14. Calls upon all States: (a) To take all appropriate measures to prevent, and to protect children from, all forms of violence, including physical, mental and sexual violence, child abuse, domestic violence and neglect, and abuse by the police, other law enforcement authorities and employees and officials in detention centres or welfare institutions, including orphanages; (b) To investigate and submit cases of torture and other forms of violence against children to the competent authorities for the purpose of prosecution and to impose appropriate disciplinary or penal sanctions against those responsible for such practices; 15. Urges States: (a) To take measures to protect students from violence, injury or abuse, including sexual abuse and intimidation or maltreatment in schools, to establish complaint mechanisms that are age appropriate and accessible to children and to undertake thorough and prompt investigations of all acts of violence and discrimination; (b) To take measures to eliminate the use of corporal punishment in schools; Identity, family relations and birth registration 16. Urges all States to continue to intensify efforts in order to ensure the implementation of the right of the child, irrespective of the child’s status, to birth registration, preservation of identity, including nationality, and family relations, as recognized by law; (a) Providing, at a minimal cost, simplified, expeditious, effective procedures for birth registration; (b) Raising awareness at the national, regional and local levels, whenever necessary, of the importance of the birth registration of all children, irrespective of their status, immediately after birth; (c) Ensuring that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will, except when consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child; (d) Guaranteeing, to the extent consistent with each State’s obligations, the right of a child whose parents reside in different States to maintain on a regular basis, except if it is contrary to the child’s best interests, personal relations and direct contacts with both parents by providing means of access and visitation in both States and by respecting the principle that both parents have common responsibilities for the upbringing and development of their children; (e) Where alternative care is necessary, promoting family and community-based care in preference to placement in institutions; (f) Addressing cases of international abduction of children, bearing in mind that the best interest of the child shall be a primary consideration, and encourages States to engage in multilateral and bilateral cooperation to ensure, inter alia, the return of the child to the country where he or she resided immediately before the removal or retention and, in this page 4