A/HRC/RES/24/11
morbidity of children under 5 years of age, and take steps to ensure the allocation of
available resources to the maximum extent possible to achieve the full realization of the
right of the child to the highest attainable standard of health, including by strengthening
international cooperation in this field,
Reaffirming also the commitments made by States to make every effort to accelerate
the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including Millennium
Development Goal 4, to reduce by two thirds the under-5 mortality rate by 2015, and Goal
5, to improve maternal health and Goal 6 to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases,
and taking into account the ongoing consultations on the United Nations development
agenda beyond 2015 and the need to take into account preventable mortality and morbidity
of children under 5 years of age in the post-2015 discussions,
Welcoming the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health launched by the
Secretary-General and the related establishment of the Commission on Information and
Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health and the Independent Expert Review
Group on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health, and taking
note of the analytical study by the World Health Organization, Women’s and Children’s
Health: Evidence of Impact of Human Rights,
Deeply concerned that more than 6,600,000 children under the age of 5 die each
year, mostly from preventable and treatable causes, owing to inadequate or lack of access to
integrated and quality maternal, newborn and child health care and services, early
childbearing, as well as to health determinants, such as safe drinking water and sanitation,
safe and adequate food and nutrition, and that mortality remains highest among children
belonging to the poorest and most marginalized communities,
1.
Takes note with appreciation of the report on mortality of children under 5
years of age as a human rights concern prepared by the World Health Organization
pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 22/32,1 and welcomes its emphasis on
integrating human rights into efforts to prevent under-5 mortality;
2.
Recognizes that a human rights-based approach to reduce and eliminate
preventable child mortality and morbidity is an approach underpinned by the principles of,
inter alia, equality and non-discrimination, participation, the best interests of the child,
international cooperation and accountability;
3.
Affirms the importance of applying a human rights-based approach to
reducing and eliminating preventable child mortality and morbidity, and requests all States
to renew their political commitment in that respect at all levels, and also calls upon States,
in adopting a human rights-based approach, especially to scale up efforts to achieve
integrated management of integrated and quality maternal, newborn and child health care
and services, particularly at the community and family levels, and to take action to address
the main causes of child mortality;
4.
Encourages States and other relevant stakeholders, including national human
rights institutions and non-governmental organizations, to take action at all levels to address
the interlinked root causes of mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age, such
as poverty, malnutrition, harmful practices, violence, stigma and discrimination, unsafe
households and environments, lack of safe drinking water and sanitation, lack of accessible,
affordable and appropriate health-care services and medicines, late detection of childhood
illnesses and lack of education;
1
2
A/HRC/24/60.