UN Human Rights Treaties

UNITED NATIONS General Assembly Distr. GENERAL A/40/971 5 December 1985 ENGLISH ORIGINAL: FRENCH Fortieth session Agenda item 103 QUESTION OF A CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD Report of the Third Committee Rapporteur: Mr. Paul-Desire KABORE (Burkina Faso) I. INTRODUCTION 1. At its 3rd plenary meeting, on 20 September 1985, the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the General Committee, decided to include in the agenda of its fortieth session the item entitled "Question of a convention on the rights of the child" and to allocate it to the Third Committee. 2. The Third Committee considered the item jointly with items 101, 102, 104 and 144 at its 46th to 48th, 50th to 53rd, 58th and 60th meetings on 19 to 22, 25 and 29 November and 2 December 1985. An account of the Committee's discussions is contained in the relevant summary records (A/C.3/40/SR.46-48, 50-53, 58 and 60). 3. The Committee had before it the following documents: (a) Report of the Economic and Social Council, chapter V, section A (A/40/3); 1 (b) Letter dated 21 May 1935 from the Permanent Representative of Democratic Kampuchea to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (A/40/331-S/17209); 1/ To be issued as Official Records of the General Assembly, .Fortieth Session, Supplement No. 3 (A/40/3/Rev.1). 85-36198 1798i (E) /... A/40/971 English Page 2 (c) Status of the elaboration of a draft convention on the rights of the child: document submitted by Poland (A/C.3/40/3 and Corr.l). 4. At the 46th meeting, on 19 November, the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights made an introductory statement. II. CONSIDERATION OP DRAFT RESOLUTION A/C.3/40/L.51 5. At the 50th meeting, on 22 November, the representative of Poland introduced a draft resolution (A/C.3/40/L.51) entitled "Question of a convention on the rights of the child", sponsored by Algeria, Argentina, Austria, the Bahamas, Bulgaria, the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Sweden, the Syrian Arab Republic, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Venezuela and Yugoslavia as well as Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Colombia, the Congo, Greece, Guinea, Iceland, Italy, the Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire), Madagascar, Nigeria, Peru, Rwanda, Spain, Viet Nam and Zaire. 6. At the 60th meeting, on 2 December, the representative of Poland orally revised the text by adding the words "and Corr.l" after "A/C.3/40/3" in the last preambular paragraph. 7. At the same meeting, the Committee adopted the draft resolution, as orally revised, without a vote (see para. 8). III. RECOMMENDATION OF THE THIRD COMMITTEE 8. The Third Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of the following draft resolution: DRAFT RESOLUTION Q uestion of a convention on the rights of the child The General Assembly, Recalling its 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 and 39/135 of 14 December 1984, Recalling also Commission on Human Rights resolutions 20 (XXXIV) of 8 March 1978, 2/ 19 (XXXV) of 14 March 1979, 3/ 36 (XXXVI) of 12 March 1980, 4/ 26 (XXXVII) of 10 March 1981, 5/ 1982/39 of 11 March 1982, 6/ 983/52 of 10 March 1983, 7/ 1984/24 of 8 March 1984 8/ and 1985/50 of 14 March 1985 9/ as well as Economic and Social Council resolutions 1978/18 of 5 May 1978, 1978/40 of 1 August 1978, 1982/37 of 7 May 1982, A/40/971 English page 3 1983/39 of 27 May 1983, 1984/25 of 24 May 1984 and 1985/42 of 30 May 1985 and Council decisions 1980/138 of 2 May 1980 and 1981/144 of 8 May 1981, Reaffirming, on this fortieth anniversary of the United Nations, that children's rights require special protection and call for continuous improvement of the situation of children all over the world, as well as their development and education in conditions of peace and security, Profoundly concerned that the situation of children in many parts of the world remains critical as a result of inadequate social conditions, natural disasters, armed conflicts, exploitation, hunger and disability, and convinced that urgent and effective national and international action is called for, Mindful of the important role of the United Nations Children's Fund and the United Nations in promoting the well-being of children and their development, Convinced of the positive contribution of an international convention on the rights of the child to ensuring the protection of children's rights and their well-being, Welcoming the growing interest in the elaboration of an international convention on the rights of the child displayed by a great number of Member States representing all geographical regions and socio-political systems, as well as by governmental and non-governmental international organizations, Noting with appreciation that further progress was made in the elaboration of a draft convention on the rights of the child during the forty-first session of the Commission on Human Rights, 10/ 2/ See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1978, Supplement No. 4 (E/1978/34), chap. XXVI, sect. A. 3/ Ibid., 1979, Supplement No, 6 (E/1979/36), chap. XXIV, sect. A. ±/ Ibid., 1980, Supplement No, 3 (E/1980/13 and Corr.l), chap. XXVI, sect. A. 5/ Ibid., 1981, Supplement No. 5 (E/1981/25 and Corr.l), chap. XXVIII, sect. A. 6/ Ibid., 1982, Supplement No. 2 (E/1982/12 and Corr.l), chap. XXVI, sect. A. 7/ Ibid., 1983, Supplement No. 3 (E/1983/13 and Corr.l), chap. XXVII, sect. A 8/ Ibid., 1984, Supplement No. 4 (E/1984/14 and Corr.l), chap. II, sect. A. 9/ Ibid. 1985, Supplement No. 2 (E/1985/22), chap. II, sect, A. 10/ See Official Records t of the Economic and Social Council, 1985 Supplement No, 2 (B/1983/22), chap. XIII. A/40/971 English Page 4 Noting the document entitled "Status of elaboration of a draft convention on the rights of the child", submitted by Poland, 11/ 1. Welcomes Economic and Social Council resolution 1985/42 in which the Council authorized a meeting of an open-ended working group of the Commission on Human Rights for a period of one week prior to the forty-second session of the Commission in order to facilitate completion of the work on a draft convention on the rights of the child; 2. Requests the Commission on Human Rights to give the highest priority to, and to make every effort at its forty-second session to complete the draft convention and to submit it, through the Economic and Social Council, to the General Assembly at its forty-first session; 3. Invites all Member states to offer their active contribution to the completion of the draft convention on the rights of the child at the forty-second session of the Commission; 4. Requests the Secretary-General to provide all necessary assistance to the working group in order to ensure its smooth and efficient work in the fulfilment of its important task; 5. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its forty-first session the item entitled "Question of a convention on the rights of the child".