Rights of the child
A/RES/68/147
and groups, including detained children, particularly in support of national
initiatives, and to secure the long-term sustainability of such efforts, including
through the use of a multisectoral and community-based approach that is inclusive
of all children, family-based care arrangements, as also highlighted in the Principles
and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups (the
Paris Principles), and the mobilization of financial resources and technical
assistance from international cooperation for rehabilitation and reintegration
programmes for children;
(d) To undertake measures to ensure that children in situations of armed
conflict enjoy all the rights enshrined in relevant international instruments and that
national authorities, with the support of the international community, as appropriate,
take steps to ensure access to and the delivery of basic services necessary for the
survival of children in different areas, including health, nutrition, water, sanitation
and psychosocial recovery, ensuring continuous access to education for children
affected by armed conflict, and to encourage the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict to further raise attention and
mobilize international support to address the plight of these children;
(e) To protect children affected by armed conflict, in particular from
violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law, and to ensure
that they receive timely, effective humanitarian assistance, noting the efforts taken
to end impunity by ensuring accountability and punishing perpetrators, and calls
upon the international community to hold those responsible for violations
accountable, inter alia, through the International Criminal Court;
(f) To take all feasible measures, in accordance with international
humanitarian law and human rights law, as a matter of priority, to prevent the
recruitment and use of children by armed groups, as distinct from the armed forces
of a State, including the adoption of policies that do not tolerate such practices and
legal measures necessary to prohibit and criminalize them;
(g) To support relevant existing internationally agreed mechanisms
established to address the issue of children in armed conflict that contribute to the
roles, responsibilities and capacities of national Governments in this field;
64. Calls upon all States and relevant United Nations bodies to continue to
support, as appropriate, national and international mine action efforts, including
with regard to cluster munitions and other unexploded ordnance, and further calls
upon States, regional and subregional organizations and non-governmental actors to
minimize the impact of explosive weapons on civilians, including children, and to
offer assistance to victims of mines;
65. Condemns in the strongest terms rape and other forms of sexual violence
committed against children in armed conflict, expresses deep concern at mass and
systematic rape and sexual violence committed against children in armed conflict, in
some instances calculated to humiliate, dominate, instil fear and disperse and/or
forcibly relocate a population, calls upon all States and relevant United Nations
bodies and agencies and regional organizations to address this issue, as well as the
issue of sexual exploitation and abuse of children in United Nations peacekeeping
operations, and urges States to adopt appropriate national legislation to prevent such
crimes and to ensure their rigorous investigation and prosecution;
66. 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,
17/19