Rights of the child
A/RES/74/133
28. Stresses that no child should be forced to give up family connections in
order to escape poverty, or to receive care, comprehensive, timely and quality health
services or education, or because they are in contact with the law;
29. Recognizes that poverty, all forms of violence, including mental and
physical violence, domestic violence, structural violence and survival activities may
lead children into the criminal justice system, including the juvenile justice system,
and that detention in the criminal justice system is sometimes used as a substitute for
prevention and referral to child protection authorities and services;
30. Also recognizes that financial and material poverty, or conditions directly
and uniquely imputable to such poverty, should never be the only justification for the
removal of a child from the care of his or her parents or primary caregivers and legal
guardians, for receiving a child into alternative care or for preventing his or he r
reintegration, but should be seen as a signal for the need to provide appropriate
support to their family, benefiting the child directly;
31. Urges States to strengthen child welfare and child protection systems and
improve care reform efforts, which should include increased multisectoral
collaboration, inter alia, between child welfare and health, education and justice
sectors, active coordination among all relevant authorities, improved cross -border
systems and improved capacity-building and training programmes for relevant
stakeholders;
32. Expresses deep concern regarding the large and growing number of
migrant children, particularly those who are unaccompanied or separated from their
parents or primary caregivers, who may be particularly vulnerable along their journey,
and expresses the commitment to protect the human rights of migrant children, given
their vulnerability, in particular unaccompanied migrant children and migrant
children with disabilities, to ensure that they receive appropriate protection and
assistance and to provide for their health, education and psychosocial development,
ensuring that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration in policies on
integration, return and family reunification;
33. Calls upon States to take all measures necessary to prevent and combat
illegal adoptions and all adoptions that are not in the best interests of the child;
34. Urges States to take effective action to provide support to families and to
prevent the unnecessary separation of children from their parents, including by:
(a) Prioritizing investments in child protection services and social services to
support quality alternative care, including families and communities in order to
prevent the separation of children from their families, with the best interests of the
child as the primary consideration;
(b) Adopting and enforcing laws and improving the implementation of
policies and programmes, budget allocation and human resources to support children,
particularly children with disabilities and children living in disadvantaged,
stigmatized and marginalized families, to address the root causes of unnecessary
family separation and ensure that they are cared for effectively by their own families
and communities;
(c) Taking all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational
measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or
abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual
abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has
the care of the child;
(d) Recognizing the right of a child who has been placed by competent
authorities for the purposes of care, protection or treatment of his or her physical or
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