and
Social Council and the Human Rights Council for the promotion and protection of
the rights and welfare of children, including children affected by armed conflict, and
notes the increasing role played by the Security Council in ensuring protection for
children affected by armed conflict;
44. Notes with appreciation the steps taken regarding Security Council
resolution 1612 (2005) of 26 July 2005 and the efforts of the Secretary-General to
implement the monitoring and reporting mechanism on children and armed conflict
in accordance with that resolution, with the participation of and in cooperation with
national Governments and relevant United Nations and civil society actors,
including at the country level, as well as the work carried out by United Nations
child protection advisers in peacekeeping operations;
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25 Ibid., vol. 75, Nos. 970–973.
26 See E/CN.4/1998/NGO/2.
27 Available from www.unicef.org.
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45. Takes note with appreciation of the work of the Special Representative of
the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, recognizes the progress
achieved since the establishment of the mandate of the Special Representative, takes
note of part one of her report to the General Assembly,28 and looks forward to the
continuation of her work and activities in the future with due respect to resolution
60/231 of 23 December 2005;
46. Takes note of part two of the report of the Special Representative,28 on
the strategic review of the 1996 study by Ms Graça Machel entitled “Impact of
armed conflict on children”,29 and of the significant developments and achievements
in the protection of children in armed conflict at the national and international
levels, calls upon Member States and observers, and invites relevant entities of the
United Nations system as well as civil society, as appropriate, to carefully study its
recommendations, recognizes the need for discussion on the issues raised therein,
and stresses the need for the views of Member States to be fully taken into account
in this regard;
III
Elimination of violence against children
47. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the independent expert for
the United Nations study on violence against children,30 and notes the very positive
response to the study from Member States and the progress made in translating and
disseminating widely the study, the complementary World Report on Violence
against Children, prepared by the independent expert, and the innovative childfriendly
version of the report and educational materials;
48. Encourages all States and requests United Nations entities, regional
organizations and civil society, including non-governmental organizations, to
continue to widely disseminate and follow up on the study;
49. Urges all States to exercise leadership to end all forms of violence
against children and support advocacy in this regard at all levels, including at the
local, national, regional and international levels, and by all sectors, especially by
political, community and religious leaders, as well as the public and private sectors,
the media and civil society;
50. Requests the relevant organizations of the United Nations system, in
particular the organizations that are members of the Inter-Agency Group on
Violence against Children, to continue to explore ways and means, within their
respective mandates, by which they can contribute more effectively to addressing
the need to prevent and to respond to all forms of violence against children;
51. Invites all relevant international and regional human rights mechanisms,
as appropriate, including relevant treaty bodies, in particular the Committee on the
Rights of the Child and special procedures, to consider how to use most effectively
their respective mandates to contribute to the elimination of violence against
children;
_______________
28 A/62/228.
29 See A/51/306 and Add.1.
30 See A/62/209.
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13
52. Condemns all forms of violence against children, including physical,
mental, psychological and sexual violence, torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment, child abuse and exploitation, hostage-taking, domestic
violence, trafficking in or sale of children and their organs, paedophilia, child
prostitution, child pornography, child sex tourism, gang-related violence, bullying
and harmful traditional practices, and urges States to strengthen efforts to prevent
and protect children from all such violence through a comprehensive approach and
to develop a multifaceted and systematic framework, which is integrated into
national planning processes, to respond to violence against children;
53. Also condemns all kinds of abduction of children, in particular extortive
abduction and abduction of children in situations of armed conflict, including for
the recruitment and use of children in armed conflicts, and urges States to take all
appropriate measures to secure their unconditional release, rehabilitation,
reintegration and reunification with their families;
54. Urges all States to strengthen international cooperation and mutual
assistance to prevent and protect children from all forms of violence and to end
impunity for crimes against children;
55. Recognizes the contribution of the International Criminal Court in ending
impunity for the most serious crimes against children, including genocide, crimes
against humanity and war crimes, and calls upon States not to grant amnesties for
such crimes;
56. Acknowledges the contributions of the international criminal tribunals
and special courts in ending impunity for the most serious crimes against children,
including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes;
57. Urges all States:
(a) To take effective and appropriate legislative and other measures or,
where they exist, strengthen legislation to prohibit and eliminate all forms of
violence against children;
(b) To consider taking appropriate measures to assert the right of children to
respect for their human dignity and physical integrity and to prohibit and eliminate
any emotional or physical violence or any other humiliating or degrading treatment;
(c) To give priority attention to the prevention of all forms of violence
against children and to addressing its underlying causes, through a systematic,
comprehensive and multifaceted approach;
(d) To protect children from all forms of violence or abuse by all those who
work with and for children, including in educational settings, as well as by
government officials, such as the police, law enforcement authorities and employees
and officials in detention centres or welfare institutions;
(e) To end impunity for perpetrators of crimes against children, investigate
and prosecute such acts of violence and impose appropriate penalties;
(f) To recognize that persons convicted of violent offences against and
sexual abuse of children who continue to pose a risk of harm to children should be
prevented from working with children;
(g) To actively engage with children and respect their views in all aspects of
prevention, response and monitoring of violence against them, taking into account
article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child;2
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14
(h) To ensure national research and documentation to identify vulnerable
groups of children, inform policy and programmes at all levels and track progress
and best practices towards preventing all forms of violence against children;
(i) To strive to change attitudes that condone or normalize any form of
violence against children, including cruel, inhuman or degrading forms of
discipline, harmful traditional practices and all forms of sexual violence;
(j) To take measures to promote constructive and positive forms of
discipline and child development approaches in all settings, including the home,
schools and other educational settings and throughout care and justice systems;
(k) To take measures to ensure that all those who work with and for children
protect children from bullying and implement preventive and anti-bullying policies;
(l) To establish and develop safe, well-publicized, confidential and
accessible mechanisms to enable children, their representatives and others to report
violence against children as well as to file complaints in cases of violence against
children;
(m) To address the gender dimension of all forms of violence against children
and incorporate a gender perspective in all policies adopted and actions taken to
protect children against all forms of violence, acknowledging that girls and boys
face varying risks from different forms of violence at different ages and in different
situations, and in this context recalls the agreed conclusions on the elimination of all
forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child adopted by the
Commission on the Status of Women at its fifty-first session;31
(n) To further develop the capacity of all those who work with and for
children and families to contribute to the elimination of all forms of violence against
children, by investing in systematic education and training programmes, both initial
and in-service, on preventing, detecting and responding to violence against children;
norms, such as guidelines or codes of conduct, incorporating the rejection of all
forms of violence against children, should be formulated and implemented;
(o) To ensure that all victims of violence have access to appropriate childsensitive
health and social services; special attention should be paid to the genderspecific
needs of girls and boys who are victims of violence;
58. Requests the Secretary-General to appoint for a period of three years a
Special Representative on violence against children, at the highest possible level,
after which time the mandate should be evaluated, including with regard to its
funding, and ensure that the necessary support is made available to the Special
Representative for the effective and independent performance of his/her mandate,
encourages the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Health Organization and the
International Labour Organization to cooperate with and provide support to the
Special Representative, including financial support, and calls upon States and
institutions concerned, and invites the private sector, to provide voluntary
contributions for that purpose;
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31 See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2007, Supplement No. 7 (E/2007/27), chap. I,
sect. A.
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59. Recommends that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on
violence against children, taking care to avoid duplication with relevant United
Nations mechanisms and treaty bodies:
(a) Act as a high-profile and independent global advocate to promote the
prevention and elimination of all forms of violence against children in all regions,
acting as a catalyst to stimulate the engagement of Member States and civil society
to prevent and respond to violence against children, keeping the issue high on the
international agenda and maintaining the attention to the issue of violence against
children achieved through the process of the United Nations study on violence
against children;
(b) Promote and support, in cooperation with Member States, the
implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations study on violence
against children, where appropriate, recommending measures, ways and means at
the national, regional and international levels to eliminate violence against children
and its causes and to remedy its consequences, promoting and ensuring country
ownership of national plans and programmes in this regard;
(c) Identify and share good practices to prevent and respond to violence
against children, between States and across regions, assist Member States in their
efforts to develop more comprehensive and systematic data collection on violence
against children, and ensure cross-fertilization of experiences between the various
sectors addressing violence against children, including those focused on human
rights, child protection, well-being, development, public health and education;
(d) Work closely and cooperate fully with relevant United Nations treaty
bodies and mechanisms, including, but not limited to, the Committee on the Rights
of the Child and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children
and Armed Conflict, the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography and the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in
persons, especially women and children, within their respective mandates, building
upon existing inter-agency structures, and bearing in mind the ongoing process of
the reviewing of mandates in the Human Rights Council;
(e) Also work closely and cooperate with the United Nations system and the
existing mandates of United Nations funds and programmes and specialized
agencies that have responsibilities in the area of violence against children, in
particular those that are members of the Inter-Agency Group on Violence against
Children;
(f) Establish a mutually supportive collaboration with civil society,
including relevant non-governmental organizations and the private sector, and work
to promote the increased involvement of children and young people in initiatives to
prevent and respond to violence against children;
60. Urges Governments and requests the specialized agencies, relevant
United Nations organs that work in the area of violence against children and
regional, intergovernmental and civil society organizations, including non-governmental
organizations, as well as relevant United Nations mechanisms and treaty bodies,
including the Committee on the Rights of the Child, to cooperate with the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children and to provide
information, where appropriate, on the measures adopted to ensure and respect the
right of children to be protected from violence;
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16
61. Requests the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence
against children, upon his/her appointment, and the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict to cooperate and coordinate
their activities, bearing in mind their complementarity, and in this regard to ensure
between them, within their respective mandates, that the situations of all children
subject to or at risk of violence are addressed, including those of armed conflict,
foreign occupation, genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, terrorism or
hostage-taking, or where peacekeeping operations are deployed, in order to ensure
that no child is left uncovered;
62. Requests the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence
against children to report annually to the General Assembly, the Human Rights
Council and the Economic and Social Council and to ensure that this reporting
contains relevant, accurate and objective information on violence against children,
taking into account the views of Member States and observers, the outcome of the
special sessions of the Assembly on children and the United Nations study on
violence against children, bearing in mind existing mandates;
IV
Follow-up
63. Decides:
(a) To request the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its
sixty-third session a report on the rights of the child, containing information on the
status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child2 and the issues addressed in the
present resolution;
(b) To request the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for
Children and Armed Conflict to continue to submit reports to the General Assembly
and the Human Rights Council on the progress achieved and the remaining
challenges on the children and armed conflict agenda;
(c) To invite the Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to
present an oral report on the work of the Committee to the General Assembly at its
sixty-third session as a way to enhance communication between the Assembly and
the Committee;
(d) To continue its consideration of the question at its sixty-third session
under the item entitled “Promotion and protection of the rights of children”,
focusing section III of the resolution on the rights of the child on “Child labour,
with a special emphasis on its causes, including poverty and lack of education” in
2008 and on “The right of the child to express his/her views freely in all matters
affecting him/her” in 2009.
76th plenary meeting
18 December 20070

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