A/70/286 responsibility entrusted to the parents also constitutes a parental right that the State must respect and protect. Article 14, paragraph 2, of the Convention further specifies that general understanding by enshrining due respect for the rights and duties of the parents “to provide direction to the child in the exercise of his or her right” to freedom of religion or belief. 3. Due respect for the “evolving capacities of the child” 23. The status of each individual child as a rights holder and his or her reliance on support usually provided by the family must be seen in conjunction. On the one hand, the rights of the child can never flourish without an enabling environment. On the other hand, the need of the child for an enabling environment must not lead to the wrong conclusion that parents or other family members can simply override, ignore or marginalize the rights of the child. The status of the child as rights holder must always be respected and should, inter alia, be reflected in the manner in which parents provide guidance and direction to the child. The decisive term employed in the Convention on the Rights of the Child is “the evolving capacities of the child”. 2 24. Article 5 of the Convention, which is central for the understanding of the entire Convention, defines the complex and dynamic relationship between the rights of the child and parental rights and duties as follows: “States parties shall respect the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents or, where applicable, the members of the extended family or community as provided for by local custom, 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 the rights recognized in the present Convention.” 25. Adequate consideration of “the evolving capacities of the child” presupposes that the child, once capable of forming personal views, can express such views freely, with a chance of being heard and taken seriously. Article 12, paragraph 1, of the Convention confirms that right, while furthermore requiring that the views of the child be “given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child”. Thus, the child should in the course of time assume a more and more active position in the exercise of his or her rights. 26. Article 14 of the Convention reflects and further specifies the general understanding of the dynamic interrelatedness of the rights of the child and his or her parents. While paragraph 1 confirms the status of the child as a rights holder as regards freedom of thought, conscience and religion, paragraph 2 demands respect for “the rights and duties of the parents and, when applicable, legal guardians, to provide direction to the child in the exercise of his or her right in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the child ”. That wording bears a striking resemblance to article 5 of the Convention. In fact, article 14, paragraph 2, is the only provision in the Convention that reiterates the importance of the evolving capacities of the child. It means that the child should always be respe cted, including within the family, as having the gradually evolving capacities of forming his or her own thoughts, ideas and religious or belief-related convictions and taking his or her own decisions in that area. In article 14, paragraph 3, the limitatio n clause already __________________ 2 15-12514 See also United Nations Children’s Fund, “The evolving capacities of the child” (2005). Available from www.unicef-irc.org/publications/384. 7/22