A/RES/55/79
urges all States to counter the use of children and young people in the illicit
production of and trafficking in 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
and 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;
5.
Calls upon States to take all necessary measures to ensure that the best
interest of the child is the primary consideration in adoptions of children and to take
all necessary measures to prevent and combat illegal adoptions 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;
4