UN Human Rights Treaties

UNITED E NATIONS Economic and Social Distr. Council LIMITED E/CN.4/1987/L.57 5 March 1987 Original: ENGLISH COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Forty-third session Agenda item 13 QUESTION OF A CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD Afghanistan*, Algeria, Angola*, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Bhutan*, Bolovia*, Bulgaria, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Cameroon*, Canada*, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d'lvoire*, Cuba*, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia*, Democratic Yemen*, Denmark*, Egypt*, Ethiopia, Finland*, France, Gabon*, Gambia, German Democratic Republic, Ghana*, Greece*, Hungary*, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of)*, Iraq, Italy, Jordan*, Kenya*, Lebanon*, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya*, Madagascar*, Mexico, Mongolia*, Morocco*, Mozambique, Nepal*, Netherlands*, New Zealand*, Nicaragua, Nigeria*, Norway, Pakistan, Panama*, Peru, Philippines, Poland*, Portugal*, Romania*, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, Spain*, Sri Lanka, Syrian Arab Republic*, Togo, Tunisia*, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic*, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Republic of Tanzania*, Uruguay*, Venezuela, Viet Nam*, Yemen*, Zaire* and Zimbabwe*: draft resolution The Commission on Human Rights, Bearing in mind the draft convention on the rights of the child submitted by Poland to the Commission on Human Rights on 7 February 1978, the amended version of the draft submitted to the Commission on 5 October 1979, and the documents submitted by Poland to the General Assembly at its thirty-sixth session, on 7 October 1981, and at its fortieth session, on 7 October 1985, * In accordance with rule 69, paragraph 3, of the rules of procedure of the functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council. E/CN.4/1987/L.57 page 2 Recalling General Assembly resolutions 33/166 of 20 December 1978, 34/4 of 18 October 1979, 35/131 of 11 December 1980, 36/57 of 25 November 1981 37/190 of 18 December 1982, 38/114 of 16 December 1983, 39/135 of 14 December 1984, 40/113 of 13 December 1985 and 41/116 of 4 December 1986, by which the Assembly requested the Commission on Human Rights to give the highest priority to, and to make every effort at its forty-third session to complete, the draft convention and to submit it, through the Economic and Social Council, to the General Assembly at its forty-second session, Recalling also its resolutions 20 (XXXIV) of 8 March 1978, 19 (XXXV) of 14 March 1979, 36 (XXXVI) of 12 March 1980, 26 (XXXVII) of 10 March 1981, 1982/39 of 11 March 1982, 1983/52 of 10 March 1983, 1984/24 of 8 March 1984, 1985/50 of 14 March 1985 and 1986/59 of 13 March 1986, and Economic and Social Council decisions 1980/138 of 2 May 1980 and 1981/144 of 8 May 1981 and resolutions 1978/18 of 5 May 1978, 1978/40 of 1 August 1978, 1982/37 of 7 May 1982, 1983/39 of 27 May 1983, 1984/25 of 24 May 1984, 1985/42 of 30 May 1985 and 1986/40 of 23 May 1986, by which it authorized a meeting of an open-ended working group for a period of one week prior to the forty-third session of the Commission, with a view to completing the work on the draft convention on the rights of the child, Aware of the fact that 27 years after the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, the situation of children in many parts of the world still continues to be far from satisfactory, and that the full enjoyment by children of human rights calls for continuous improvement of the situation of children as well as their development and education in conditions of peace and security. Stressing the importance of an international convention on the rights of the child for the effective improvement of the situation of children all over the world, Welcoming the efforts made by the United Nations Children's Fund with a view to promoting and protecting children's rights, life and well-being, Noting the further progress made by the open-ended working group during its one-week meeting prior to the forty-third session of the Commission, Noting also the growing interest in elaborating a comprehensive international convention on the rights of the child displayed by numerous Governments and international organizations, E/CN.4/1987/L.57 page 3 1. Decides to continue at its forty-fourth session, as a matter of the highest priority, its work on the elaboration of the draft convention on the rights of the child, with a view to completing the draft at that session for transmission, through the Economic and Social Council, to the General Assetm 2. Requests the Economic and Social Council to authorize a one-week session of an open-ended working group prior to the forty-fourth session of the Commission on Human Rights, with a view to completing the work on the draft convention on the rights of the child at that session; 3, Recommends the following draft resolution to the Economic and Social Council for adoption: "The Economic and Social Council, "Recalling General Assembly resolution 41/116 of 4 December 1986, by which the General Assembly requested the Commission on Human Rights to give the highest priority to, and to make every effort at its forty-third session to complete, the draft convention and to submit it, through the Economic and Social Council, to the General Assembly at its forty-second session, "Considering that it was not found possible to complete the work on the draft convention during the forty-third session of the Commission on Human Rights, "Taking note of Commission on Human Rights resolution 1987/... of ...March 1987, "1. Authorizes a meeting of an open-ended working group for a period of one week prior to the forty-fourth session of the Commission on Human Rights with a view to completing the work on the draft convention on the rights of the child at that session; "2. Requests the Secretary-General to extend all facilities to the working group for its meeting prior to and during the forty-fourth session of the Commission to enable it to fulfill its task successfully, and notes the usefulness of providing the working group, in advance of its session, with such working documents as a compilation of all amendments and new proposals and relevant provisions of other international instruments."