Search Tips
sorted by
30 shown of 401 entities
Adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention of the Rights of the Child 2003, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- The Convention acknowledges the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents (or other persons legally responsible for the child) "to provide, in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the child, appropriate direction and guidance in the exercise by the child of the rights recognized in the Convention" (art. 5). The Committee believes that parents or other persons legally responsible for the child need to fulfil with care their right and responsibility to provide direction and guidance to their adolescent children in the exercise by the latter of their rights. They have an obligation to take into account the adolescents' views, in accordance with their age and maturity, and to provide a safe and supportive environment in which the adolescent can develop. Adolescents need to be recognized by the members of their family environment as active rights holders who have the capacity to become full and responsible citizens, given the proper guidance and direction.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2003
Paragraph
Adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention of the Rights of the Child 2003, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- The right to express views freely and have them duly taken into account (art. 12) is also fundamental in realizing adolescents' right to health and development. States parties need to ensure that adolescents are given a genuine chance to express their views freely on all matters affecting them, especially within the family, in school, and in their communities. In order for adolescents to be able safely and properly to exercise this right, public authorities, parents and other adults working with or for children need to create an environment based on trust, information sharing, the capacity to listen and sound guidance that is conducive for adolescents' participating equally including in decision-making processes.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2003
Paragraph
Adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention of the Rights of the Child 2003, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- The health and development of adolescents are strongly determined by the environments in which they live. Creating a safe and supportive environment entails addressing attitudes and actions of both the immediate environment of the adolescent - family, peers, schools and services - as well as the wider environment created by, inter alia, community and religious leaders, the media, national and local policies and legislation. The promotion and enforcement of the provisions and principles of the Convention, especially articles 2-6, 12-17, 24, 28, 29 and 31, are key to guaranteeing adolescents' right to health and development. States parties should take measures to raise awareness and stimulate and/or regulate action through the formulation of policy or the adoption of legislation and the implementation of programmes specifically for adolescents.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2003
Paragraph
Adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention of the Rights of the Child 2003, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The Committee stresses the importance of the family environment, including the members of the extended family and community or other persons legally responsible for the child or adolescent (arts. 5 and 18). While most adolescents grow up in well functioning family environments, for some the family does not constitute a safe and supportive milieu.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2003
Paragraph
Adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention of the Rights of the Child 2003, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- The Committee calls upon States parties to develop and implement, in a manner consistent with adolescents' evolving capacities, legislation, policies and programmes to promote the health and development of adolescents by (a) providing parents (or legal guardians) with appropriate assistance through the development of institutions, facilities and services that adequately support the well-being of adolescents, including, when needed, the provision of material assistance and support with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing (art. 27 (3)); (b) providing adequate information and parental support to facilitate the development of a relationship of trust and confidence in which issues regarding, for example, sexuality and sexual behaviour and risky lifestyles can be openly discussed and acceptable solutions found that respect the adolescent's rights (art. 27 (3)); (c) providing adolescent mothers and fathers with support and guidance for both their own and their children's well-being (art. 24 (f), 27 (2-3)); (d) giving, while respecting the values and norms of ethnic and other minorities, special attention, guidance and support to adolescents and parents (or legal guardians), whose traditions and norms may differ from those in the society where they live; and (e) ensuring that interventions in the family to protect the adolescent and, when necessary, separate her/him from the family, e.g. in case of abuse or neglect, are in accordance with applicable laws and procedures. Such laws and procedures should be reviewed to ensure that they conform to the principles of the Convention.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2003
Paragraph
Adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention of the Rights of the Child 2003, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Adolescent girls should have access to information on the harm that early marriage and early pregnancy can cause, and those who become pregnant should have access to health services that are sensitive to their rights and particular needs. States parties should take measures to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality in adolescent girls, particularly caused by early pregnancy and unsafe abortion practices, and to support adolescent parents. Young mothers, especially where support is lacking, may be prone to depression and anxiety, compromising their ability to care for their child. The Committee urges States parties (a) to develop and implement programmes that provide access to sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning, contraception and safe abortion services where abortion is not against the law, adequate and comprehensive obstetric care and counselling; (b) to foster positive and supportive attitudes towards adolescent parenthood for their mothers and fathers; and (c) to develop policies that will allow adolescent mothers to continue their education.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Year
- 2003
Paragraph
Adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention of the Rights of the Child 2003, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Before parents give their consent, adolescents need to have a chance to express their views freely and their views should be given due weight, in accordance with article 12 of the Convention. However, if the adolescent is of sufficient maturity, informed consent shall be obtained from the adolescent her/himself, while informing the parents if that is in the "best interest of the child" (art. 3).
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2003
Paragraph
Adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention of the Rights of the Child 2003, para. 39a
- Paragraph text
- [In exercising their obligations in relation to the health and development of adolescents, States parties shall always take fully into account the four general principles of the Convention. It is the view of the Committee that States parties must take all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures for the realization and monitoring of the rights of adolescents to health and development as recognized in the Convention. To this end, States parties must notably fulfil the following obligations:] To create a safe and supportive environment for adolescents, including within their family, in schools, in all types of institutions in which they may live, within their workplace and/or in the society at large;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2003
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- In the past, the terms used to describe children in street situations have included “street children”, “children on the street”, “children of the street”, “runaway children”, “throwaway children”, “children living and/or working on the street”, “homeless children” and “street-connected children”. In the present general comment, the term “children in street situations” is used to comprise: (a) children who depend on the streets to live and/or work, whether alone, with peers or with family; and (b) a wider population of children who have formed strong connections with public spaces and for whom the street plays a vital role in their everyday lives and identities. This wider population includes children who periodically, but not always, live and/or work on the streets and children who do not live or work on the streets but who regularly accompany their peers, siblings or family in the streets. Concerning children in street situations, “being in public spaces” is understood to include spending a significant amount of time on streets or in street markets, public parks, public community spaces, squares and bus and train stations. It does not include public buildings such as schools, hospitals or other comparable institutions.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- Children in street situations are not a homogenous group. Characteristics are diverse in terms of age, sex, ethnicity, indigenous identity, nationality, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity/expression, among others. This diversity implies different experiences, risks and needs. The nature and time spent physically on the street varies significantly from child to child, as does the nature and extent of relationships with peers, family members, community members, civil society actors and public authorities. Children’s relationships can help them survive on the streets and/or perpetuate conditions of violent abuse of their rights. Children engage in a range of activities in public spaces, including work, socialization, recreation/leisure, shelter, sleeping, cooking, washing and engaging in substance abuse or sexual activity. Children may engage in such activities voluntarily, through lack of viable choices or through coercion or force by other children or adults. Children may conduct these activities alone or in the company of family members, friends, acquaintances, gang members, or exploitative peers, older children and/or adults.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 11b
- Paragraph text
- [According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), a child rights approach is one that:] Uses child rights standards and principles from the Convention and other international human rights instruments to guide behaviour, actions, policies and programmes, particularly: non-discrimination; the best interests of the child; the right to life, survival and development; the right to be heard and taken seriously; and the child’s right to be guided in the exercise of his or her rights by caregivers, parents and community members, in line with the child’s evolving capacities;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- The Committee considers that strategies and initiatives that adopt a child rights approach fulfil the main criteria for good practice, regardless of level or context. Children in street situations are often distrustful of adult intervention in their lives. Their abusive treatment by adults in society has led them to be unwilling to relinquish their hard-won, albeit limited, autonomy. This approach emphasizes full respect for their autonomy, including supporting them to find alternatives to depending on the streets. It promotes their resilience and capabilities, increasing their agency in decision-making and empowering them as socioeconomic, political and cultural actors. It builds on their existing strengths and the positive contributions they make to their own survival and development and that of their peers, families and communities. Applying this approach is not only a moral and legal imperative but also the most sustainable approach for identifying and implementing long-term solutions with children in street situations.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- States should assess how laws and policies can be improved to reflect the recommendations of the present general comment. States should, with immediate effect: remove provisions that directly or indirectly discriminate on the grounds of the street situation of children or their parents or family; abolish any provisions allowing or supporting the round-up or arbitrary removal of children and their families from the streets or public spaces; abolish where appropriate offences that criminalize and disproportionately affect children in street situations, such as begging, breach of curfews, loitering, vagrancy and running away from home; and abolish offences that criminalize children for being a victim of commercial sexual exploitation, and so-called moral offences, such as sex outside of marriage. States should introduce or review an act on child protection or children based on a child rights approach and that specifically addresses children in street situations. The act should be implemented by enabling policies, mandates, operating procedures, guidelines, service delivery, oversight and enforcement mechanisms, and developed in collaboration with key stakeholders, including children in street situations. States may need to develop nationally relevant policy and legal definitions of such children on the basis of participatory research, in contexts where this is necessary to facilitate interventions by legally mandated professionals and services. However, the process of developing legal definitions should not delay taking action to address rights violations.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- Strategies for children in street situations should acknowledge State and non-State actors. The role of the State, as primary duty bearer, is outlined in section V below. States have an obligation to help parents or caregivers to secure, within their abilities and financial capacities and with respect for the evolving capacities of the child, the living conditions necessary for the child’s optimal development (arts. 5, 18 and 27). States should also support civil society, as complementary actors, in providing personalized, specialist services for children in street situations the basis of a child rights approach, through funding, accreditation and regulation. The business sector must meet its responsibilities regarding children’s rights, and States should ensure it does so. Coordination is needed between State and non-State actors. States are legally obliged to ensure that non-State service providers operate in accordance with the provisions of the Convention.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Strategies need to address multiple causes, ranging from structural inequalities to family violence. They also need to take into account measures for immediate implementation, such as stopping round-ups or the arbitrary removal of children from public spaces, and measures to be implemented progressively, such as comprehensive social protection. A combination of legal, policy and service provision changes is likely to be needed. States should commit to fulfilling human rights beyond childhood. Particularly, States should ensure follow-up mechanisms for children in alternative care settings and in street situations as they transition into adulthood at the age of 18, to avoid an abrupt termination of support and services.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Within a legislative and policy framework, budgeting for, developing and strengthening holistic child protection systems, on the basis of a child rights approach, forms the basis of the practical measures required for prevention and response strategies. Such national child protection systems need to reach children in street situations and should incorporate fully the specific services they need. The systems need to provide a continuum of care across all relevant contexts, including prevention, early intervention, street outreach, helplines, drop-in centres, day-care centres, temporary residential care, family reunification, foster care, independent living or other short- or long-term care options. However, not all of these contexts are relevant for all children in street situations. For example, prevention and early intervention are priorities for children at the early stages of developing strong and harmful street connections, but are not relevant for children born in street situations. Some children may not experience residential placements while, for others, family reunification is not relevant or appropriate. Strategies should make it clear that a child rights approach needs to apply to each and every context. Administrative burdens and delays in gaining access to child protection systems should be reduced. Information should be made available in child-friendly and accessible formats and children in street situations should be supported to understand and navigate child protection systems.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- States should invest in good quality initial and in-service basic training on child rights, child protection and the local context of children in street situations for all professionals who may come into direct or indirect contact with children in street situations, in such areas as policymaking, law enforcement, justice, education, health, social work and psychology. This training may draw on the expertise of non-State actors and should be integrated into the curricula of relevant training institutions. Additional in-depth training on a child rights approach, psychosocial support and child empowerment is required for professionals working with children in street situations as a dedicated part of their mandate, for example, street-based social workers and specialized child protection units of the police service. “Outreach walks” and “street walks” are an important on-the-ground training method. Basic and specialized training should include attitudinal and behavioural change, as well as knowledge transfer and skills development, and should encourage intersectoral cooperation and collaboration. National and local governments should understand and support the critical role of social workers, including street-based workers, in early detection, providing support to families with children at risk and to children in street situations. Professionals should be involved in participatory development of operating procedures, good practice guidelines, strategic directives, plans, performance standards and disciplinary codes, and should receive support to implement these in practice. States should facilitate sensitization and training for other stakeholders who come into direct or indirect contact with children in street situations, such as transport workers, media representatives, community and spiritual/religious leaders and private sector actors, who should be encouraged to adopt the Children’s Rights and Business Principles.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- States should take action to secure the ability of children in street situations to gain access to basic services such as health and education, and to justice, culture, sport and information. States should ensure their child protection systems provide for specialized services on the street, involving trained social workers with good knowledge of local street connections and who can help children reconnect with family, local community services and wider society. This does not necessarily imply that children should renounce their street connections, but rather, the intervention should secure their rights. Prevention, early intervention and street-based support services are mutually reinforcing elements and provide a continuum of care within an effective long-term and holistic strategy. While States are the primary duty bearers, civil society activities may complement States’ efforts in developing and delivering innovative and personalized service provision.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- States must respect and ensure the rights set forth in the Convention for each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind. However, discrimination is one of the prime causes of children ending up in street situations. Children are then discriminated against on the basis of their connections with the street, that is, on the grounds of their social origin, property, birth or other status, resulting in lifelong negative consequences. The Committee interprets “other status” under article 2 of the Convention to include the street situation of a child or his or her parents and other family members.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- States have an obligation to respect the dignity of children in street situations and their right to life, survival and development by refraining from State-led violence and by decriminalizing survival behaviours and status offences; to protect children in street situations from harm caused by third parties; and to fulfil their right to life, survival and development by designing and implementing holistic long-term strategies, on the basis of a child rights approach, to secure their development to their fullest potential. States should assist trustworthy and supportive adults — such as family members or State or civil society social workers, psychologists, street workers or mentors — to help children in street situations. States should also put in place procedural and practical funeral arrangements to ensure dignity and respect for children who die on the streets.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- Children in street situations face particular barriers in being heard, and the Committee encourages States to make proactive efforts to overcome those barriers. States and intergovernmental organizations should provide — and support civil society organizations in providing — children in street situations with a supportive and enabling environment to: be heard in judicial and administrative proceedings; carry out their own initiatives; and fully participate at the community and national levels in policy and programme conceptualization, design, implementation, coordination, monitoring, review and communication, including through the media. Interventions are of most benefit to children in street situations when the children themselves are involved actively in assessing needs, devising solutions, shaping strategies and carrying them out, rather than being seen as objects for whom decisions are made. States should also listen to relevant adults, such as family and community members, professionals and advocates, when developing prevention and response strategies. Interventions should support individual children in street situations to exercise their rights and develop skills, resilience, responsibility and citizenship, in line with their evolving capacities. States should support and encourage children in street situations to form their own child-led organizations and initiatives, which will create space for meaningful participation and representation. Where appropriate, and when properly safeguarded, children in street situations can raise awareness by sharing their own experiences, to reduce stigmatization and discrimination and to help prevent other children ending up in street situations.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- To strengthen prevention, States should build the capacity of parents, extended families, legal guardians and community members to provide appropriate direction and guidance to children, helping them to take into account the child’s views, in accordance with their age and maturity; to provide a safe and supportive environment in which the child can develop; and to recognize the child as an active rights holder who is increasingly able to exercise those rights as they develop, given proper guidance and direction. The Committee has already elaborated the principle of the evolving capacities of the child: the more the child knows, has experienced and understands, the more the parent or legal guardian has to transform direction and guidance into reminders and advice, and later to an exchange on an equal footing. Children in street situations require particularly sensitive direction and guidance that respects their life experience. The majority of children in street situations maintain contact with families, and there is increasing evidence on effective ways to strengthen those family connections. If children in street situations have few or no positive connections with parents, extended families or legal guardians, then the role of community members, as referenced in article 5, takes on a stronger significance and this is understood to include support from trustworthy adults associated with civil society organizations.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- In addition to association and peaceful assembly in the context of civil and political rights, the Committee emphasizes the importance of respecting the choice of children in street situations to associate together in public spaces, without threat to public order, to satisfy their survival and development rights (art. 6), for rest, play and leisure (art. 31), to create networks and organize their social life, and as a key feature of their lives in general. For children in street situations, this type of gathering together is part of living. It cannot always be broken down into discrete activities like eating, sleeping or recreation. For children not in street situations, this cooperative coexistence with others mainly takes place in settings like the family household or school. For children in street situations, it takes place in public spaces. Such children need to have a safe space in which they can exercise their right to association, interpreted here in conjunction with other rights protected under the Convention as “spending time with others in public spaces”. The Committee has explored the decreasing tolerance of children in public spaces in relation to article 31. In the present general comment, it extends those concerns, regarding decreasing tolerance, to the use of public spaces by children for purposes other than those covered under article 31.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Lack of proof of identity has a negative impact on the protection of rights for children in street situations in relation to education, health and other social services, justice, inheritance and family reunification. As a minimum, States should ensure that free, accessible, simple and expeditious birth registration is available to all children at all ages. Children in street situations should be supported proactively to obtain legal identity documents. As a temporary solution, States and local governments should allow innovative and flexible solutions, such as providing informal identity cards, linked to civil society personnel/addresses, allowing children in the meantime to gain access to basic services and protection in the justice system. Innovative solutions should be adopted to overcome the challenges faced by children in street situations, who are often highly mobile and who lack the means to keep a physical identity document safe without losing it or having it damaged or stolen.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Children in street situations may experience limited privacy given that they have to carry out activities in public spaces. Discrimination on the grounds of their or their parents’ or family’s street situation makes them particularly vulnerable to violations of article 16. The Committee recognizes forced eviction to be a violation of article 16 of the Convention, and the Human Rights Committee has in the past recognized it to be a violation of article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Recommendations in paragraph 27 addressing stigmatization, and in paragraph 60 addressing non-discriminatory and respectful treatment by the police, give guidance in relation to honour and reputation.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- For those children in street situations without primary or proxy caregivers, the State is the de facto caregiver and is obliged, under article 20, to ensure alternative care to a child temporarily or permanently deprived of his or her family environment. Types of care include: practical and moral support to children on the streets, through a trustworthy adult street worker or peer support, without requiring or coercing children to renounce their street connections and/or move into alternative accommodation; drop-in and community/social centres; night shelters; day-care centres; temporary residential care in group homes; foster care; family reunification; and independent living or long-term care options including, but not exclusively, adoption. Deprivation of liberty, for example, in detention cells or closed centres, is never a form of protection.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Interventions that do not respect children as active agents in the process of moving off the street into alternative care do not work: children often end up back on the streets when they run away or when placements break down. Placements fail when children in street situations are sent to unfamiliar areas to live with little-known relatives. By applying a child rights approach to the development and provision of alternative choices, States will ensure that children are not forced to depend on their street connections for their survival and/or development and that they are not forced to accept placements against their will. States should ensure, through legislation, regulation and policy directives, that the child’s views are solicited and considered in decisions regarding placements, development and review of care plans, and visits with family. States should respect the established international parameters that limit institutionalization as a last resort, ensure that children are not placed in alternative care unnecessarily and ensure that, where alternative care is provided, it is delivered under appropriate conditions responding to the rights and best interests of the child. States should ensure that State and civil society-run shelters and facilities are safe and of good quality. Where placement with family members is deemed, in consultation with the children in street situations themselves, to be in their best interests, careful preparation and follow-up is needed on both sides. A transitional stage between the streets and a long-term placement is often required, the length of this period being determined on a case-by-case basis with the child. Use of police or other detention cells to accommodate children owing to lack of alternative care facilities is not acceptable.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Many children in street situations live with their families, either on or off the streets, and/or maintain family connections, and they should be supported to maintain those connections. States should not separate children from their families solely on the basis of the families’ street-working or street-living status. Likewise, States should not separate babies or children born to children themselves in street situations. 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 parental care but should be seen as a signal for the need to provide appropriate support to the family. To prevent long-term separation, States can support temporary, rights-respecting care options for children whose parents, for instance, migrate for certain periods of the year for seasonal employment.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- It is important to establish, maintain and monitor the quality of State and non-State services to prevent children from ending up in street situations as a result of failing to have their care and protection rights fulfilled, and for the benefit of children already in street situations. States should provide quality, rights-respecting services and support civil society organizations to do the same. Non-State institutions, services and facilities for children in street situations should be supported, resourced, accredited, regulated and monitored by the State. Personnel involved in such services should be trained in accordance with paragraph 18.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Support for parents and legal guardians is essential to prevent children ending up in street situations, and to strengthen family reunification programmes for children already in street situations. States are obliged to render appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities and to ensure the development of institutions, facilities and services for the care of children. States should take measures to eliminate structural forces that put pressure on families in precarious situations. Key issues to address include: improving rights-based community development in impoverished neighbourhoods; establishing comprehensive economic and social safety nets; providing safe and affordable day-care centres and other specialist services; and improving access to adequate housing and income generation for families. In addition to structural and policy approaches, vulnerable families need case-by-case solutions facilitated by well-trained professionals. States should invest in and scale up family support programmes on the basis of a child rights approach that are proved to halt the intergenerational transmission of conditions that exacerbate children ending up in street situations. States should take measures to provide universal education on child rights and positive parenting for all parents and caregivers, prioritizing — in a non-stigmatizing way — families with children at risk of ending up in street situations. This education should include child rights, including how to listen to children and include their views in decision-making; positive child-rearing, including positive discipline skills, non-violent conflict resolution and attachment parenting; and early childhood development. See also paragraphs 35 and 49.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph