A/HRC/RES/37/20
Acknowledging that international humanitarian law and international human rights
law are complementary and mutually reinforcing,
Recognizing that humanitarian situations compromise the effective enjoyment of the
rights of the child, including the rights to life, to survival, to development, to family
relations and not to be separated from one’s parents against one’s will unless necessary for
the best interests of the child, to the highest attainable standard of health, to an adequate
standard of living, to education, to recreation and play and to be protected from all forms of
violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation,
Recognizing also the work undertaken on a global compact on refugees and a global
compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, to be considered for adoption in 2018, and
recalling the importance of protecting the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all
refugee and migrant children, with the best interests of the child as a primary consideration,
Mindful of the commitment of States to work towards ending the detention of
children for the purpose of determining their migration status in a manner that takes into
account as a primary consideration the best interests of the child, in accordance with the
New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants,
Profoundly concerned that children in many parts of the world remain negatively
affected by the impact of climate change, natural disasters and extreme weather events,
including persistent drought, land degradation, sea level rise, coastal erosion and ocean
acidification, which further threaten health, food security and efforts to eradicate poverty
and achieve sustainable development, and in this regard calling for the implementation of
the Paris Agreement adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change,
Recognizing that children are disproportionately affected in complex humanitarian
emergencies, which increases their vulnerability as refugees, asylum seekers, internally
displaced persons, stateless persons, migrants and those remaining in areas of armed
conflict, in particular when they are unaccompanied and separated,
Recalling that, around the world, nearly 50 million children have migrated across
borders or been forcibly displaced, including more than 10 million child refugees, 1 million
child asylum seekers and another 20 million migrant children who have crossed
international borders, an estimated 17 million children internally displaced due to conflict
and violence and more than 300,000 unaccompanied and separated children, and that
children now comprise half of all refugees,
Recognizing the particular vulnerability of girls and boys to violence, including
trafficking in persons, sale, sexual violence and abuse and other forms of exploitation, in
the context of humanitarian situations,
Recognizing also the psychological distress that humanitarian situations cause
children and their families, putting children at heightened risk for impaired developmental
and health outcomes that can follow them throughout their lives,
1.
Takes note with appreciation of the report of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights on protecting the rights of the child in humanitarian
situations;2
2.
Calls upon States to take all measures necessary to ensure the enjoyment by
children of all their human rights, without discrimination of any kind, including in the
context of humanitarian situations;
3.
Also calls upon States to give particular attention to the rights of the child in
the context of humanitarian situations, consistent with their obligations under international
human rights law and, as applicable, international humanitarian and refugee law;
4.
Recalls the obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child that
States undertake to respect and ensure respect for rules of international humanitarian law
2
2
A/HRC/37/33.