Rights of the Child

A/RES/66/141No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 65aPromotion and protection of the rights of children, published in 2012.

What other versions does this mandate have?

23 versions · 2003–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/190

2025A/RES/80/190Rights of the childLatestCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/78/187Rights of the childCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/76/147Rights of the childCompare with previous version
2020A/RES/74/133Rights of the childCompare with previous version
2019A/RES/73/155Rights of the childCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2012.

2012A/67/225Status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

71 operative paragraphs

I.Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocols thereto

Reaffirms paragraphs 1 to 6 of its resolution 65/197, and urges States that have not yet done so to become parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child,Error: Reference source not found its Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and its Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict as a matter of priority and to implement them fully;

Welcomes the efforts of the Secretary-General to promote the universal ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict ahead of the tenth anniversary in 2012 of their entry into force, and calls for the effective implementation of the Convention and the above-mentioned Optional Protocols to ensure that all children may fully enjoy all their human rights and fundamental freedoms;

Calls upon 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;Error: Reference source not found

Takes note with appreciation of the adoption on 17 June 2011 by the Human Rights Council of an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child providing a communications procedure complementary to the reporting procedure under the Convention on the Rights of the Child;

Encourages States parties, in implementing the provisions of the Convention and the Optional Protocols thereto, to take note of the recommendations, observations and general comments of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, including, inter alia, general comment No. 9 (2006) on the rights of children with disabilities;

Welcomes actions of the Committee to monitor the implementation by States parties of the Convention, and notes with appreciation its actions to follow up on its concluding observations and recommendations, and in this regard underlines, in particular, the regional workshops and the participation of the Committee in national-level initiatives;

II.Promotion and protection of the rights of the child and non-discrimination against children

Non-discrimination

Reaffirms paragraphs 9 to 11 of its resolution 63/241 of 24 December 2008, and calls upon States to ensure the enjoyment by all children of all their civil, political, cultural, economic and social rights without discrimination of any kind;

Registration, family relations and adoption or other forms of alternative care

Also reaffirms paragraphs 12 to 16 of its resolution 63/241, and urges all States parties to intensify their efforts to comply with their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the ChildError: Reference source not found to protect children in matters relating to registration, family relations and adoption or other forms of alternative care, and, in cases of international parental or familial child abduction, encourages States to facilitate, inter alia, the return of the child to the country in which he or she resided immediately before the removal or retention;

Recalls the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, contained in the annex to its resolution 64/142 of 18 December 2009, as a set of orientations to help to inform policy and practice, and encourages States to take them into account;

Economic and social well-being of children, eradication of poverty, right to education, right to enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and right to food

Reaffirms paragraphs 17 to 26 of its resolution 63/241, paragraphs 42 to 52 of its resolution 61/146 of 19 December 2006, on the theme of children and poverty, and paragraphs 37 to 42 of its resolution 60/231 of 23 December 2005, on the theme of children living with or affected by HIV and AIDS, and calls upon all 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 and by implementing their previous commitments relating to poverty eradication, the right to education, and measures to promote human rights education, in accordance with the evolving capacities of the child, the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including efforts to address the situation of children living with or affected by HIV and AIDS and to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV, the right to food for all and the right to an adequate standard of living, including housing and clothing;

Recognizes the threat to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, posed by the global financial and economic crisis, which is connected to multiple, interrelated global crises and challenges, such as the food crisis and continuing food insecurity, volatile energy and commodity prices, environmental degradation and climate change, and calls upon States to address, in their response to these crises, the negative impact on the full enjoyment of the rights of children;

Elimination of violence against children

Reaffirms paragraphs 27 to 32 of its resolution 63/241 and paragraphs 47 to 62 of its resolution 62/141 of 18 December 2007, on the theme of elimination of violence against children, condemns all forms of violence against children, and urges all States to implement the measures set out in paragraph 27 of its resolution 63/241;

Urges States to take, or strengthen, as appropriate, legislative and other measures to effectively prevent, prohibit and eliminate all forms of violence against children, in all settings;

Encourages all States, requests United Nations entities and agencies, and invites regional organizations and civil society, including non-governmental organizations, to cooperate with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children and to provide support, including financial support, to her for the effective and independent performance of her mandate, as set out in resolution 62/141, and in promoting the further implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations study on violence against children, while promoting and ensuring country ownership and national plans and programmes in this regard, and calls upon States and institutions concerned, and invites the private sector, to provide voluntary contributions for that purpose;

Notes with appreciation the consolidated partnerships promoted by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, in coordination with national Governments, United Nations agencies, regional organizations, human rights bodies and mechanisms and representatives of civil society and with the participation of children;

Takes note with appreciation of the joint report of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, which provides an overview of accessible and child-sensitive counselling, complaint and reporting mechanisms to address incidents of violence, including sexual violence and exploitation;

Promoting and protecting the rights of children, including children in particularly difficult situations

Reaffirms paragraphs 34 to 42 of its resolution 63/241, and calls upon all States to promote and protect all human rights of all children in particularly difficult situations and to implement programmes and measures that provide them with special protection and assistance, including access to health care, education and social services, as well as, where appropriate and feasible, voluntary repatriation, reintegration, family tracing and family reunification, in particular for children who are unaccompanied, and to ensure that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration;

Recalls Human Rights Council resolution 16/12 of 24 March 2011 entitled “Rights of the child: a holistic approach to the protection and promotion of the rights of children working and/or living on the street”, and calls for its full implementation;

Children alleged to have infringed or recognized as having infringed penal law and children of persons alleged to have infringed or recognized as having infringed penal law

Reaffirms paragraphs 43 to 47 of its resolution 63/241, and calls upon all States to respect and protect the rights of children alleged to have infringed or recognized as having infringed penal law, as well as children of persons alleged to have infringed or recognized as having infringed penal law;

Prevention and eradication of the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography

Also reaffirms paragraphs 48 to 50 of its resolution 63/241, and calls upon all States to prevent, criminalize, prosecute and punish all forms of the sale of children, including for the purposes of the transfer of organs of the child for profit, child slavery, commercial sexual exploitation of children, child prostitution and child pornography, with the aim of eradicating those practices and the use of the Internet and other information and communications technologies for these purposes, to combat the existence of a market that encourages such criminal practices and take measures to eliminate the demand that fosters them, as well as to address the needs of victims effectively and take effective measures against the criminalization of children who are victims of exploitation;

Calls upon all States to develop and implement programmes and policies to protect children from abuse, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, commercial sexual exploitation, child prostitution, child pornography, child sex tourism and child abduction, and calls upon States to implement strategies to locate and assist all children subject to these violations;

Also calls upon all States to enact and enforce necessary legislative or other measures, in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, to prevent the distribution over the Internet and in all other media of child pornography, including depictions of child sexual abuse, ensuring that adequate mechanisms are in place to enable the reporting and removal of such material and that its creators, distributors and collectors are prosecuted as appropriate;

Children affected by armed conflict

Reaffirms paragraphs 51 to 63 of its resolution 63/241, condemns in the strongest terms all violations and abuses committed against children affected by armed conflict, and in this regard urges all States and other parties to armed conflict that are engaged, in contravention of applicable international law, including humanitarian law, in the recruitment and use of children, in patterns of killing and maiming of children and/or rape and other sexual violence against children, and in recurrent attacks on schools and/or hospitals, as well as in all other violations and abuses against children, to take time-bound and effective measures to end them, and urges all States, United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, other relevant international and regional organizations and civil society to continue to give serious attention to, and to protect and assist child victims of, all violations and abuses committed against children in situations of armed conflict, in accordance with international humanitarian law, including the First to Fourth Geneva Conventions;

Also 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, notes the increasing role played by the Security Council in ensuring protection for children affected by armed conflict, and also notes the activities undertaken by the Peacebuilding Commission, within its mandate, in areas that promote and contribute to the enjoyment of the rights and welfare of children;

Notes with appreciation the steps taken regarding Security Council resolutions 1539 (2004) of 22 April 2004, 1612 (2005) of 26 July 2005, 1882 (2009) of 4 August 2009 and 1998 (2011) of 12 July 2011, and the efforts of the Secretary-General to implement the monitoring and reporting mechanism on children and armed conflict in accordance with those resolutions, with the participation of and in cooperation with national Governments and relevant United Nations and civil society actors, including at the country level, requests the Secretary-General to ensure that information collected and communicated by the monitoring and reporting mechanism is accurate, objective, reliable and verifiable, and in this regard encourages the work and the deployment, as appropriate, of United Nations child protection advisers in peacekeeping operations and political and peacebuilding missions;

Child labour

Reaffirms paragraphs 64 to 80 of its resolution 63/241, on the theme of child labour, and 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, and to eliminate immediately the worst forms of child labour;

Notes with interest the outcome of the Hague Global Child Labour Conference, including the Road Map for Achieving the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour by 2016;

Calls upon all States to take into account the global report of the Director-General of the International Labour Organization entitled “Accelerating action against child labour”;

Urges all States that have not yet done so to consider ratifying both the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) and the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), of the International Labour Organization;

Implementing child rights in early childhood

Reaffirms paragraphs 28 to 45 of its resolution 65/197, reaffirming that early childhood is a critical phase for the realization of the rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and urges all States to implement the measures set out in paragraph 43 of its resolution 65/197;

III.The rights of children with disabilities

Also reaffirms that all children with disabilities should have full enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal basis with other children, as enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the ChildError: Reference source not found and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,Error: Reference source not found and that the full and effective implementation of these instruments is an important step to the realization of the rights of children with disabilities, including respect for their evolving capacities and respect for their right to preserve their identity;

Stresses the importance of international cooperation in supporting national efforts for the realization of the rights of children with disabilities, recognizing the importance of taking appropriate and effective measures among States that aim at facilitating and supporting capacity-building, including through the exchange and sharing of information, experiences, training programmes and best practices;

Recognizes that discrimination against any child on the basis of disability is a violation of the inherent dignity and worth of the child, and expresses grave concern that children with disabilities face violations of their human rights as well as discriminatory, attitudinal and environmental barriers to their participation and inclusion in society and in the community;

Concerned that children with disabilities, particularly girls, are often at greater risk, both within and outside the home, of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment and maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse;

Reaffirms that the eradication of poverty is essential to the achievement of all Millennium Development Goals and to the full realization of the rights of all children, including those with disabilities, and also reaffirms resolution 65/1 of 22 September 2010;

Recognizes that the majority of children with disabilities live in poverty and that equitable access to economic opportunities and social services, as close as possible to children’s own communities, is an important part of relevant strategies for sustainable development;

Also recognizes that children with disabilities are often denied the right to a family environment and to live and be included in their communities, and in this regard reaffirms that they have equal rights with respect to family and community life and should not be separated from their parents against their will, except when competent authorities subject to judicial review determine, in accordance with applicable laws and procedures, that such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child, and that in no case should separation be on the basis of a disability of either the child or one or both of the parents;

Further recognizes the importance of preventing the concealment, abandonment, neglect or segregation of children with disabilities, and in this regard encourages States to consider the introduction of a commitment towards replacing institutionalization with appropriate measures to support family and community care, and transferring resources to community-based support services and other forms of alternative care;

Expresses concern at the number of children with disabilities who continue to be denied the right to education, and in this regard reaffirms the right of children with disabilities to have effective access to education, on the basis of equal opportunity, in a manner conducive to their fullest possible social inclusion and individual development, including their cultural and spiritual development;

Recognizes also that early education is of high importance for children with disabilities, and that the measures taken to implement the right to education for children with disabilities should aim at their maximum inclusion in society, free from discrimination;

Reaffirms that States should take effective and appropriate measures to ensure, on an equal basis with others, that children with disabilities retain their fertility, and that adolescent boys and girls with disabilities have access to information and education, including on reproductive and family planning, that is age-appropriate and in an accessible format;

Recognizes that children with disabilities are particularly vulnerable in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and the occurrence of natural disasters, and reaffirms the obligations of States under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, to take all necessary measures to ensure their safety and protection in such situations, including by reviewing their emergency response programmes and support facilities to make them accessible for children with disabilities;

Calls upon all States to include, within the overall context of policies and programmes for the realization of the rights of the child, for all children within their jurisdiction, the relevant provisions for the realization of these rights for children with disabilities, in particular:

Urges all States that have not yet done so to consider acceding to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol thereto, and to do so as a matter of priority, and invites regional integration organizations that have the relevant competence to do so, as defined in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to consider accession to the Convention;

To review on a regular basis relevant domestic laws, related regulations and policies in order to ensure that the rights of children with disabilities are fully respected, protected and fulfilled in line with the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;

To prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability and guarantee to children with disabilities equal and effective legal protection against discrimination on all grounds;

To ensure that children with disabilities have access to information on their rights, including through human rights education and training, enabling them to contribute to identifying, preventing and acting upon violations of their rights;

To take appropriate measures to ensure that children with disabilities have access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications technologies and systems and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public both in urban and in rural areas;

To take all necessary measures to ensure the registration of children with disabilities immediately after birth, including by removing barriers that impede their registration, and to guarantee their right to a name, their right to a nationality and, as far as possible, their right to know and be cared for by their parents;

To implement fully the commitments undertaken in General Assembly resolution 65/186 of 21 December 2010 entitled “Realizing the Millennium Development Goals for persons with disabilities towards 2015 and beyond”, and to ensure that children with disabilities are rendered visible in the collection and analysis of data;

To take measures to collect and disaggregate relevant information, including statistical and research data, as appropriate, in order to identify and address the barriers faced by children with disabilities in exercising their rights;

To adopt, implement and/or strengthen appropriate policies aimed at ensuring the right to an adequate standard of living for children with disabilities and their families, along with equal access to quality and affordable services, especially health, nutrition, education, welfare, social protection, safe drinking water, sanitation and other services that are essential for the child’s well-being, and, in this regard, to pay particular attention to the most vulnerable children with disabilities and to those living under especially difficult circumstances;

To ensure that children with disabilities have access to the same range, quality and standard of free or affordable, gender-sensitive and age-appropriate health care and programmes as provided to other children, including in the area of sexual and reproductive health, and to take measures to prohibit the forced abortion and sterilization of children on grounds of disability;

To ensure equal access for children with disabilities to appropriate, timely, affordable and high-quality rehabilitation within the existing health infrastructure, and strengthen the provision of community-based rehabilitation services consistent with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;

To ensure that community and civil society institutions, services and facilities responsible for children with disabilities comply with national and local quality standards, especially in the areas of health and social protection, and to develop training programmes to ensure a quality, suitable and well-trained workforce for the inclusion of children with disabilities;

To develop strategies, or include in existing strategies measures for the prevention and elimination of all forms of violence against children with disabilities, who are particularly vulnerable to, inter alia, cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment, medical or scientific experimentation, and sexual and physical violence, including bullying and cyberbullying, and to develop and introduce child- and gender-sensitive, accessible, safe and confidential reporting and complaints mechanisms;

To adopt legislative and other appropriate measures, including cross-sectoral approaches, to ensure the full realization of the right to education for children with disabilities, including by ensuring that, on the basis of equal opportunity, accessibility and inclusiveness, they are not excluded from accessible, free and compulsory primary education directed to the development of their personality, talents and mental and physical abilities, from early childhood care and development to vocational training and preparation for work;

To ensure that children with disabilities have equal access with other children to participation in play, recreation, culture, leisure and sporting activities, including in the preschool and school system;

To ensure that children with disabilities have the right, on an equal basis with other children, to express their views freely on all matters affecting them, giving those views due weight in accordance with their age and maturity, and to be provided with disability- and age-appropriate assistance to realize that right;

To take all appropriate measures to ensure the protection and safety of children with disabilities during and after situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters, including adopting and implementing programmes to ensure the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of children with disabilities, including children who acquire disability as a consequence of such situations of risk, and ensure that such recovery, reintegration and rehabilitation take place in an environment which fosters the well-being, health, self-respect and dignity of the child;

To take all necessary measures to ensure that persons with disabilities, including children with disabilities, through their representative organizations, are closely consulted and actively involved in the development of legislation and policies to implement the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and in other decision-making processes concerning issues relating to persons with disabilities;

Calls upon all Member States, and invites the United Nations system, to strengthen international cooperation to ensure the realization of the rights of the child, including for children with disabilities, inter alia, by supporting national initiatives that give more emphasis to the development of children with disabilities, as appropriate, and by reinforcing international cooperation measures in fields of research or on the transfer of technology such as assistive technologies;

Calls upon the relevant entities, funds and programmes of the United Nations system, donor institutions, including the international financial institutions, and bilateral donors to support, inter alia, national initiatives, when requested, including development programmes for children with disabilities, financially and technically, as well as to enhance effective international cooperation and partnership to strengthen knowledge-sharing and capacity-building, with particular attention to policy development, programme development, research and professional training;

IV.Follow-up

Recognizes the work of the office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, its increased level of activity and the progress achieved since the establishment of the mandate of the Special Representative, and, bearing in mind its resolution 63/241 and paragraphs 35 to 37 of resolution 51/77 of 12 December 1996, recommends that the Secretary-General extend the mandate of the Special Representative for a further period of three years;

Decides:

To request the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session a comprehensive report on the rights of the child containing information on the status of the Convention on the Rights of the ChildError: Reference source not found and the issues addressed in the present resolution, with a focus on indigenous children, bearing in mind relevant international norms and standards and regional and national particularities;

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 activities undertaken in the fulfilment of her mandate, including information on her field visits and on the progress achieved and the challenges remaining on the children and armed conflict agenda;

To request the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children to continue to submit annual reports to the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council on the activities undertaken in the fulfilment of her mandate, including information on her field visits and on the progress achieved and the challenges remaining on the violence against children agenda;

To request the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography to continue to submit reports to the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council on the activities undertaken in the fulfilment of her mandate, including information on her field visits and on the progress achieved and the challenges remaining on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography agenda;

To invite the Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child to present an oral report on the work of the Committee and engage in an interactive dialogue with the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session under the item entitled “Promotion and protection of the rights of children”;

To continue its consideration of the question at its sixty-seventh session under the item entitled “Promotion and protection of the rights of children”, focusing section III of the resolution entitled “Rights of the child” on indigenous children, bearing in mind relevant international norms and standards and regional and national particularities.

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