AG/RES. 1951 (XXXIII-O/03)

PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS
OF CHILDREN IN THE AMERICAS

(Adopted at the fourth plenary session held on June 10, 2003)

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          THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,

          HAVING SEEN the observations and recommendations of the Permanent Council on the Annual Report of the Inter-American Children's Institute (CP/doc. /03);

          TAKING INTO ACCOUNT its resolutions AG/RES. 1667 (XXIX-O/99), AG/RES. 1733 (XXX-O/00), AG/RES. 1709 (XXX-O/00), AG/RES. 1787 (XXXI-O/01), AG/RES. 1835 (XXXIO/01), AG/RES. 1883 (XXXII-O/02), AG/RES. 1891 (XXXII-O/02), and AG/RES. 1847 (XXXIIO/02);

          REITERATING the appeal made in the Plan of Action of the Third Summit of the Americas, concerning the full integration of the human rights of children and adolescents into the work of hemispheric institutions, including the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the Inter-American Children’s Institute, as well as the need to reinforce the role of the Inter-American Children's Institute as an advisor to the Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG) on the matter;

          BEARING IN MIND the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the optional protocols to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography; Convention No. 29 of the International Labour Organization on forced or compulsory labor; Convention No. 138 on the minimum age for admission to employment; and Convention No. 182 on the prohibition of the worst forms of child labor and immediate action to eliminate them; and the Inter-American Convention on Support Obligations, the Inter-American Convention on the International Return of Children, the Inter-American Convention on Conflict of Laws concerning the Adoption of Minors, and the Inter-American Convention on International Traffic in Minors; as well as other pertinent human rights instruments;

          REAFFIRMING the commitment to create a world fit for children, in which sustainable human development, taking into account the best interest of the child, is founded on principles of democracy, equality, nondiscrimination, peace and social justice, and the universality, indivisibility, interdependence, and interrelatedness of all human rights, including the right of development;

          RECOGNIZING the input provided by the Inter-American Children’s Institute in preparing a model national children’s system for the overall protection of children from the viewpoint of their rights; model public policies and plans of action for children and adolescents in situations of vulnerability and social risk; and prototype legal standards on child labor, sexual exploitation, drug abuse, and disabilities; information systems for monitoring rights; and information campaigns on children’s rights, on the basis the Strategic Plan 2000-2004 of the Inter-American Children’s Institute;

          RECOGNIZING the role of the Special Rapporteur for Children of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in protecting and promoting the rights of children; and taking note of Advisory Opinion OC-17, “Legal Status and Human Rights of Children,” adopted by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on August 28, 2002; and

          TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Institute’s Strategic Plan 2000-2004, adopted by the Directing Council at its 75th Meeting and ratified by the General Assembly, which identifies a group of priority areas for action and technical assistance to member states, among them, child labor, sexual exploitation, drug abuse, disabilities, abandoned children, international adoption, and birth registration,

          RESOLVES:

          1. To reaffirm the fundamental importance of the promotion and protection of the human rights of children for the future of the Hemisphere.

          2. Further, to reaffirm support for the work of the Inter-American Children’s Institute as a specialized organization of the Organization of American States, which is entrusted with promoting the study of subjects relating to mothers, children, adolescents, and the family in the Americas and the adoption of measures for solving their problems, in particular, its activities to assist member states in their efforts to promote the establishment of national children’s systems and the professionalization of the national authorities entrusted with the topic of children.

          3. To request the Special Rapporteur on Children of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to continue to pay special attention to the protection and promotion of the human rights of children in the Hemisphere, and to recognize the work that Rapporteur has been doing, especially with respect to the promotion of mechanisms of the inter-American human rights system in this area.

          4. To urge member states to consider ratifying or acceding to, as the case may be, international or regional treaties that protect the human rights of children, to develop, as appropriate, national laws, policies, and practices that give effect to their international legal obligations, and to be guided by international standards in adopting pertinent national measures.

          5. To urge member states to ensure that the human rights of children are included on the working agendas of the specialized organizations and conferences and the organs and entities of the Organization so as to meet the specific needs of children; and to request the Secretary General to support these efforts by reinforcing coordination within the Organization and, in particular, the areas of the General Secretariat, and with the appropriate multilateral organizations.

          6. To urge the Inter-American Agency for Cooperation and Development to strengthen communication and coordination with the Inter-American Children’s Institute in the area of technical cooperation, and to give special follow-up to the components related to the human rights of children in partnership-for-development activities.

         7. To request the Secretary General to present a report on the implementation of this resolution, including an evaluation of the implementation of the Strategic Plan 2000-2004 of the Inter-American Children’s Institute, to the Permanent Council.

          8. To request the Permanent Council to conduct periodic follow-up of the work of the Inter-American Children’s Institute, bearing in mind the recommendations of the Institute’s Directing Council, and to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-fourth regular session on the implementation of this resolution.