United Nations
A/RES/62/139
General Assembly
Distr.: General
21 January 2008
Sixty-second session
Agenda item 66 (a)
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 18 December 2007
[on the report of the Third Committee (A/62/435)]
62/139. World Autism Awareness Day
The General Assembly,
Recalling the 2005 World Summit Outcome 1 and the United Nations Millennium
Declaration, 2 as well as the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and
summits in the economic, social and related fields,
0F
1F
Recalling also the Convention on the Rights of the Child 3 and the Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 4 according to which children with
disabilities should enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity,
promote self-reliance and facilitate the child’s active participation in the community,
as well as the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms on an
equal basis with other children,
2F
3F
Affirming that ensuring and promoting the full realization of all human rights
and fundamental freedoms for all persons with disabilities is critical to achieving
internationally agreed development goals,
Aware that autism is a lifelong developmental disability that manifests itself
during the first three years of life and results from a neurological disorder that
affects the functioning of the brain, mostly affecting children in many countries
irrespective of gender, race or socio-economic status, and characterized by
impairments in social interaction, problems with verbal and non-verbal
communication and restricted, repetitive behaviour, interests and activities, 5
4F
Deeply concerned by the prevalence and high rate of autism in children in all
regions of the world and the consequent development challenges to long-term health
care, education, training and intervention programmes undertaken by Governments,
non-governmental organizations and the private sector, as well as its tremendous
impact on children, their families, communities and societies,
_______________
1
See resolution 60/1.
See resolution 55/2.
3
United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531.
4
Resolution 61/106, annex I.
5
See International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, tenth revision
(subcategories F84.0 and F84.1), endorsed by the forty-third World Health Assembly in May 1990.
2
07-47211