The Right of the Child to Engage in Play and Recreational Activities

A/HRC/RES/27/15No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2014.

What subjects does this mandate have?

9 topics

Child Development Child Safety Child Welfare Digital Technology International Days Leisure Recreation Areas Rights of the Child Sports

What does this mandate say?

17 operative paragraphs

Encourages States to take specific measures to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the right of the child to engage in play and recreational activities, and in particular:

To strengthen the evidence base of data and information on how play and recreational activities, including sport, are critical elements that support the development and well-being of the child;

To position play and recreational activities as both a right of the child and a means to secure children’s entitlement to optimum development;

To affirm the importance of the right of the child to engage in self-directed and non-compulsory play, initiated by children themselves;

To introduce or revise national and local legislation, policies, regulations and guidelines to guarantee sufficient access to play and recreational activities for every child, regardless of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status;

To adopt measures aimed at reducing the necessity for children living in poverty to work, in order to enable them to enjoy their right to engage in play and recreational activities;

To establish, where appropriate, frameworks and minimum standards of care and protection for children participating in play and recreational activities, including sport, to protect children from potential harm;

To establish safety and accessibility standards for all play and recreational facilities, toys and games equipment in order to ensure the protection of children from recreational material that might be injurious to their health and well-being;

To address social norms that attach low value to the right to engage in play and recreational activities by raising public awareness of its significance;

To provide guidance and support to parents and caregivers on how to create safe and inclusive environments that facilitate children’s play and recreational activities, including on their responsible use of digital technology;

To strengthen the digital inclusion of children and to ensure that all legislative and policy measures governing the Internet take into consideration their best interests, including by promoting their safety and protecting them from cyberbullying, pornography, cybergrooming and other harmful content or practices, as well as by educating them on the responsible use of digital technology;

To work to ensure the provision of adequate space to facilitate safe and inclusive play and recreational activities, including in schools and communities;

To promote the provision of a school curriculum that allows for sufficient opportunity for play and recreational activities, including physical education and sport;

Also encourages States to ensure that effective, safe and child-sensitive counselling, reporting and complaints mechanisms are accessible to all children, that they pursue the best interests of the child at all times and that they comply with international human rights standards;

Further encourages States to take active measures to restore and protect the right of the child to engage in play and recreational activities in forced displacement, post-conflict and disaster situations, with a view to promoting resilience and psychological healing;

Encourages international cooperation in the realization of the right of the child to engage in play and recreational activities through the active engagement of States, United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, civil society organizations and other international, national and local partners;

Recommends that the celebration of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace emphasize, through specific events, the right of the child to engage in play and recreational activities.

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Who created this mandate?

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What does this mandate say?

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