CRC/GC/2003/3
page 2
those living in particularly difficult circumstances. HIV/AIDS is not a problem of some
countries but of the entire world. To truly bring its impact on children under control will require
concerted and well-targeted efforts from all countries at all stages of development.
2.
Initially children were considered to be only marginally affected by the epidemic.
However, the international community has discovered that, unfortunately, children are at the
heart of the problem. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
(UNAIDS), the most recent trends are alarming: in most parts of the world the majority of new
infections are among young people between the ages of 15 and 24, sometimes younger. Women,
including young girls, are also increasingly becoming infected. In most regions of the world, the
vast majority of infected women do not know that they are infected and may unknowingly infect
their children. Consequently, many States have recently registered an increase in their infant and
child mortality rates. Adolescents are also vulnerable to HIV/AIDS because their first sexual
experience may take place in an environment in which they have no access to proper information
and guidance. Children who use drugs are at high risk.
3.
Yet, all children can be rendered vulnerable by the particular circumstances of their lives,
especially (a) children who are themselves HIV-infected; (b) children who are affected by the
epidemic because of the loss of a parental caregiver or teacher and/or because their families or
communities are severely strained by its consequences; and (c) children who are most prone to
be infected or affected.
II. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PRESENT GENERAL COMMENT
4.
The objectives of the present General Comment are:
(a)
To identify further and strengthen understanding of all the human rights of
children in the context of HIV/AIDS;
(b)
To promote the realization of the human rights of children in the context of
HIV/AIDS, as guaranteed under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (hereafter “the
Convention”);
(c)
To identify measures and good practices to increase the level of implementation
by States of the rights related to the prevention of HIV/AIDS and the support, care and
protection of children infected with or affected by this pandemic;
(d)
To contribute to the formulation and promotion of child-oriented plans of action,
strategies, laws, polices and programmes to combat the spread and mitigate the impact of
HIV/AIDS at the national and international levels.
III. THE CONVENTION’S PERSPECTIVES ON HIV/AIDS: THE HOLISTIC
CHILD RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH
5.
The issue of children and HIV/AIDS is perceived as mainly a medical or health problem,
although in reality it involves a much wider range of issues. In this regard, the right to health
(article 24 of the Convention) is, however, central. But HIV/AIDS impacts so heavily on the