A/RES/73/155 Rights of the child and environmental barriers to their participation and inclusion in society and in the community, and to develop gender- and age-sensitive policies and capacities to ensure the rights and address the particular needs of children, including migrant children, children without parental care, children in street situations and child victims of trafficking, and those affected by climate change, and prevent and respond to cases of gender-based violence; (b) To take all necessary and effective measures to prevent and eliminate all forms of discrimination against girls and all forms of violence, including f emale infanticide and prenatal sex selection, rape, sexual abuse and harmful practices, including female genital mutilation, child, early and forced marriage, and forced sterilization, by enacting and enforcing legislation and, where appropriate, by formulating comprehensive, multidisciplinary and coordinated national plans, programmes or strategies to protect girls, as well as by promoting awareness -raising and social mobilization initiatives for the protection of their rights; (c) To respect and promote the right of girls and boys to express themselves freely and their right to be heard, to ensure that their views are given due weight, in accordance with their age and level of maturity, in all matters affecting them and to involve children, including children with disabilities, in decision-making processes, taking into account the evolving capacities of children and the importance of involving children’s organizations and child-led initiatives; Registration, family relations, adoption and alternative care 8. Reaffirms paragraphs 11 and 12 of its resolution 71/177, and urges all States parties to intensify their efforts to comply with their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child to preserve the identity of children, including their nationality, name and family relations, as recognized by law, to protect children in matters relating to birth registration, family relations and adoption or other forms of alternative care, recognizing that every effort should be directed to enabling children to remain in or swiftly return to the care of their parents or, when appropriate, other close family members and that, where alternative care is necessary, family and community-based care should be promoted over placement in institutions; 9. Recalls every child’s right to be registered immediately after birth, to a name, to acquire a nationality and to recognition everywhere as a person before the law, as set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 4 respectively, reminds States of their obligation to ensure the registration of the birth of a ll children without discrimination of any kind, including in the case of late birth registration, calls upon States to ensure that birth registration procedures are universal, accessible, simple, expeditious and effective and provided at minimal or no cost, and recognizes the importance of birth registration as a critical means of preventing statelessness; 10. Encourages States to take into account the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, 38 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; __________________ 38 6/17 Resolution 64/142, annex. 18-22250