UN Human Rights Treaties

United Nations
A/55/598
General Assembly Distr.: General
17 November 2000
Original: English
00-75326 (E) 221100
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Fifty-fifth session
Agenda item 110
Promotion and protection of the rights of children
Report of the Third Committee
Rapporteur: Ms. Anzhela Korneliouk (Belarus)
I. Introduction
1. At its 9th plenary meeting, on 11 September 2000, the General Assembly, on
the recommendation of the General Committee, decided to include in the agenda of
its fifty-fifth session the item entitled “Promotion and protection of the rights of
children” and to allocate it to the Third Committee.
2. The Third Committee considered the item at its 18th to 23rd, 30th, 37th, 43rd
and 53rd meetings, on 11 to 13, 20 and 26 October and 1 and 9 November 2000. An
account of the Committee’s discussion is contained in the relevant summary records
(A/C.3/55/SR.18-23, 30, 37, 43 and 53).
3. For its consideration of the item, the Committee had before it the following
documents:
(a) Report of the Committee on the Rights of the Child;1
(b) Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict
(A/55/163-S/2000/712);
(c) Report of the Secretary-General on the status of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child (A/55/201);
(d) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Special
Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the sale of children, child
prostitution and child pornography (A/55/297);
(e) Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General on the protection of children affected by
armed conflict (A/55/442);
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1 Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-fifth Session, Supplement No. 41 (A/55/41).
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(f) Letter dated 18 July 2000 from the Permanent Representative of Japan to
the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, transmitting the conclusions
of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of Eight, meeting at Miyazaki,
Japan, on 13 July 2000 (A/55/162-S/2000/7150);
(g) Letter dated 5 October 2000 from the Permanent Representative of
Nigeria to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, transmitting the
ministerial statement adopted at the twenty-fourth annual meeting of the Ministers
for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77, held at United Nations Headquarters on 15
September 2000 (A/55/459);
(h) Letter dated 6 October 2000 from the Permanent Representative of
Canada to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, transmitting the
Agenda for War-Affected Children adopted at the International Conference on War-
Affected Children, held at Winnipeg, Canada, from 10 to 17 September 2000
(A/55/467-S/2000/973).
4. At the 18th meeting, on 11 October, introductory statements were made by the
Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict,
the Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund and the
Deputy Director of the New York Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights on behalf of both the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on
the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (see A/C.3/55/SR.18).
5. At the same meeting, the Committee engaged in a dialogue with the abovementioned
speakers, in which the representatives of France (on behalf of the States
Members of the United Nations that are members of the European Union), Rwanda,
the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Cuba, Canada, the Sudan, India and Iraq took part (see
A/C.3/55/SR.18).
II. Consideration of proposals
A. Draft resolution A/C.3/55/L.17
6. At the 30th meeting, on 20 October, the representative of Namibia, on behalf
of Afghanistan, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Barbados,
Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil,
Bulgaria, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador,
Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, the Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala,
Guinea, Guyana, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho,
Liberia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Monaco, Mozambique, Namibia,
Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, the
Philippines, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Saint Lucia, San Marino,
Senegal, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain Swaziland, Sweden, Thailand, the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Ukraine,
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United Republic of
Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Zambia and Zimbabwe, introduced a draft
resolution entitled “The girl child” (A/C.3/55/L.17). Subsequently, Algeria, Antigua
and Barbuda, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina
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Faso, Cambodia, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Hungary, Israel, Japan,
Kyrgyzstan, Malta, the Niger, Panama, Poland, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mongolia,
the Republic of Moldova, Suriname, Togo, Tunisia and Uzbekistan joined in
sponsoring the draft resolution.
7. At its 37th meeting, on 26 October, the Committee adopted draft resolution
A/C.3/55/L.17 without a vote (see para. 14, draft resolution I).
B. Draft resolution A/C.3/55/L.18/Rev.1 and Rev.2
8. At the 43rd meeting, on 1 November, the representative of Uruguay, on behalf
of Andorra, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize (on behalf of
the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the Group of Latin
American and Caribbean States), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Cape
Verde, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland,
France, the Gambia, Germany, Greece, Guinea, Hungary, Iceland, Iraq, Ireland,
Israel, Italy, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Mozambique, Namibia, the Netherlands, New
Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, the
Republic of Moldova, Romania, the Russian Federation, San Marino, Slovakia,
Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, the Sudan, Sweden, Thailand, the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland, the United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay,
Uzbekistan, Viet Nam and Zimbabwe, introduced a draft resolution entitled “The
rights of the child” (A/C.3/55/L.18/Rev.1), which, owing to a technical error, was
reissued as document A/C.3/55/L.18/Rev.2. Subsequently, Algeria, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon,
China, the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Eritrea, Fiji, Georgia, Ghana, India,
Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, the
Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mongolia, Nauru, Nepal, the
Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon
Islands, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Togo, Turkey, Uganda and Vanuatu joined in
sponsoring the draft resolution.
9. At the same meeting, the representative of Uruguay corrected the text by
replacing the words “Calls upon” by the word “Urges” in section V, operative
paragraph 12.
10. Also at the same meeting, following a statement by the representative of
Uruguay, the Committee was informed that the draft resolution contained no
programme budget implications (see A/C.3/55/SR.53). Subsequently, the Secretary
of the Committee read out a statement in connection with the draft resolution (see
A/C.3/55/SR.53).
11. At its 53rd meeting, on 9 November, following a statement by the
representative of the United States of America, the Committee adopted draft
resolution A/C.3/55/L.18/Rev.2, as orally corrected, without a vote (see para. 14,
draft resolution II).
12. After the adoption of the draft resolution, statements were made by the
representatives of Singapore, Canada, Fiji, Cuba, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, India,
Algeria, the Sudan, Australia and Pakistan (see A/C.3/55/SR.53).
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C. Draft decision proposed by the Chairman
13. At its 53rd meeting, on 9 November, on the proposal of the Chairman, the
Committee decided to recommend to the General Assembly that it take note of the
report of the Secretary-General on the status of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child (A/55/201) (see para. 15).
III. Recommendations of the Third Committee
14. The Third Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of
the following draft resolutions:
Draft resolution I
The girl child
The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolution 54/148 of 17 December 1999 and all previous relevant
resolutions, including the agreed conclusions of the Commission on the Status of
Women, in particular those relevant to the girl child,
Recalling also all relevant United Nations conferences and the Declaration and
Agenda for Action adopted by the World Congress against Commercial Sexual
Exploitation of Children, held at Stockholm from 27 to 31 August 1996,2 as well as
the final outcome documents of the recent five-year reviews of the implementation
of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and
Development3 and the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social
Development,4
Deeply concerned about discrimination against the girl child and the violation
of the rights of the girl child, which often result in less access for girls to education,
nutrition, physical and mental health care and in girls enjoying fewer of the rights,
opportunities and benefits of childhood and adolescence than boys and often being
subjected to various forms of cultural, social, sexual and economic exploitation and
to violence and harmful practices, such as female infanticide, incest, early marriage,
prenatal sex selection and female genital mutilation,
Recognizing the need to achieve gender equality so as to ensure a just and
equitable world for girls,
Deeply concerned that, in situations of poverty, war and armed conflict, girl
children are among the victims most affected and that thus their potential for full
development is limited,
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2 A/51/385, annex.
3 Report of the International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, 5-13 September
1994 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.95.XIII.18), chap. I, resolution 1, annex.
4 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, annex II.
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Concerned that the girl child has furthermore become a victim of sexually
transmitted diseases and the human immunodeficiency virus, which affects the
quality of her life and leaves her open to further discrimination,
Reaffirming the equal rights of women and men as enshrined, inter alia, in the
Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations, the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women5 and the Convention on the Rights of
the Child,6
Reaffirming also the political declaration7 and further actions and initiatives to
implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action,8 adopted by the General
Assembly at its twenty-third special session entitled “Women 2000: gender equality,
development and peace for the twenty-first century”,
Reaffirming further the Declaration of the World Education Forum, held at
Dakar from 26 to 28 April 2000,
1. Stresses the need for full and urgent implementation of the rights of the
girl child as guaranteed to her under all human rights instruments, including the
Convention on the Rights of the Child6 and the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women,5 as well as the need for universal
ratification of those instruments;
2. Urges States to consider signing and ratifying the Optional Protocol9 to
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women;
3. Welcomes the adoption of the optional protocols10 to the Convention on
the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the
sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and invites States to
consider signing and ratifying the optional protocols as a matter of priority with a
view to their entry into force as soon as possible;
4. Also welcomes the girls’ education initiative launched by the Secretary-
General at the World Education Forum, held at Dakar from 26 to 28 April 2000;
5. Urges all Governments and the United Nations system to strengthen
efforts bilaterally and with international organizations and private sector donors in
order to achieve the goals of the World Education Forum, in particular that of
eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005, and for
the implementation of the girls’ education initiative as a means of reaching this goal,
and reaffirms the commitment contained in the United Nations Millennium
Declaration;11
6. Calls upon all States to take measures to address the obstacles that
continue to affect the achievement of the goals set forth in the Platform for Action
of the Fourth World Conference on Women,12 as contained in paragraph 33 of the
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5 Resolution 34/180, annex.
6 Resolution 44/25, annex.
7 Resolution S-23/2, annex.
8 Resolution S-23/3, annex.
9 Resolution 54/4, annex.
10 Resolution 54/263, annexes I and II.
11 Resolution 55/2.
12 Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4-15 September 1995 (United
Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.IV.13), chap. I, resolution 1, annex II.
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further actions and initiatives to implement the Platform for Action,8 where
appropriate, including the strengthening of national mechanisms to implement
policies and programmes for the girl child and, in some cases, to enhance the
coordination among responsible institutions for the realization of the human rights
of girls, as indicated in the further actions and initiatives;
7. Urges all States to take all necessary measures and to institute legal
reforms to ensure the full and equal enjoyment by the girl child of all human rights
and fundamental freedoms, to take effective action against violations of those rights
and freedoms and to base programmes and policies for the girl child on the rights of
the child;
8. Urges States to enact and enforce strictly laws to ensure that marriage is
entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses, to enact
and enforce strictly laws concerning the minimum legal age of consent and the
minimum age for marriage and to raise the minimum age for marriage where
necessary;
9. Urges all States to fulfil their obligations under the Convention on the
Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women as well as the commitment to implement the
Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women;
10. Also urges all States to enact and enforce legislation to protect girls from
all forms of violence, including female infanticide and prenatal sex selection, female
genital mutilation, rape, domestic violence, incest, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation,
child prostitution and child pornography, and to develop age-appropriate safe and
confidential programmes and medical, social and psychological support services to
assist girls who are subjected to violence;
11. Calls upon all States and international and non-governmental
organizations, individually and collectively, to implement further the Platform for
Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women, in particular the strategic
objectives relating to the girl child and including the further actions and initiatives
to implement the Platform for Action;
12. Urges States to take special measures for the protection of war-affected
girls and in particular to protect them from sexually transmitted diseases such as
human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and genderbased
violence, including rape and sexual abuse, torture, sexual exploitation,
abduction and forced labour, paying special attention to refugee and displaced girls,
and to take into account the special needs of the war-affected girl child in the
delivery of humanitarian assistance and disarmament, demobilization and
reintegration processes;
13. Also urges all States and the international community to respect, protect
and promote the rights of the child, taking into account the particular vulnerabilities
of the girl child in pre-conflict, conflict and post-conflict situations and calls for
special initiatives designed to address all of the rights and needs of war-affected
girls;
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14. Welcomes the holding of the International Conference on War-Affected
Children at Winnipeg, Canada, from 10 to 17 September 2000, and notes with
appreciation the Winnipeg Agenda for War-Affected Children;13
15. Urges States to formulate comprehensive, multidisciplinary and
coordinated national plans, programmes or strategies to eliminate all forms of
violence against women and girls, which should be widely disseminated and should
provide targets and timetables for implementation, as well as effective domestic
enforcement procedures through the establishment of monitoring mechanisms
involving all parties concerned, including consultations with women’s organizations,
giving attention to the recommendations relating to the girl child of the Special
Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on violence against women, its
causes and consequences;
16. Calls upon Governments, civil society, including the media, and nongovernmental
organizations to promote human rights education and the full respect
for and enjoyment of the human rights of the girl child, inter alia, through the
translation, production and dissemination of age-appropriate information material on
those rights to all sectors of society, in particular to children;
17. Requests the Secretary-General, as Chairman of the Administrative
Committee on Coordination, to ensure that all organizations and bodies of the
United Nations system, individually and collectively, in particular the United
Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Population Fund, the
United Nations Development Fund for Women, the World Health Organization, the
United Nations Development Programme and the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, take into account the rights and the particular needs of
the girl child in the country programme of cooperation in accordance with the
national priorities, including through the United Nations Development Assistance
Framework;14
18. Requests all human rights treaty bodies, special procedures and other
human rights mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights and its
Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights to adopt
regularly and systematically a gender perspective in the implementation of their
mandates and to include in their reports information on the qualitative analysis of
violations of the human rights of women and girls, and encourages the strengthening
of cooperation and coordination in that regard;
19. Calls upon States and international and non-governmental organizations
to mobilize all necessary resources, support and efforts to realize the goals, strategic
objectives and actions set out in the Platform for Action of the Fourth World
Conference on Women and the further actions and initiatives to implement the
Platform for Action;
20. Stresses the importance of a substantive assessment of the
implementation of the Platform for Action with a life-cycle perspective so as to
identify gaps and obstacles in the implementation process and to develop further
actions for the achievement of the goals of the Platform for Action;
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13 See A/55/467-S/2000/973.
14 See A/53/226, paras. 72-77, and A/53/226/Add.1, paras. 88-98.
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21. Welcomes the convening of the Second World Congress against
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children at Yokohama, Japan, from 17 to 20
December 2001, and invites Member States and observers to participate in the
Congress;
22. Encourages the regional commissions and other regional organizations to
carry out activities in support of the preparations for the Second World Congress
against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children;
23. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that a gender perspective and
the needs and rights of the girl child are integrated into the preparatory work for the
special session of the General Assembly on the follow-up to the World Summit for
Children in 2001, inter alia, by providing the General Assembly with a
comprehensive report drawing on the experiences and outcomes of the five-year
reviews of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Fourth
World Conference on Women and the World Summit for Social Development, and
the World Education Forum.
Draft resolution II
The rights of the child
The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolutions 54/148 and 54/149 of 17 December 1999, and taking
note of Commission on Human Rights resolution 2000/85 of 27 April 2000,15
Bearing in mind the Convention on the Rights of the Child,16 emphasizing that
the provisions of the Convention and other relevant human rights instruments must
constitute the standard in the promotion and protection of the rights of the child, and
reaffirming that the best interest of the child shall be the primary consideration in all
actions concerning children,
Reaffirming the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and
Development of Children and the Plan of Action for Implementing the World
Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children in the 1990s17
adopted by the World Summit for Children, held in New York on 29 and 30
September 1990, and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action18 adopted by
the World Conference on Human Rights, held at Vienna from 14 to 25 June 1993,
which, inter alia, states that national and international mechanisms and programmes
for the defence and protection of children, in particular those in especially difficult
circumstances, should be strengthened, including through effective measures to
combat exploitation and abuse of children, such as female infanticide, harmful child
labour, sale of children and organs, child prostitution and child pornography, and
which reaffirms that all human rights and fundamental freedoms are universal,
Recalling its resolution 54/93 of 7 December 1999, by which it decided to
convene a special session in September 2001 to follow-up the World Summit for
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15 See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2000, Supplement No. 3 (E/2000/23),
chap. II, sect. A.
16 Resolution 44/25, annex.
17 A/45/625, annex.
18 A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III.
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Children, and stressing the importance of addressing the rights and needs of the
child in the preparatory process of the special session and the special session itself,
Profoundly concerned that the situation of girls and boys in many parts of the
world remains critical as a result of the persistence of poverty, social inequality,
inadequate social and economic conditions in an increasingly globalized world
economy, pandemics, in particular human immunodeficiency virus/acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome, natural disasters, armed conflict, displacement,
exploitation, illiteracy, hunger, intolerance, discrimination and inadequate legal
protection, and convinced that urgent and effective national and international action
is called for,
Underlining the need for mainstreaming a gender perspective in all policies
and programmes relating to children,
Recognizing the need for the realization of a standard of living adequate for the
child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development, the child’s
protection from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment, the provision of universal and equal access to primary education and
the implementation of the commitments on the education of children contained in
the United Nations Millennium Declaration,19
Concerned at the number of illegal adoptions, of children growing up without
parents and of child victims of family and social violence, neglect and abuse,
Welcoming the adoption of the optional protocols20 to the Convention on the
Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale
of children, child prostitution and child pornography,
Recognizing that partnership among Governments, international organizations
and all sectors of civil society, in particular non-governmental organizations, is
important to realizing the rights of the child,
Stressing the importance of integrating child-related issues into the work of the
World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related
Intolerance to be held in 2001, as well as in the United Nations Conference on the
Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects and the special
session of the General Assembly on the problem of human immunodeficiency
virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in all its aspects,
I. Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
1. Once again urges the States that have not yet done so to sign and ratify
or accede to the Convention on the Rights of the Child16 as a matter of priority, with
a view to reaching the goal of universal adherence as soon as possible;
2. Invites States to consider signing and ratifying the optional protocols to
the Convention as a matter of priority with a view to their entry into force as soon as
possible, bearing in mind the convening of the special session of the General
Assembly for follow-up to the World Summit for Children in September 2001;
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19 Resolution 55/2, para. 19.
20 Resolution 54/263, annexes I and II.
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3. Reiterates its concern at the great number of reservations to the
Convention, and urges States parties to withdraw reservations that are incompatible
with the object and purpose of the Convention and to review on a regular basis any
reservations with a view to withdrawing them;
4. Calls upon States parties to implement fully the Convention, stresses that
the implementation of the Convention contributes to the achievement of the goals of
the World Summit for Children, and recommends that a thorough assessment of ten
years of implementation of the Convention be an essential element in the
preparation of the special session for the follow-up to the Summit;
5. Urges States to assure the child who is capable of forming his or her own
views the right to express those views freely in all matters that affect him or her, the
views being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child,
and in this regard to involve children and young people in their efforts to implement
the goals of the World Summit for Children and the Convention, as well as in other
programmes relating to children and youth, as appropriate;
6. Calls upon States parties to cooperate closely with the Committee on the
Rights of the Child and to comply in a timely manner with their reporting
obligations under the Convention, in accordance with the guidelines elaborated by
the Committee, and encourages States parties to take into account the
recommendations made by the Committee in the implementation of the provisions of
the Convention;
7. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure the provision of appropriate
staff and facilities for the effective and expeditious performance of the functions of
the Committee, notes the temporary support given by the plan of action of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to strengthen the important
role of the Committee in advancing the implementation of the Convention, and also
requests the Secretary-General to make available information on the follow-up to the
plan of action;
8. Calls upon States parties urgently to take appropriate measures so that
acceptance of the amendment to paragraph 2 of article 43 of the Convention by a
two-thirds majority of States parties can be reached as soon as possible, in order for
the amendment to enter into force, thus increasing the membership of the Committee
from ten to eighteen experts, bearing in mind, inter alia, the additional workload of
the Committee when the two optional protocols to the Convention enter into force;
9. Invites the Committee to continue to enhance its constructive dialogue
with the States parties and its transparent and effective functioning;
10. Recommends that, within their mandates, all relevant human rights
mechanisms and all other relevant organs and mechanisms of the United Nations
system and the supervisory bodies of the specialized agencies pay attention to
particular situations in which children are in danger and in which their rights are
violated and that they take into account the work of the Committee, and encourages
the further development of the rights-based approach adopted by the United Nations
Children’s Fund and further steps to increase system-wide coordination and
inter-agency cooperation for the promotion and protection of the rights of the child;
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11. Encourages the Committee, in monitoring the implementation of the
Convention, to continue to pay attention to the needs of children in especially
difficult circumstances;
12. Urges all States to assign priority to activities and programmes aimed at
preventing the abuse of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and inhalants as
well as preventing other addictions, in particular addiction to alcohol and tobacco,
among children and young people, especially those in vulnerable situations, and
urges all States to counter the use of children and young people in the illicit
production and trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances;
13. Reaffirms the importance of ensuring adequate and systematic training in
the rights of the child for professional groups working with and for children,
including specialized judges, law enforcement officials, lawyers, social workers,
medical doctors, health professionals and teachers, and of coordination among
various governmental bodies involved in children’s rights, and encourages States,
relevant bodies and organizations of the United Nations system to continue to
promote education and training in this regard;
14. Encourages Governments and relevant United Nations bodies, as well as
relevant non-governmental organizations and child rights advocates, to contribute,
as appropriate, to the web-based database launched by the United Nations Children’s
Fund so as to continue the provision of information on laws, structures, policies and
processes adopted at the national level to translate the Convention into practice and
in this regard, commends the Fund for its work to disseminate lessons learned in the
implementation of the Convention;
II. Protection and promotion of the rights of children
Identity, family relations and birth registration
1. Calls upon all States to intensify efforts to ensure the registration of all
children immediately after birth, including through the consideration of simplified,
expeditious and effective procedures;
2. Also calls upon all States to undertake to respect the right of the child to
preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations as
recognized by law without unlawful interference and, where a child is illegally
deprived of some or all of the elements of his or her identity, to provide appropriate
assistance and protection with a view to re-establishing speedily his or her identity;
3. Urges all States to ensure, as far as possible, the right of the child to
know and be cared for by his or her parents;
4. Also urges all States to ensure that a child shall not be separated from his
or her parents against their will, except when the competent authorities, subject to
judicial review, determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures, that
such separation is necessary in the best interest of the child and, where alternative
care is necessary, to promote family and community-based care in preference to
placement in institutions, recognizing that such determination may be necessary in a
particular case, such as one involving abuse or neglect of the child by the parents or
one in which the parents are living separately and a decision must be made as to the
child’s place of residence;
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5. Calls upon States to take all necessary measures to ensure that the best
interest of the child is the primary consideration in child adoptions and to take all
necessary measures to prevent and combat illegal adoptions of children and
adoptions which do not follow the normal procedures;
6. Also calls upon States to take all necessary measures to address the
problem of children growing up without parents, in particular orphaned children and
children who are victims of family and social violence, neglect and abuse;
Health
7. Calls upon all States and relevant bodies and organizations of the United
Nations system, in particular the World Health Organization and the United Nations
Children’s Fund, to pay particular attention to the development of sustainable health
systems and social services to ensure the effective prevention of diseases,
malnutrition, disabilities and infant and child mortality, including through prenatal
and post-natal health care, as well as the provision of necessary medical treatment
and health care to all children, taking into consideration the special needs of young
children and girls, including prevention of common infectious diseases, the special
needs of adolescents, including those relating to reproductive and sexual health and
threats from substance abuse and violence, and the particular needs of children
living in poverty, children in situations of armed conflict and children in other
vulnerable groups, and to strengthen ways of empowering families and
communities;
8. Calls upon all States to adopt all necessary measures to ensure the full
and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by children
affected by disease and malnutrition, including protection from all forms of
discrimination, abuse or neglect, in particular in the access to and provision of
health care;
9. Welcomes the attention given by the Committee on the Rights of the
Child to the realization of the highest attainable standards of health and access to
health care and to the rights of children affected by human immunodeficiency
virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS);
10. Urges States to give particular emphasis to the prevention of HIV
infection in young children and strengthen efforts to prevent adolescents and women
from becoming HIV-infected, inter alia, by including HIV/AIDS prevention in
educational curricula and educational programmes consistent with the epidemiology
of the diseases in each State, and by supporting wide-scale voluntary HIV testing
and counselling programmes for pregnant women, together with services for
HIV-infected pregnant women to reduce the risk of transmitting the virus from
HIV/AIDS-infected pregnant women to their children;
11. Urges all States to take all necessary measures to protect children
infected and/or affected by HIV/AIDS from all forms of discrimination, stigma,
abuse and neglect, in particular in the access to and provision of health, education
and social services, with a view to the realization of their rights;
12. Calls upon the international community, relevant United Nations
agencies, funds and programmes and intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations to intensify their support of national efforts against HIV/AIDS aimed
at providing assistance to children infected or affected by the epidemic, including
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those orphaned as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, focusing in particular on the
worst-hit regions of Africa and areas in which the epidemic is severely setting back
national development gains, calls upon them also to give importance to the
treatment, care and support of children infected with HIV/AIDS, and invites them to
consider further involving the private sector;
Education
13. Calls upon States to recognize the right to education on the basis of equal
opportunity by making primary education compulsory and ensuring that all children
have access to free and relevant primary education, as well as making secondary
education generally available and accessible to all, and in particular by the
progressive introduction of free education;
14. Reaffirms the Dakar Framework for Action and calls for its full
implementation and, in this regard, invites the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization to continue implementing its mandated role in
coordinating Education for All partners and maintaining their collaborative
momentum;
15. Calls upon all States to eliminate the gender gap in education, reaffirms
the commitment contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration19 to ensure
equal access for girls and boys to all levels of education and the completion of a full
course of primary schooling by children everywhere, boys and girls alike, by 2015
and, in this regard, encourages the implementation of the girls’ education initiative
launched by the Secretary-General at the World Education Forum, held at Dakar
from 26 to 28 April 2000;
16. Calls upon States to ensure that emphasis is given to the qualitative
aspects of education, that the education of the child is carried out, that States parties
develop and implement programmes for the education of the child, in accordance
with articles 28 and 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and that
education is directed, inter alia, to the development of respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms and to the preparation of the child for a responsible life in a
free society in a spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, gender equality and
friendship among peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of
indigenous origin, and to ensure that children, from an early age, benefit from
education on values, attitudes, modes of behaviour and ways of life that will enable
them to resolve any dispute peacefully and in a spirit of respect for human dignity
and of tolerance and non-discrimination, bearing in mind the Declaration and
Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace;21
17. Calls upon all States to take all appropriate measures to prevent racist,
discriminatory and xenophobic attitudes and behaviour by means of education,
keeping in mind the important role that children have to play in changing such
practices;
18. Also calls upon all States to remove educational disparities and make
education accessible to children living in poverty, children living in remote areas,
children with special educational needs, children affected by armed conflict and
children requiring special protection, including refugee children, migrant children,
__________________
21 Resolution 53/243.
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street children, children deprived of their liberty, indigenous children and children
belonging to minorities;
19. Calls upon States, educational institutions and the United Nations
system, in particular the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations
Development Fund for Women and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization, to develop and implement gender-sensitive strategies to
address the particular needs of the girl child in education;
Freedom from violence
20. Reaffirms the obligation of States to protect children from torture and
other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
21. Calls upon States to take all appropriate measures to prevent and protect
children from all forms of violence, including physical, mental and sexual violence,
torture, child abuse, abuse by police, other law enforcement authorities and
employees and officials in detention centres or welfare institutions, including
orphanages, and domestic violence;
22. Also calls upon States to investigate and submit cases of torture and other
forms of violence against children to the competent authorities for the purpose of
prosecution and to impose appropriate disciplinary or penal sanctions against those
responsible for such practices;
23. Requests all relevant human rights mechanisms, in particular special
rapporteurs and working groups, within their mandates, to pay attention to the
special situations of violence against children, reflecting their experiences in the
field;
24. Takes note of the general discussion on State violence against children
held by the Committee on the Rights of the Child on 22 September 2000,22 as well
as its recommendation to undertake a comprehensive study on the issue of violence
against children, exploring its different forms and identifying its causes, its extent
and its impact on children, and welcomes the forthcoming general discussion on
violence suffered by children in schools and within the family to be held in
September 2001;
III. Promotion and protection of the rights of children in particularly
vulnerable situations and non-discrimination against children
Plight of children working and/or living on the streets
1. Calls upon Governments to seek comprehensive solutions to the
problems that cause children to work and/or live on the streets and to implement
appropriate programmes and policies for the protection and the rehabilitation and
reintegration of those children, bearing in mind that such children are particularly
vulnerable to all forms of violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect;
2. Calls upon all States to ensure that basic social services, notably
education, are provided for children in order to divert them from and to address the
__________________
22 See CRC/C/SR.649 and 650.
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economic imperatives that lead to involvement in harmful, exploitative and abusive
activity;
3. Strongly urges all Governments to guarantee respect for all human rights
and fundamental freedoms, in particular the right to life, to take urgent and effective
measures to prevent the killing of children working and/or living on the streets, to
combat torture and abusive treatment and violence against them and to bring the
perpetrators to justice;
4. Calls upon all States to take the situation of children working and/or
living on the streets into account when preparing reports for submission to the
Committee on the Rights of the Child, and encourages the Committee and other
relevant bodies and organizations of the United Nations system, within their existing
mandates, to pay increased attention to the question of children working and/or
living on the streets;
5. Calls upon the international community to support, through effective
international cooperation, including technical advice and assistance, the efforts of
States to improve the situation of children working and/or living on the streets;
Refugee and internally displaced children
6. Urges Governments to improve the implementation of policies and
programmes for the protection, care and well-being of refugee and internally
displaced children and for the provision of basic social services, including access to
education, with the necessary international cooperation, in particular with the Office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations
Children’s Fund and the Representative of the Secretary-General on internally
displaced persons, in accordance with the obligations of States under the Convention
on the Rights of the Child;16
7. Calls upon all States and other parties to armed conflict, as well as
United Nations bodies and organizations, to give urgent attention, in terms of
protection and assistance, to the fact that refugee and internally displaced children
are particularly exposed to risks in connection with armed conflict, such as being
forcibly recruited or subjected to sexual violence, abuse or exploitation;
8. Expresses its deep concern about the growing number of unaccompanied
and/or separated refugee and internally displaced children, and calls upon all States
and United Nations bodies and agencies and other relevant organizations to give
priority to programmes for family tracing and reunification and to continue to
monitor the care arrangements for unaccompanied and/or separated refugee and
internally displaced children;
Children with disabilities
9. Encourages the working group on the rights of children with disabilities
established pursuant to the decision of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to
put into practice as soon as possible the recommendations arising from the day of
general discussion on the rights of children with disabilities, held on 6 October
1997,23 including the drafting of a plan of action on children with disabilities, in
__________________
23 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-third Session, Supplement No. 41 (A/53/41),
paras. 1399-1428, and ibid., Fifty-fifth Session, Supplement No. 41 (A/55/41), paras. 1501-1506.
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close cooperation with the Special Rapporteur on Disability of the Commission for
Social Development and other relevant parts of the United Nations system;
10. Calls upon all States to take all necessary measures to ensure the full and
equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by children with
disabilities, and to develop and enforce legislation against their discrimination so as
to ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child’s active participation
in the community, including effective access to educational and health services;
Migrant children
11. Calls upon States to protect all human rights of migrant children, in
particular unaccompanied migrant children, and to ensure that the best interest of the
child shall accordingly be a primary consideration, and encourages the Committee
on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Children’s Fund and other relevant
United Nations bodies, within their respective mandates, to pay particular attention
to the conditions of migrant children in all States and, as appropriate, to make
recommendations to strengthen their protection;
12. Also calls upon States to cooperate fully with and to assist the Special
Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants in addressing the particularly vulnerable
conditions of migrant children;
IV. Prevention and eradication of the sale of children and of their sexual
exploitation and abuse, including child prostitution and child pornography
1. Welcomes the interim report of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission
on Human Rights on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography,
and expresses its support for her work;24
2. Requests the Secretary-General to provide the Special Rapporteur with
all necessary human and financial assistance to enable her to discharge her mandate
fully;
3. Calls upon States to continue to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur
and to give full consideration to all of her recommendations;
4. Invites further voluntary contributions through the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and support for the work of the
Special Rapporteur for the effective fulfilment of her mandate;
5. Welcomes the large number of signatories to the Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and
child pornography,25 and calls upon all States to consider signing and ratifying it as
a matter of priority with a view to its entry into force as soon as possible, bearing in
mind the convening of the special session of the General Assembly to follow-up the
World Summit for Children in September 2001;
6. Reaffirms the obligation of States parties to prevent the abduction of, the
sale of or the trafficking in children for any purpose or in any form, including the
transfer of the organs of the child for profit and to protect children from all forms of
__________________
24 A/55/297.
25 Resolution 54/263, annex II.
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sexual exploitation and abuse, in accordance with articles 35 and 34 of the
Convention;16
7. Calls upon States to take all appropriate steps to combat the misuse of
new information and communication technologies, including the Internet, for
trafficking in children and for purposes of all forms of sexual exploitation and
abuse, in particular the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography,
and notes that the use of such technologies can also contribute to preventing and
eradicating such phenomena;
8. Also calls upon States to criminalize and to penalize effectively all forms
of sexual exploitation and abuse of children, including within the family or for
commercial purposes, paedophilia, child pornography and child prostitution,
including child sex tourism, while ensuring that the children who are victims of such
practices are not penalized, and to take effective measures to ensure the prosecution
of offenders, whether local or foreign, by the competent national authorities, either
in the country of origin of the offender or in the country in which the abuse takes
place, in accordance with due process of law;
9. Calls upon all States Members to take all necessary steps to strengthen
international cooperation by means of multilateral, regional and bilateral
arrangements for the prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution and
punishment of those responsible for acts involving the sale of children, child
prostitution, child pornography and child sex tourism and, in this regard, calls upon
Member States to promote international cooperation and coordination among their
authorities, national and international non-governmental organizations and
international organizations, as appropriate;
10. Requests States to increase cooperation and concerted action at the
national, regional and international levels to prevent and dismantle networks that
traffick in children;
11. Stresses the need to combat the existence of a market that encourages
such criminal practices against children, including through preventive and
enforcement measures that target customers or individuals who sexually exploit or
abuse children;
12. Calls upon States to enact, enforce, review and revise, as appropriate,
laws and to implement policies, programmes and practices to protect children from
and to eliminate all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse, including commercial
sexual exploitation, taking into account the particular problems posed by the use of
the Internet in this regard;
13. Encourages Governments to facilitate the active participation of child
victims of sexual exploitation and abuse in the development and implementation of
strategies to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse;
14. Encourages continued regional and interregional efforts, with the
objective of identifying best practices and issues requiring particularly urgent
action, and takes note of the convening of the Second World Congress against
Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children at Yokohama, Japan, from 17 to 20
December 2001, which is to be hosted by the Government of Japan in cooperation
with the United Nations Children’s Fund and which is aimed at reviewing progress
in implementing the Declaration and Agenda for Action adopted by the World
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Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, held at Stockholm
from 27 to 31 August 1996;26
15. Invites States and relevant United Nations bodies and agencies to allocate
appropriate resources for the rehabilitation of child victims of sexual exploitation
and abuse and to take all appropriate measures to promote their full recovery and
social reintegration;
V. Protection of children affected by armed conflict
1. Welcomes the report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-
General on the impact of armed conflict on children,27 and takes note of the report
of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict;28
2. Expresses its support for the work of the Special Representative in the
fulfilment of his mandate, as established in paragraphs 35 to 37 of General
Assembly resolution 51/77 of 12 December 1996, in particular in raising worldwide
awareness and mobilizing official and public opinion for the protection of children
affected by armed conflict in order to promote respect for the rights and needs of
children in conflict and post-conflict situations;
3. Calls upon the Secretary-General and all relevant parts of the United
Nations system, including the Special Representative and the United Nations
Children’s Fund, to further intensify their efforts to continue to develop a concerted
approach to the rights, protection and welfare of children affected by armed conflict,
including, as appropriate, in the preparations for the field visits of the Special
Representative and in the follow-up to such visits;
4. Calls upon all States and other parties concerned to continue to cooperate
with the Special Representative in implementing the commitments that they have
undertaken and to consider carefully all of the recommendations of the Special
Representative and address the issues identified;
5. Welcomes the continued support for and voluntary contributions to the
work of the Special Representative in the fulfilment of his mandate;
6. Also welcomes the large number of signatories to the Optional Protocol to
the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed
conflict,29 and calls upon all States to consider signing and ratifying it as a matter of
priority with a view to its entry into force as soon as possible, bearing in mind the
convening of the special session of the General Assembly to follow-up the World
Summit for Children in September 2001;
7. Urges all States and other parties to armed conflict to respect
international humanitarian law and to put an end to any form of targeting of children
and to attacking sites that usually have a significant presence of children, calls upon
States parties to respect fully the provisions of the Geneva Conventions of 12
August 194930 and the Additional Protocols thereto, of 1977,31 and calls upon all
__________________
26 A/51/385, annex.
27 A/55/442.
28 A/55/163-S/2000/712.
29 Resolution 54/263, annex I.
30 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, Nos. 970-973.
31 Ibid., vol. 1125, Nos. 17512 and 17513.
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parties to armed conflict to take all measures required to protect children from acts
that constitute violations of international humanitarian law, including prosecution by
States, within their national legal framework, of those responsible for such
violations;
8. Recognizes, in this regard, the contribution of the establishment of the
International Criminal Court to ending impunity for perpetrators of certain crimes
committed against children, as defined in the Statute of the Court,32 which include
those involving sexual violence or child soldiers, and thus to the prevention of such
crimes;
9. Stresses the importance of all relevant United Nations actors in the field
improving their reporting, within their respective mandates, concerning the situation
of children affected by armed conflict and give additional attention to this question;
10. Condemns the abduction of children in situations of armed conflict and
into armed conflict, urges States, international organizations and other concerned
parties to take all appropriate measures to secure the unconditional release,
rehabilitation, reintegration and family reunification of all abducted children, and
urges States to bring the perpetrators to justice;
11. Calls upon States to ensure that the adoption of children in situations of
armed conflict is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and that the
best interest of the child is always envisaged as a paramount consideration;
12. Urges States and all other parties to armed conflict to end the use of
children as soldiers, to ensure their demobilization and effective disarmament and to
implement effective measures for their rehabilitation, physical and psychological
recovery and reintegration into society, further encourages efforts by, inter alia,
regional organizations, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental
organizations to bring an end to the use of children as soldiers in armed conflict, and
emphasizes that no support shall be given to those who systematically abuse or
violate the rights of children during armed conflicts;
13. Underlines the importance of including measures to ensure the rights of
the child, inter alia, in the areas of health and nutrition, formal, informal or
non-formal education, physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration,
in emergency and other humanitarian assistance policies and programmes;
14. Notes the importance of the third open debate held in the Security
Council, on 26 July 2000, on children and armed conflict and the undertaking
provided by the Council to give special attention to the protection, welfare and
rights of children when taking action aimed at maintaining peace and security, and
reaffirms the essential role of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social
Council in the promotion and protection of the rights and welfare of children;
15. Calls upon all parties to armed conflict to ensure the full, safe and
unhindered access of humanitarian personnel and the delivery of humanitarian
assistance to all children affected by armed conflict;
16. Welcomes agreed conclusions 1999/1 of the Economic and Social
Council, in which the Council, inter alia, calls for systematic, concerted and
comprehensive inter-agency efforts on behalf of children, as well as adequate and
__________________
32 See A/CONF.183/9, art. 8.
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sustainable resource allocation, to provide both immediate emergency assistance to
and long-term measures for children throughout all the phases of an emergency;33
17. Urges States to implement effective measures for the rehabilitation,
physical and psychological recovery and reintegration into society of all child
victims in cases of armed conflict, invites the international community to assist in
this endeavour and further emphasizes the importance of giving systematic
consideration to the special needs and particular vulnerability of the girl child during
conflicts and in post-conflict situations;
18. Calls upon States and relevant United Nations bodies to continue to
support national and international mine-action efforts, including by means of
financial contributions, mine-awareness programmes, victim assistance and childcentred
rehabilitation, and welcomes the positive effects on children of concrete
legislative measures with respect to anti-personnel mines;
19. Invites States, multilateral donors and the private sector to cooperate and
to commit the resources necessary for the early development of new and more
efficient mine-detection and mine-clearance technologies for assistance in mine
action;
20. Notes with concern the impact of small arms and light weapons on
children in situations of armed conflict, in particular as a result of their illicit
production and traffic, and calls upon States to address this problem, inter alia,
during the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light
Weapons in All Its Aspects, to be held in 2001;
21. Recommends that, whenever sanctions are imposed, their impact on
children be assessed and monitored and that humanitarian exemptions be
child-focused and formulated with clear guidelines for their application;
22. Calls upon States, relevant United Nations bodies and agencies and
regional organizations to integrate the rights of the child into all activities in conflict
and post-conflict situations, including training programmes and emergency relief
operations, country programmes and field operations aimed at promoting peace and
preventing and resolving conflict, as well as the negotiation and implementation of
peace agreements, and, given the long-term consequences for society, underlines the
importance of including specific provisions for children, including resourcing, in
peace agreements and in arrangements negotiated by parties;
23. Calls upon all States, in accordance with the norms of international
humanitarian law, to integrate in the training and gender-sensitized education
programmes of their armed forces, including those for peacekeeping, instruction on
responsibilities towards the civilian population, in particular women and children;
24. Calls upon Member States, the United Nations system and nongovernmental
organizations to encourage the involvement of young people in
activities concerning the protection of children affected by armed conflict, including
programmes for reconciliation, peace consolidation, peace-building and children-tochildren
networks;
__________________
33 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-fourth Session, Supplement No. 3
(A/54/3/Rev.1), chap. VI, para. 22.
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25. Welcomes the holding of the International Conference on War-Affected
Children at Winnipeg, Canada, from 10 to 17 September 2000, and notes with
appreciation the Winnipeg Agenda for War-Affected Children34 and efforts by
regional organizations, in particular the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe, the European Union, the Economic Community of West African States,
the Organization of American States and the Organization of African Unity, to
include prominently the rights and protection of children affected by armed conflict
in their policies and programmes;
VI. Progressive elimination of child labour
1. Reaffirms the right of the child to be protected from economic
exploitation and from performing any work 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;
2. Welcomes the adoption by the International Labour Organization, at the
eighty-seventh session of the International Labour Conference, held at Geneva from
1 to 17 June 1999, of the Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate
Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, Convention No.
182, and calls upon all States to consider ratifying it;
3. Calls upon all States that have not yet done so to consider ratifying the
conventions of the International Labour Organization relating to child labour, in
particular the Convention concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour, 1930,
Convention No. 29, and the Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to
Employment, 1973, Convention No. 138, and to implement those conventions;
4. Also calls upon all States to translate into concrete action their
commitment to the progressive and effective elimination of child labour contrary to
accepted international standards, and urges them, inter alia, to eliminate
immediately the worst forms of child labour as set out in the new International
Labour Organization Convention No. 182;
5. Further calls upon all States to assess and examine systematically the
magnitude, nature and causes of child labour and to elaborate and implement
strategies for the elimination of child labour contrary to accepted international
standards, giving special attention to specific dangers faced by girls, as well as to
the rehabilitation and social reintegration of the children concerned;
6. Recognizes that primary education is one of the main instruments for
reintegrating child workers, calls upon all States to recognize the right to education
by making primary education compulsory and to ensure that all children have equal
access to free primary education as a key strategy to prevent child labour, and
recognizes, in particular, the important role of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund in this
regard;
7. Calls upon all States and the United Nations system to strengthen
international cooperation as a means of assisting Governments in preventing or
combating violations of the rights of the child and in attaining the objective of
eliminating child labour contrary to accepted international standards;
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34 See A/55/467-S/2000/973.
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8. Calls upon all States to strengthen cooperation and coordination at the
national and international levels to address effectively the problem of child labour,
in close cooperation with, inter alia, the International Labour Organization and the
United Nations Children’s Fund;
VII
Decides:
(a) To request the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its
fifty-sixth session a report on the rights of the child containing information on the
status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child16 and the problems addressed in
the present resolution;
(b) To request the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the
impact of armed conflict on children to submit to the General Assembly and the
Commission on Human Rights reports containing relevant information on the
situation of children affected by armed conflict, bearing in mind existing mandates
and reports of relevant bodies;
(c) To continue its consideration of this question at its fifty-sixth session
under the item entitled “Promotion and protection of the rights of the child”.
* * *
15. The Third Committee recommends to the General Assembly the adoption of
the following draft decision:
Report of the Secretary-General on the status of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child
The General Assembly takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the
status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.35
__________________
35 A/55/201.