RES/28/19 Rights of the child: towards better investment in the rights of the child

GE.9/37 of 23 March 2012, and, capitalizing on the work conducted by the Special 5-07108 (E)



Human Rights Council Twenty-eighth session

Agenda item 3

Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,

political, economic, social and cultural rights,

including the right to development

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council

28/19. Rights of the child: towards better investment in the rights

of the child

The Human Rights Council,

Emphasizing that the Convention on the Rights of the Child constitutes the standard

in the promotion and protection of the rights of the child, bearing in mind the importance of

the Optional Protocols to the Convention, and calling for their universal ratification and

effective implementation, as well as that of other relevant human rights instruments,

Recalling all previous resolutions on the rights of the child of the Commission on

Human Rights, the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly, the most recent

being Council resolution 25/6 of 27 March 2014 and Assembly resolution 69/157 of 18

December 2014,

Reaffirming that the general principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,

including non-discrimination, the best interests of the child, survival and development, and

participation, provide the framework for all actions concerning children,

Welcoming the work of the Committee on the Rights of the Child and of other

United Nations treaty bodies, and noting its general comments, in particular general

comment no. 5, on general measures of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of

the Child,

Noting Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights general comments no.

3, on the nature of States parties’ obligations, and no. 9, on the domestic application of the

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,

Welcoming the attention paid to the rights of the child by the Special Rapporteur on

the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, the Special Representative of

the Secretary-General on Violence against Children and the Special Representative of the

Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, and taking note with appreciation of

their recent reports,A/HRC/28/56, A/HRC/28/55 and A/HRC/28/54.

Recalling the commitments made by States at the World Summit for Children in

1990 and at the twenty-seventh special session of the General Assembly in 2002 to follow-

up and implement the Plan of Action,General Assembly resolution S-27/2, annex. the United Nations Millennium Declaration,General Assembly resolution 55/2. the

guiding principles on extreme poverty and human rights,See General Assembly resolution 67/164. the United Nations Convention

against Corruption, the Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing

for Development,A/CONF.198/11, chap. I. the Doha Declaration on Financing for Development,A/CONF.212/L.1/Rev.1. the Vienna

Declaration and Programme of Action, the United Nations Principles and Guidelines on

Access to Legal Aid and Criminal Justice Systems,General Assembly resolution 67/187, annex. the Guiding Principles on Business and

Human Rights and the Children’s Rights and Business Principles, and recognizing their

relevance, as appropriate, for other relevant stakeholders, such as business enterprises,

Reaffirming that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interrelated,

interdependent and mutually reinforcing, and must be treated in a fair and equal manner, on

the same footing and with the same emphasis, and recognizing the need to ensure the full

and effective enjoyment by all children of their human rights, including the right to

development,

Emphasizing that States have the primary responsibility to respect, protect and fulfil

all human rights, including the rights of the child, and that this responsibility involves all

branches of the State,

Reaffirming that the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her

personality, should grow up in a family environment, while the best interests of the child

shall be the guiding principle of those responsible for his or her nurture and protection, and

that families’ and caregivers’ capacities to provide the child with care and safe environment

should be promoted,

Recognizing that the duties and responsibility to respect the rights of the child

extend in practice beyond the State and State-controlled services and institutions and apply

to private actors and business enterprises,

Affirming that investing in children is critical to achieving inclusive, equitable and

sustainable human development for present and future generations, and delivers benefits to

society and the economy at large,

Recognizing that investing in quality education and health services tailored for

children is a critical component of fulfilling the State’s duties and responsibilities to

respect, to promote and to protect the rights of the child,

Acknowledging that children constitute more than 30 per cent of the world

population and even more than 50 per cent of the population in some countries, and

expressing deep concern that, while States have developed and improved legal frameworks

for children, the lack of sufficient, efficient, inclusive and equitable public investment in

children remains one of the main barriers to realizing their rights,

Deeply concerned that one billion children are deprived of one of more essential

services for their survival and development,

Considering that economic policies are not neutral in their effect on children’s

rights,

Recognizing that comprehensive investment in the rights of the child is broader than

the mobilization, budgeting and spending of public resources,

Conscious that the realization of the rights of the child may be affected by a range of

factors, such as financial or economic crisis, illicit financial flows, emergencies, terrorism,

armed conflict, inadequate legal protection, the adverse impact of climate change, natural

disasters, food and water insecurity, poverty or global inequalities,

Recognizing that long-term debt may have an impact on States’ ability to mobilize

resources for the protection and realization of the rights of the child, and stressing in this

regard the importance of effective debt management as an element in ensuring long-term

debt sustainability,

Deeply concerned that extreme poverty and social exclusion persist in all countries

of the world, regardless of their economic, social and cultural situation, that their extent and

manifestations are particularly severe in developing countries, and that children are among

those in the most vulnerable situations, and noting that the girl child experiences particular

vulnerabilities as a consequence of multiple forms of discrimination,

Recognizing that transparent, inclusive, participatory and accountable governance

and fiscal processes play a critical role in combating corruption and ensuring efficient

resource mobilization, allocation and spending for the protection and realization of the

rights of the child,

Reaffirming that equitable, sustained and broad-based investment in children for the

protection and realization of their rights lays the foundation for a just society, a strong

economy and a world free of poverty,

Recognizing that the enhancement of international cooperation to support national

efforts in the field of human rights is essential for the full achievement of the purposes of

the United Nations, including the effective promotion and protection of all human rights,

including the rights of the child,

1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights entitled “Towards better investment in the rights of the

child”;A/HRC/28/33.

2. Calls upon all States to ensure the enjoyment by children of all their human

rights, in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, without

discrimination of any kind, and in this regard emphasizes the fundamental link between

laws, policies and budgets and the responsibility of States to ensure that relevant national

laws and policies are translated into transparent, participatory and accountable budgets and

spending for the promotion, protection and realization of the rights of the child;

3. Also calls upon States to undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative,

judicial and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the

Convention on the Rights of the Child and, with regard to economic, social, and cultural

rights, to take such measures to the maximum extent of their available resources and, where

needed, within the framework of international cooperation;

4. Affirms that investment in children has high economic and social returns, and

that all related efforts to ensure resources allocated and spent for children should serve as

an instrument for the fulfilment of the rights of the child;

5. Stresses that the primary responsibility for the creation and maintenance of an

enabling environment for securing the well-being of children, in which the rights of each

and every child are promoted, protected, respected and fulfilled, rests within each State, and

that effective and equitable investment is required for this purpose, recognizing that

additional resources, both national and international, are required for this purpose;

6. Reaffirms the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents, legal guardians or

other persons legally responsible for the child to provide, in a manner consistent with the

evolving capacities of the child, appropriate direction and guidance in the exercise by the

child of his or her rights;

I. National policies and the rights of the child

7. Recalls that State action aimed at the promotion, protection and full

realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, including the rights of the

child, at the national level is most effective when fully integrated into national laws and

policies based on a human rights perspective and in a manner consistent with States’

obligations under international human rights law;

8. Reaffirms that States have the right to choose the framework that is best

suited to their particular needs and circumstances at the national level, and emphasizes that

national policies, including budgetary and fiscal policies, are to be implemented in a

manner that respects, protects and fulfils human rights and that inclusive and sustainable

economic growth and stability should be regarded as a means towards human development;

9. Emphasizes the importance for the protection and realization of all human

rights, including the rights of the child, of participatory and transparent approaches when

planning, formulating and assessing relevant public policies, and recognizes the important

and constructive role that parliaments, national human rights institutions, the judiciary and

civil society can play with regard to the realization of the rights of the child;

10. Encourages States to develop and strengthen the collection, analysis and

dissemination of data for national statistics and, as far as possible, to use data disaggregated

by, inter alia, age, sex, ethnicity, location, language, family income, disability and other

relevant factors that may lead to disparities, and other statistical indicators collected at the

subnational, national, subregional, regional and international levels, to develop and assess

social policies and programmes so that available economic and social resources are used

efficiently and effectively for the full realization of the rights of the child, including girls

and marginalized and disadvantaged groups of children;

II. Resource mobilization for the promotion, protection and realization of

the rights of the child

11. Requests all States to take all possible measures towards the promotion,

protection and realization of the rights of the child without discrimination of any kind,

paying special attention to children in vulnerable situations;

12. Encourages States to pursue, among others, the following actions for

mobilizing resources to realize the rights of the child:

(a) To take concrete measures to mobilize domestic and, where necessary,

international resources, such as collecting taxes and other revenues, implementing

transparent and efficient administrative procedures, promoting sustainable and inclusive

growth and productivity and, when appropriate, inviting private sector involvement in a

way that promotes the realization of the rights of the child;

(b) To ensure the effective and efficient use of resources and, to the greatest

possible extent, that social expenditures that benefit children are prioritized, including

during short-term and long-term economic and financial crises;

(c) To make continuous efforts to sustain investment in children at both the

national and subnational levels over the medium to long term as a way of creating a long-

lasting impact on future growth, sustainable development and social cohesion while

safeguarding the rights of the child;

(d) To take measures for responsible, sustainable lending and borrowing and

effective debt management in order to contribute to ensuring long-term debt sustainability;

(e) To combat corrupt or illicit practices at all levels, including tax evasion and

illicit financial flows, that directly affect the resources available for the realization of the

rights of the child, and in this regard to consider, as appropriate, developing global

partnerships to that end;

III. Transparency in the allocation and use of resources

13. Calls upon States to make budgeting processes open, transparent, accessible

and participatory;

14. Encourages States to take steps towards:

(a) Making child-related fiscal and budget information publicly available,

comprehensive and timely, including the priorities guiding the relevant allocation of

resources, to encourage accountability and public scrutiny with children, through child-

friendly information, and with other stakeholders;

(b) Allowing for the identification of budget line items that have a direct or

indirect impact on children, and systematizing relevant data and indicators, including child-

focused indicators and child rights impact-tracking mechanisms;

IV. Accountability

15. Calls upon States, in the context of their national policies relating to the

protection, promotion and realization of the rights of the child, to strengthen public

financial management systems, to ensure accountability for public resources and to put in

place effective remedies to prevent and address the mismanagement of public funds and

other resources and the negative impact of investment decisions and practices that deprive

children of their access to services essential for the realization of their rights;

16. Encourages States to take steps towards:

(a) Ensuring financial internal oversight, such as internal audits, as well as

external oversight by the parliament and independent supreme audit institutions, and

recognizing the role that independent human rights institutions have established in

accordance with the Paris Principles, children’s ombudspersons, and the wider public,

including children, can play to hold the Government accountable for its investment in

children;

(b) Conducting assessments of the impact of fiscal policies, as well as budget

allocation and spending, on the realization of the rights of child, including the most

disadvantaged and marginalized, and of how investments in any sector can serve the best

interests of the child;

17. Calls upon States to encourage the private sector to play a more active,

effective and responsible role in the fight against poverty and the protection and realization

of the rights of the child in all areas where it is involved and as economic agent and service

provider, to encourage corporate social responsibility, bearing in mind that corporations

must abide by national legislation, and to promote increased corporate awareness of the

interrelationship between social development and economic growth for the realization of

human rights, including those of children;

18. Encourages States to collect statistical data and pertinent and accurate

information relating to investment in children, including, when possible, on progress made

and the challenges encountered, and to consider including statistics and comparable data in

their periodic reports to the relevant United Nations mechanisms in accordance with their

mandates, including information provided to the Human Rights Council in the context of

the universal periodic review;

19. Emphasizes the important role of civil society in promoting accountability in

investment in the realization of the rights of the child at all levels, including through child-

sensitive community engagement mechanisms;

V. Participation of children in budgetary and fiscal processes

20. Recognizes that a child who is capable of forming his or her own views

should be assured the right to express those views freely, without discrimination on any

ground, in all matters affecting him or her, the views of the child being given due weight in

accordance with his or her age and maturity;

21. Calls upon States to consider, as appropriate, promoting, facilitating and

funding the meaningful participation and active consultation of children in all the issues

affecting them, including in the formulation and implementation of public policies and

delivery of services, in particular those designed to meet national goals and targets for

children and adolescents, and recognizes the important role played by independent

ombudspersons for children, educational institutions, the media, community-based

organizations, such as children’s organizations, and parliaments in assuring the meaningful

participation of children in these public processes, taking into account the best interests of

the child;

VI. Resource allocation and spending for the promotion, protection and

realization of the rights of the child

22. Emphasizes the duty of all States to allocate and spend sufficient and

equitable public resources for the promotion, protection and realization of all human rights,

and stresses that government budgets and spending are prerequisites for the provision of

appropriate services mechanisms and infrastructure that serve to fulfil the rights of the child

at all times, including to prevent and respond to emergencies and other humanitarian

situations, and encourages States:

(a) To ensure that the national budget is conceived as an instrument to guarantee

social and economic objectives and the protection and realization of the rights of the child,

guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the principles of non-

discrimination, the best interests of the child, survival and development, and participation,

universality, transparency and accountability in all governmental actions and processes

related to it;

(b) To make children a priority in budgetary allocations and spending as a means

to ensure the highest return on the limited resources available;

(c) To take steps to improve interministerial coordination and cooperation

regarding investment in the rights of the child at all levels, to ensure, as appropriate, that

subnational authorities have the necessary financial, human and other resources to

effectively discharge their assigned responsibilities, and to implement safeguards to ensure

that decentralization or devolution does not lead to discrimination in the enjoyment of

rights by children in different regions;

23. Calls upon States, regardless of their level of development or resource

constraints, to ensure the satisfaction of, at the very least, the minimum essential levels of

enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights by making every effort to use the

resources that are at their disposal to satisfy as a matter of priority these minimum levels;

24. Emphasizes that, where the available resources are demonstrably inadequate,

States are still required to take targeted measures to move as expeditiously and effectively

as possible towards the full realization of the rights of the child, including within the

framework of international cooperation;

VII. Holistic child protection systems

25. Calls upon all States to take all necessary measures to establish holistic child

protection systems, including through laws, policies, regulations and appropriate budget

allocation, to ensure access to services across all social sectors, including but not limited to

health and nutrition, education, social welfare, security and justice, in order to address the

multiple needs and underlying vulnerabilities of all children without any discrimination;

26. Reminds States of their obligation to register births without discrimination of

any kind, and calls upon States to do so irrespective of the status of the child’s parents, and

to ensure free birth registration, including free or low-fee late birth registration limited to

cases that would otherwise result in a lack of registration, by means of universal, accessible,

simple, expeditious and effective registration procedures, without discrimination of any

kind, as a means for providing an official record of the existence of a person and the

recognition of that individual as a person before the law, and granting access to services

and enjoyment of all the rights to which the child is entitled;

27. Calls upon all States to take all necessary measures to ensure that the rights

of the child to life, survival and development and to the enjoyment of the highest attainable

standard of physical and mental health are promoted, protected and fulfilled, without

discrimination of any kind, including through the development and implementation of laws,

strategies and policies, with appropriate budgeting and resource allocation and adequate

investment in resilient and responsive health systems and public health services, with an

adequately skilled, well-trained and motivated workforce, and ensuring its availability,

accessibility, affordability, acceptability and quality;

28. Also calls upon States to make progress towards the implementation of

universal health coverage and to ensure access to all people, including children, without

discrimination, to a nationally determined set of promotive, preventive, curative and

rehabilitative health services, including sexual and reproductive health-care services, and to

identify the underlying determinants of children’s health and risk factors of both non-

communicable and communicable diseases;

29. Further calls upon all States to take all necessary measures, including

sufficient budgetary allocations, to ensure inclusive, equitable and non-discriminatory

quality education and to promote learning opportunities for all children, and urges States to

pay special attention in that regard to children with disabilities and children in vulnerable

situations, such as indigenous children, members of minorities, refugees, migrants,

undocumented and stateless children, married or pregnant children and adolescents, and

adolescent mothers, children living in poverty, and any other marginalized or disadvantaged

child, as well as for children in armed conflict or emergency situations;

30. Calls upon States to make primary education available, free and compulsory

for all children, ensuring that all children have access to an inclusive quality education from

an early age, and making secondary education generally available and accessible for all, in

particular by the progressive introduction of free education, as well as ensuring equal

access to early childhood education and care, and access on the basis of equal opportunity

and non-discrimination to post-secondary and tertiary education, and to include

comprehensive evidence-based education on human sexuality in a manner consistent with

their evolving capacities;

31. Also calls upon States to recognize for every child the right to benefit from

social security, including social insurance, and to take the measures necessary to achieve

the full realization of this right in accordance with their national laws, including by taking

into account the resources and circumstances of the child and persons having responsibility

for his or her maintenance, as well as any other consideration relevant to an application for

benefits made by or on behalf of the child; and encourages States to, as part of their social

protection systems, establish or maintain and implement social protection floors, which

comprise basic social security guarantees as nationally defined and contribute to ensuring

minimum essential level of protection, to the realization of the economic, social and

cultural rights of children and to preventing or alleviating poverty, vulnerability and social

exclusion;

32. Urges States, in accordance with national conditions and within their means,

to take appropriate measures to assist parents and others responsible for the child in

implementing the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child’s

physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development and, in the event of need, to

provide material assistance and support programmes, particularly with regard to nutrition,

clothing and housing;

33. Requests all States to promote innovative programmes that provide incentives

to low-income families with school-age children in order to increase the enrolment and

attendance of girls and boys, and to ensure that children are not obliged to work in a way

that interferes with their schooling or represents a risk to their health or well-being, and that

they are not taken into care because of poverty;

34. Encourages States to develop or enhance early childhood programmes

targeted at assisting families facing especially difficult circumstances, including those

headed by single parents or children, those living in the most vulnerable and disadvantaged

situations and those living in extreme poverty or caring for children with disabilities;

35. Also encourages States to take into account the Guidelines for the Alternative

Care of Children, and to adopt and enforce laws and to improve the implementation of

policies and programmes, budget allocation and human resources to support children,

particularly children living in disadvantaged and marginalized families, to ensure that they

are cared for effectively by their own families and communities, and to protect children

growing up without parents or caregivers; where alternative care is necessary, decision-

making should be in the best interests of the child, in full consultation with the child as age-

appropriate and with the child’s legal guardians;

36. Calls upon States to translate into concrete action their obligations and

commitments related to child labour, including to the effective elimination of child labour

that is likely to be hazardous, interfere with the child’s education or be harmful to the

child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development, to eliminate

immediately the worst forms of child labour, to promote education as a key strategy in this

regard, and to examine and devise economic policies, where necessary in cooperation with

the international community, that address factors contributing to these forms of child

labour, such as poverty and social exclusion, labour mobility, discrimination and lack of

adequate social protection and educational opportunities;

37. Urges all States that have not yet ratified the Conventions of the International

Labour Organization concerning the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment (No.

138) and the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of

Child Labour (No. 182) to consider doing so as a matter of priority, and encourages States

to consider ratifying the Convention concerning decent work for domestic workers (No.

189);

38. Strongly condemns all acts of violence against children, and calls upon States

to take effective and appropriate legislative and other measures, including sufficient

resource allocation, to prevent, prohibit and eliminate all forms of violence against children

in all settings;

39. Calls upon all parties to armed conflict to respect fully the relevant

provisions of applicable international law relating to the rights and protection of children in

armed conflict, including concerning the recruitment and use of children by parties to

armed conflict;

40. Calls upon States to take, as a matter of urgency, all appropriate measures,

including through sufficient resource allocation, to prevent, and to protect children, without

discrimination of any kind, from, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment

or punishment, and to abolish harmful practices that compromise the dignity and integrity

of the child and that are prejudicial to the health of boys and girls, particularly by

preventing and explicitly condemning such practices, as well as addressing violence leading

to child self-harm and suicide;

41. Urges States to ensure that all child victims of violence, armed conflict

situations and harmful practices have access to adequately funded and appropriate gender-

sensitive, safe and confidential programmes and medical, social and psychological support

services to protect, treat, counsel and reintegrate child victims, as well as child-friendly and

safe spaces, including schools, and to implement protective measures to provide necessary

support for the child and for those who have the care of the child, and to provide for other

forms of prevention and for the identification, reporting, referral, investigation, treatment of

and follow-up on instances of child maltreatment and for judicial involvement;

42. Calls upon States to provide effective remedies to redress violations of the

rights of the child, and encourages States to pay particular attention to providing child-

sensitive procedures, information and advice, an adequately trained workforce and, as

appropriate, alternatives to prison and alternative mechanisms for solving disputes and

seeking redress, available to children and their representatives; and also calls upon States to

provide judicial redress, with the necessary legal and other assistance, and to commit

sufficient funds to achieve these goals, as well as to provide appropriate reparation and,

where needed, measures to promote physical and psychological recovery, rehabilitation and

reintegration, including for children formerly recruited by armed groups and armed forces

or children victims of violence;

VIII. International cooperation

43. Encourages all States to strengthen their commitment, cooperation and

mutual assistance with the objective of implementing the Convention on the Rights of the

Child and realizing fully the rights of the child, including through the sharing of good

practices, research, policies, monitoring and capacity-building;

44. Calls upon States, including through bilateral, regional and global

cooperation programmes and technical partnerships, to continue to strengthen capacity-

building activities, in particular in developing countries, for the promotion and protection of

the rights of the child;

45. Encourages States to honour their commitments and to meet internationally

agreed targets, including the United Nations targets for international development

assistance, in particular for the implementation of the rights of the child;

46. Emphasizes the role of international cooperation in support of national and

subnational efforts and in raising the capacities, including at community level, for the

fulfilment of the rights of the child through, inter alia, the enhancement of their cooperation

with human rights mechanisms, relevant United Nations agencies, programmes and funds,

including through the provision of technical and financial assistance, upon the request of

and in accordance with the priorities set by the States concerned;

47. Encourages all States to ensure that the rights of the child are respected and

protected in programmes implemented through bilateral and multilateral development

cooperation;

48. Invites international financial institutions and other international

governmental and non-governmental organizations to work together with recipient

Governments on their request and in accordance with their priorities in order to enhance

their capacity to implement child rights-based budgeting into national budgets and to ensure

that cooperation is effectively coordinated;

IX. Follow-up

49. Encourages States to give due consideration to the rights of the child in the

discussions on the post-2015 development agenda and financing for development, and to

ensure an open, transparent, participatory, inclusive and child-sensitive framework for that

agenda;

50. Requests all United Nations bodies, agencies, mechanisms, plans and

programmes to support States in their development efforts and implementation of the rights

of the child, and to routinely incorporate information on how resources are allocated and

spent for children’s rights in their work in accordance with their respective mandates;

51. Invites the High Commissioner to prepare a follow-up report on investment

in the rights of the child, based on good practices and lessons learned, in close collaboration

with relevant stakeholders, including States, the United Nations Children’s Fund, other

relevant United Nations bodies, agencies, funds and programmes, relevant special

procedures mandate holders, regional organizations and human rights bodies, civil society,

national human rights institutions and children themselves, and to submit the report to the

Human Rights Council at its thirty-first session;

52. Decides to continue its consideration of the question of the rights of the child

in accordance with its programme of work and its resolutions 7/29 of 28 March 2008 and

Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, the Special

Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and the

Committee on the Rights of the Child, to focus its next full-day meeting on the theme of

“Information and communications technology and child sexual exploitation”, requests the

Office of the High Commissioner to prepare a report on that issue, in close collaboration

with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children and

the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, as

well as other relevant stakeholders, including States, the United Nations Children’s Fund,

other relevant United Nations bodies and agencies, relevant special procedures mandate

holders, regional organizations and human rights bodies, civil society, national human

rights institutions and children themselves, and to present it to the Council at its thirty-first

session, to inform the annual day of discussion on the rights of the child, and requests the

High Commissioner to circulate a summary report on the next full-day meeting on the

rights of the child.

57th meeting

27 March 2015

[Adopted without a vote.]