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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. 11a
- Paragraph text
- [According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), a child rights approach is one that:] Furthers the realization of child rights as established in the Convention and other international human rights instruments;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- 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
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 26c
- Paragraph text
- [Judicial level] According to articles 2 (d) and (f) and 5 (a), all judicial bodies are required to refrain from engaging in any act or practice of discrimination or gender-based violence against women and to strictly apply all criminal law provisions punishing such violence, ensuring that all legal procedures in cases involving allegations of gender-based violence against women are impartial, fair and unaffected by gender stereotypes or the discriminatory interpretation of legal provisions, including international law. The application of preconceived and stereotypical notions of what constitutes gender-based violence against women, what women’s responses to such violence should be and the standard of proof required to substantiate its occurrence can affect women’s rights to equality before the law, a fair trial and effective remedy, as established in articles 2 and 15 of the Convention.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- The Committee also recommends that States parties take the following measures in the areas of prevention, protection, prosecution and punishment, redress, data collection and monitoring and international cooperation in order to accelerate elimination of gender-based violence against women. All measures should be implemented with an approach centred around the victim/survivor, acknowledging women as right holders and promoting their agency and autonomy, including the evolving capacity of girls, from childhood to adolescence. In addition, the measures should be designed and implemented with the participation of women, taking into account the particular situation of women affected by intersecting forms of discrimination.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- The Committee recalls article 23 of the Convention, in which it is indicated that any provisions in national legislation or international treaties other than the Convention that are more conducive to the achievement of equality between women and men will prevail over the obligations in the Convention and, accordingly, the recommendations in the present general recommendation. The Committee notes that States parties’ action to address gender-based violence against women is affected by reservations that they maintain to the Convention. It also notes that, as a human rights treaty body, the Committee may assess the permissibility of reservations formulated by States parties, and reiterates its view that reservations, especially to article 2 or article 16, the compliance with which is particularly crucial in efforts to eliminate gender-based violence against women, are incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention and thus impermissible under article 28 (2).
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Children with disabilities end up in street situations for various reasons, including economic and social factors, and are sometimes exploited for begging. States should take all actions necessary to prevent and to explicitly criminalize such exploitation and to bring perpetrators to justice. Children in street situations may be at risk of developing disabilities owing to the negative impact of aspects of street life, such as violence, exploitation and substance abuse. Intellectual and psychosocial disabilities can render children in street situations particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. States should adopt special protection measures, including identifying and removing barriers that prevent children with disabilities from gaining access to services, including inclusive education.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 29e
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following legislative measures:] Ensure that sexual assault, including rape, is characterized as a crime against the right to personal security and physical, sexual and psychological integrity and that the definition of sexual crimes, including marital and acquaintance or date rape, is based on the lack of freely given consent and takes into account coercive circumstances. Any time limitations, where they exist, should prioritize the interests of the victims/survivors and give consideration to circumstances hindering their capacity to report the violence suffered to the competent services or authorities.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 34f
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following measures with regard to coordination and monitoring and the collection of data regarding gender-based violence against women:] Allocate appropriate human and financial resources at the national, regional and local levels to effectively implement laws and policies for the prevention of all forms of gender-based violence against women, provision of protection and support to victims/survivors, investigation of cases, prosecution of perpetrators and provision of reparations to victims/survivors, including support to women’s organizations.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 35a
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following measures with regard to international cooperation to combat gender-based violence against women:] Seek support, where necessary, from external sources, such as the specialized agencies of the United Nations system, the international community and civil society, in order to meet human rights obligations by designing and implementing all appropriate measures required to eliminate and respond to gender-based violence against women, taking into consideration, in particular, the evolving global contexts and the increasingly transnational nature of such violence, including in technology-mediated settings and other extraterritorial operations of domestic non-State actors. States parties should urge business actors whose conduct they are in a position to influence to assist the States in which they operate in their efforts to fully realize women’s right to freedom from violence;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 35b
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following measures with regard to international cooperation to combat gender-based violence against women:] Prioritize the implementation of the relevant Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goals 5, to achieve gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls, and Goal 16, to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels; and support national plans to implement all the Goals in a gender-responsive manner, in accordance with the agreed conclusions of the sixtieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women on women’s empowerment and the link to sustainable development, enabling meaningful participation of civil society and women’s organizations in the implementation of the Goals and the follow-up processes, and enhance international support and cooperation for knowledge-sharing and effective and targeted capacity-building.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- Businesses play an important role in the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, inter alia by contributing to the creation of employment opportunities and — through private investment — to development. However, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has been regularly presented with situations in which, as a result of States’ failure to ensure compliance, under their jurisdiction, with internationally recognized human rights norms and standards, corporate activities have negatively affected economic, social and cultural rights. The present general comment seeks to clarify the duties of States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in such situations, with a view to preventing and addressing the adverse impacts of business activities on human rights.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- In certain jurisdictions, individuals enjoy direct recourse against business entities for violations of economic, social and cultural rights, whether in order to impose on such private entities (negative) duties to refrain from certain courses of conduct or to impose (positive) duties to adopt certain measures or to contribute to the fulfilment of such rights. There are also a large number of domestic laws designed to protect specific economic, social and cultural rights, that apply directly to business entities, such as in the areas of non-discrimination, health-care provision, education, the environment, employment relations and consumer safety.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Such extraterritorial obligations of States under the Covenant follow from the fact that the obligations of the Covenant are expressed without any restriction linked to territory or jurisdiction. Although article 14 of the Covenant does refer to compulsory primary education having to be provided by a State “in its metropolitan territory or other territories under its jurisdiction”, such a reference is absent from the other provisions of the Covenant. Moreover, article 2 (1) refers to international assistance and cooperation as a means of fulfilling economic, social and cultural rights. It would be contradictory to such a reference to allow a State to remain passive where an actor domiciled in its territory and/or under its jurisdiction, and thus under its control or authority, harmed the rights of others in other States, or where conduct by such an actor may lead to foreseeable harm being caused. Indeed, the Members of the United Nations have pledged “to take joint and separate action in cooperation with the Organization” to achieve the purposes set forth in article 55 of the Charter, including “universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion”. This duty is expressed without any territorial limitation, and should be taken into account when addressing the scope of States’ obligations under human rights treaties. Also in line with the Charter, the International Court of Justice has acknowledged the extraterritorial scope of core human rights treaties, focusing on their object and purpose, their legislative history and the lack of territorial limitation provisions in the text. Customary international law also prohibits a State from allowing its territory to be used to cause damage on the territory of another State, a requirement that has gained particular relevance in international environmental law. The Human Rights Council has confirmed that such prohibition extends to human rights law, when it endorsed the guiding principles on extreme poverty and human rights, in its resolution 21/11.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Extraterritorial obligations arise when a State party may influence situations located outside its territory, consistent with the limits imposed by international law, by controlling the activities of corporations domiciled in its territory and/or under its jurisdiction, and thus may contribute to the effective enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights outside its national territory. In that regard, the Committee also takes note of general comment No. 16 (2013) on State obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children’s rights, of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, as well as of the positions adopted by other human rights treaty bodies.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- In the context of international migration, children may be in a situation of double vulnerability as children and as children affected by migration who (a) are migrants themselves, either alone or with their families, (b) were born to migrant parents in countries of destination or (c) remain in their country of origin while one or both parents have migrated to another country. Additional vulnerabilities could relate to their national, ethnic or social origin; gender; sexual orientation or gender identity; religion; disability; migration or residence status; citizenship status; age; economic status; political or other opinion; or other status.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Children’s personal data, in particular biometric data, should only be used for child protection purposes, with strict enforcement of appropriate rules on collection, use and retention of, and access to, data. The Committees urge due diligence regarding safeguards in the development and implementation of data systems, and in the sharing of data between authorities and/or countries. States parties should implement a “firewall” and prohibit the sharing and use for immigration enforcement of the personal data collected for other purposes, such as protection, remedy, civil registration and access to services. This is necessary to uphold data protection principles and protect the rights of the child, as stipulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- The Committees are of the opinion that, in order to fulfil the rights of all children in the context of international migration, the following elements should be part of the policies and practices to be developed and implemented: (a) comprehensive, inter-institutional policies between child protection and welfare authorities and other key bodies, including on social protection, health, education, justice, migration and gender, and between regional, national and local governments; (b) adequate resources, including budgetary, aimed at ensuring effective implementation of policies and programmes; and (c) continuous and periodic training of child protection, migration and related officials on the rights of children, migrants and refugees and on statelessness, including intersectional discrimination.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- The Committees reaffirm the application of articles 41 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and 81 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, and reiterate that the provisions in domestic and international legislation that are the most conducive to the realization of the rights of all children in the context of international migration shall apply in cases where standards differ. Furthermore, a dynamic interpretation of the Conventions based on a child-centred approach is necessary to ensure their effective implementation and the respect, protection and fulfilment of the rights of all children in the context of the increasing number of challenges that migration poses for children.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The principle of non-discrimination shall be at the centre of all migration policies and procedures, including border control measures, and regardless of the migration status of children or their parents. Any differential treatment of migrants shall be lawful and proportionate, in pursuit of a legitimate aim and in line with the child’s best interests and international human rights norms and standards. Similarly, States parties should ensure that migrant children and their families are integrated into receiving societies through the effective realization of their human rights and access to services in an equal manner with nationals.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- The Committees recommend that the States parties put special emphasis on the policies and related regulations about the prevention of discriminatory practices towards migrant and refugee children with disabilities and the implementation of necessary policies and programmes for ensuring the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of migrant and refugee children with disabilities on an equal basis with children who are nationals of the States, and taking into consideration the provisions enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- In the context of international migration, children may be in a situation of double vulnerability as children and as children affected by migration who (a) are migrants themselves, either alone or with their families, (b) were born to migrant parents in countries of destination or (c) remain in their country of origin while one or both parents have migrated to another country. Additional vulnerabilities could relate to their national, ethnic or social origin; gender; sexual orientation or gender identity; religion; disability; migration or residence status; citizenship status; age; economic status; political or other opinion; or other status.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- The lack of birth registration may have many negative impacts on the enjoyment of children’s rights, such as child marriage, trafficking, forced recruitment and child labour. Birth registrations may also help to achieve convictions against those who have abused a child. Unregistered children are at particular risk of becoming stateless when born to parents who are in an irregular migration situation, due to barriers to acquiring nationality in the country of origin of the parents as well as to accessing birth registration and nationality at the place of their birth.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Infants
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- States should ensure that children in the context of international migration have a standard of living adequate for their physical, mental, spiritual and moral development. As provided in article 27 (3) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. States, in accordance with national conditions and within their means, shall take appropriate measures to assist parents and others responsible for the child to implement this right and shall in case of need provide material assistance and support programmes, particularly with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- States parties should develop detailed guidelines on standards of reception facilities, assuring adequate space and privacy for children and their families. States should take measures to ensure an adequate standard of living in temporary locations, such as reception facilities and formal and informal camps, ensuring that these are accessible to children and their parents, including persons with disabilities, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers. States should ensure that residential facilities do not restrict children’s day-to-day movements unnecessarily, including de facto restriction of movement.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- The Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates that States parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the Convention to each child within its jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind; this includes discrimination against children on the basis of their or their parents’ migration status. The Committees therefore urge States parties to provide equitable access to economic, social and cultural rights. States are encouraged to expeditiously reform legislation, policies and practices that discriminate against migrant children and their families, including those in an irregular situation, or prevent them from effectively accessing services and benefits, for example social assistance.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- Every migrant child should have access to health care equal to that of nationals, regardless of their migration status. This includes all health services, whether preventive or curative, and mental, physical or psychosocial care, provided in the community or in health-care institutions. States have an obligation to ensure that children’s health is not undermined as a result of discrimination, which is a significant factor contributing to vulnerability; the implications of multiple forms of discrimination should also be addressed. Attention should be paid to addressing the gender-specific impacts of reduced access to services. In addition, migrant children should be provided full access to age-appropriate sexual and reproductive health information and services.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- All children in the context of international migration, irrespective of status, shall have full access to all levels and all aspects of education, including early childhood education and vocational training, on the basis of equality with nationals of the country where those children are living. This obligation implies that States should ensure equal access to quality and inclusive education for all migrant children, irrespective of their migration status. Migrant children should have access to alternative learning programmes where necessary and participate fully in examinations and receive certification of their studies.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- With respect to social security, migrant children and their families shall have the right to the same treatment granted to nationals, insofar as they fulfil the requirements provided for by the applicable legislation of the State and the applicable bilateral and multilateral treaties. The Committees consider that in cases of necessity, States should provide emergency social assistance to migrant children and their families regardless of their migration status, without any discrimination.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- With respect to social security, migrant children and their families shall have the right to the same treatment granted to nationals, insofar as they fulfil the requirements provided for by the applicable legislation of the State and the applicable bilateral and multilateral treaties. The Committees consider that in cases of necessity, States should provide emergency social assistance to migrant children and their families regardless of their migration status, without any discrimination.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- States parties should develop detailed guidelines on standards of reception facilities, assuring adequate space and privacy for children and their families. States should take measures to ensure an adequate standard of living in temporary locations, such as reception facilities and formal and informal camps, ensuring that these are accessible to children and their parents, including persons with disabilities, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers. States should ensure that residential facilities do not restrict children’s day-to-day movements unnecessarily, including de facto restriction of movement.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- The Committees are aware that insufficient financial resources often hinder the exercise of the right to family reunification and that the lack of proof of adequate family income can constitute a barrier to reunion procedures. States are encouraged to provide adequate financial support and other social services to those children and their parent(s), siblings and, where applicable, other relatives.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- The Committees are aware that insufficient financial resources often hinder the exercise of the right to family reunification and that the lack of proof of adequate family income can constitute a barrier to reunion procedures. States are encouraged to provide adequate financial support and other social services to those children and their parent(s), siblings and, where applicable, other relatives.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- Women’s right to a life free from gender-based violence is indivisible from and interdependent on other human rights, including the rights to life, health, liberty and security of the person, equality and equal protection within the family, freedom from torture, cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment, and freedom of expression, movement, participation, assembly and association.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Gender-based violence against women may amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in certain circumstances, including in cases of rape, domestic violence or harmful practices. In certain cases, some forms of gender-based violence against women may also constitute international crimes.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- In addition, both international humanitarian law and human rights law have recognized the direct obligations of non-State actors in specific circumstances, including as parties to an armed conflict. Those obligations include the prohibition of torture, which is part of customary international law and has become a peremptory norm (jus cogens).
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- States parties should ensure that indigenous peoples have access to effective remedies, both judicial and non-judicial, for all infringements of their individual and collective rights. These remedies should be sensitive to indigenous cultures and accessible to indigenous peoples.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 55b
- Paragraph text
- [States that have not yet done so are encouraged to ratify or accede to:] The Convention on the Rights of the Child;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 55c
- Paragraph text
- [States that have not yet done so are encouraged to ratify or accede to:] The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children child prostitution and child pornography;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 55d
- Paragraph text
- [States that have not yet done so are encouraged to ratify or accede to:] The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 55e
- Paragraph text
- [States that have not yet done so are encouraged to ratify or accede to:] The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 55b
- Paragraph text
- [States that have not yet done so are encouraged to ratify or accede to:] The Convention on the Rights of the Child;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 31c
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following protective measures:] Address factors that heighten the risk to women of exposure to serious forms of gender-based violence, such as the ready accessibility and availability of firearms, including their export, a high crime rate and pervasive impunity, which may increase in situations of armed conflict or heightened insecurity. Efforts should be undertaken to control the availability and accessibility of acid and other substances used to attack women;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- In addition, under international standards, business entities are expected to respect Covenant rights regardless of whether domestic laws exist or are fully enforced in practice. The present general comment therefore also seeks to assist the corporate sector in discharging their human rights obligations and assuming their responsibilities, thus mitigating any reputational risks that may be associated with violations of Covenant rights within their sphere of influence.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- The present general comment could also assist workers’ organizations and employers in the context of collective bargaining. A large number of States parties require workplace procedures for the examination of grievances brought by workers, individually or collectively, without threat of reprisal. Social dialogue and the availability of grievance mechanisms for workers could be more systematically relied upon, particularly for the implementation of articles 6 and 7 of the Covenant.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 5a
- Paragraph text
- [The present joint general comment builds on the increasing attention that both Committees have given to the rights of children in the context of international migration through a number of initiatives, including:] Committee on the Rights of the Child general comment No. 6 (2005) on treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of origin, which includes a set of recommendations specifically for those migrant children outside their country of origin who are unaccompanied and separated;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 32e
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees stress that States parties should:] Develop procedures and define criteria to provide guidance to all relevant persons involved with migration procedures on determining the best interests of the child and on giving them due weight as a primary consideration, including in entry, residence, resettlement and return procedures, and develop mechanisms aimed at monitoring its proper implementation in practice;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 32h
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees stress that States parties should:] Conduct a best-interests determination in cases that could lead to the expulsion of migrant families due to their migration status, in order to evaluate the impact of deportation on children’s rights and development, including their mental health;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 5d
- Paragraph text
- [The present joint general comment builds on the increasing attention that both Committees have given to the rights of children in the context of international migration through a number of initiatives, including:] The increasing number of recommendations made by both Committees in recent years to States parties to their respective Conventions on a variety of human rights issues that affect children’s rights in the context of international migration.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- The objective of the present joint general comment is to provide authoritative guidance on legislative, policy and other appropriate measures that should be taken to ensure full compliance with the obligations under the Conventions to fully protect the rights of children in the context of international migration.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child underscores the importance of children’s participation, providing for children to express their views freely and to have those views taken into account with due weight, according to age, maturity and the evolving capacity of the child.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- States parties should take all appropriate measures aimed at ensuring children’s right to be heard in the immigration procedures concerning their parents, in particular where the decision could affect the children’s rights, such as the right to not be separated from their parents, except when such separation is in their best interests (see art. 9 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child).
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 32c
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees stress that States parties should:] Ensure that the principle of the best interests of the child is appropriately integrated, consistently interpreted and applied through robust, individualized procedures in all legislative, administrative and judicial proceedings and decisions, and in all migration policies and programmes that are relevant to and have an impact on children, including consular protection policies and services. Adequate resources should be put in place in order to ensure this principle is applied in practice;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- States parties should adopt measures directed at facilitating the participation of all children in the context of international migration in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies that could directly or indirectly affect them, as individuals or a group, including in the fields of social policies and social services. Initiatives should be taken to prepare girls and transgender children to participate actively, effectively and equally with boys at all levels of social, economic, political and cultural leadership. In countries of origin, the participation of children is paramount in developing policies on and in processes aimed at addressing drivers of the migration of children and/or their parents and developing policies in that regard. In addition, States should adopt measures aimed at empowering children affected by international migration to participate on different levels, through consultations, collaborations and child-led initiatives, and at ensuring that civil society organizations, including children associations and child-led organizations, can participate effectively in policy dialogues and processes on children in the context of international migration, at the local, national, regional and international levels. Any limitations on children’s freedom of association, including through legally establishing associations, should be removed.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Article 6 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child highlights the States parties’ obligations to ensure the right of life, survival and development of the child, including the physical, mental, moral, spiritual and social dimensions of his or her development. At any point during the migratory process, a child’s right to life and survival may be at stake owing to, inter alia, violence as a result of organized crime, violence in camps, push-back or interception operations, excessive use of force of border authorities, refusal of vessels to rescue them, or extreme conditions of travel and limited access to basic services. Unaccompanied and separated children may face further vulnerabilities and can be more exposed to risks, such as gender-based, sexual and other forms of violence and trafficking for sexual or labour exploitation. Children travelling with their families often also witness and experience violence. While migration can provide opportunities to improve living conditions and escape from abuses, migration processes can pose risks, including physical harm, psychological trauma, marginalization, discrimination, xenophobia and sexual and economic exploitation, family separation, immigration raids and detention. At the same time, the obstacles children may face in gaining access to education, adequate housing, sufficient safe food and water or health services can negatively affect the physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development of migrant children and children of migrants.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- The Committees stress that a comprehensive interpretation of the Conventions should lead States parties to develop bilateral, regional and global cooperation in order to ensure the rights of all children in the context of international migration, taking into consideration the guidance developed in the present joint general comment.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- The Committees recognize the importance of coordinating efforts among countries of origin, transit, destination and return, and their roles and responsibilities in addressing the needs of children in the context of international migration and in safeguarding their rights, with the best interests of the child being a primary consideration.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- States parties should also avail themselves of technical cooperation from the international community, including from the United Nations agencies and entities and regional organizations for the implementation of migration policies in respect of children in line with the present joint general comment.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 17i
- Paragraph text
- [More specifically, and in particular in the context of best interest assessments and within best interest determination procedures, children should be guaranteed the right to:] For unaccompanied and separated children, have appointed a competent guardian, as expeditiously as possible, who serves as a key procedural safeguard to ensure respect for their best interests;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 17j
- Paragraph text
- [More specifically, and in particular in the context of best interest assessments and within best interest determination procedures, children should be guaranteed the right to:] Be fully informed throughout the entire procedure, together with their guardian and legal adviser, including information on their rights and all relevant information that could affect them.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- The Committees reaffirm the need to address international migration through international, regional or bilateral cooperation and dialogue and through a comprehensive and balanced approach, recognizing the roles and responsibilities of countries of origin, transit, destination and return in promoting and protecting the human rights of children in the context of international migration, so as to ensure safe, orderly and regular migration, with full respect for human rights and avoiding approaches that might aggravate their vulnerability. In particular, cross-border case management procedures should be established in an expeditious manner in conformity with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol thereto and the 1996 Hague Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Cooperation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children. In addition, cooperation could include initiatives aimed at strengthening financial and technical assistance as well as resettlement programmes to countries which host a large number of displaced persons, including children, from other countries and are in need of assistance. All practices should be fully in line with international human rights and refugee law obligations.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Should a child’s identity documents have been procured irregularly on his or her behalf and the child requests the restoration of his or her identity documents, States parties are encouraged to adopt flexible measures in the best interests of the child, specifically by issuing corrected documents and avoiding prosecution where falsification has been committed.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- The present joint general comment should be read in conjunction with other relevant general comments issued by the Committees; building upon those general comments and the evolving challenges children face in the context of international migration, it should also be read as authoritative guidance from the Committees as regards the rights of children in the context of international migration.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- The Committees acknowledge that a child’s physical and mental health can be affected by a variety of factors, including structural determinants such as poverty, unemployment, migration and population displacements, violence, discrimination and marginalization. The Committees are aware that migrant and refugee children may experience severe emotional distress and may have particular and often urgent mental health needs. Children should therefore have access to specific care and psychological support, recognizing that children experience stress differently from adults.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Movement
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 31a (iv)
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following protective measures:] Adopt and implement effective measures to protect and assist women complainants of and witnesses to gender-based violence before, during and after legal proceedings, including by: Providing women in institutions, including residential care homes, asylum centres and places of deprivation of liberty, with protective and support measures in relation to gender-based violence;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- The extraterritorial obligation to protect requires States parties to take steps to prevent and redress infringements of Covenant rights that occur outside their territories due to the activities of business entities over which they can exercise control, especially in cases where the remedies available to victims before the domestic courts of the State where the harm occurs are unavailable or ineffective.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- 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. 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
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 30e (i)
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following preventive measures:] Provide mandatory, recurrent and effective capacity-building, education and training for members of the judiciary, lawyers and law enforcement officers, including forensic medical personnel, legislators and health-care professionals, including in the area of sexual and reproductive health, in particular sexually transmitted infections and HIV prevention and treatment services, and all education, social and welfare personnel, including those working with women in institutions, such as residential care homes, asylum centres and prisons, to equip them to adequately prevent and address gender-based violence against women. Such education and training should promote understanding of the following: How gender stereotypes and bias lead to gender-based violence against women and inadequate responses to it;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 30f
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following preventive measures:] Encourage, through the use of incentives and corporate responsibility models and other mechanisms, the engagement of the private sector, including businesses and transnational corporations, in efforts to eradicate all forms of gender-based violence against women and in enhancing its responsibility for such violence in the scope of its action, which should entail protocols and procedures addressing all forms of gender-based violence that may occur in the workplace or affect women workers, including effective and accessible internal complaints procedures, the use of which should not exclude recourse to law enforcement authorities, and should also address workplace entitlements for victims/survivors.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 31a (iii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following protective measures:] Adopt and implement effective measures to protect and assist women complainants of and witnesses to gender-based violence before, during and after legal proceedings, including by: Ensuring access to financial assistance, gratis or low-cost, high-quality legal aid, medical, psychosocial and counselling services, education, affordable housing, land, childcare, training and employment opportunities for women who are victims/survivors and their family members. Health-care services should be responsive to trauma and include timely and comprehensive mental, sexual and reproductive health services, including emergency contraception and post-exposure prophylaxis against HIV. States should provide specialized women’s support services, such as gratis helplines operating around the clock and sufficient numbers of safe and adequately equipped crisis, support and referral centres and adequate shelters for women, their children and other family members, as required;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Women
- 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. 34
- Paragraph text
- Under article 4, States parties shall undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the Convention. This applies to every child without discrimination, paying special attention to the most disadvantaged groups — which clearly includes children in street situations. A minimum core obligation is incumbent upon every State to ensure the satisfaction of, at the very least, minimum essential levels of each of the social, economic and cultural rights. States should ensure that this applies to children in street situations. Lack of available resources is not a valid argument per se for States to not comply with this core obligation. As the Committee has already stated, the immediate and minimum core obligations imposed by children’s rights shall not be compromised by any retrogressive measures, even in times of economic crisis. States should ensure that children in street situations are not affected by regressive measures in times of economic crisis.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- In accordance with article 15 (2), policing or other measures relating to public order are only permissible where such measures are taken on the basis of the law, entail individual rather than collective assessment, comply with the principle of proportionality and represent the least intrusive option. Such measures should not be applied on a group or collective basis. This means that harassment, violence, round-ups and street sweeps of children in street situations, including in the context of major political, public or sporting events, or other interventions that restrict or interfere with their rights to association and peaceful assembly, contravene article 15 (2). Not recognizing legally constituted working children’s unions and organizations led by children in street situations, and/or requiring licences for organizations to which children in street situations do not have reasonable access, constitute discrimination against them and are not in compliance with article 15 (2).
- 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
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- States should not harass or arbitrarily remove children in street situations from where they associate and peacefully assemble in public spaces. Sanctions should be imposed on those who violate this right. Specialized training is required to build the capacity of police and security forces to deal with public order situations in a way that upholds respect for the rights of children in street situations. Local government by-laws should be reviewed to ensure compliance with article 15 (2). States should support positive measures, such as: empowering children in street situations through child rights education and the development of life skills; preparing stakeholders to accept the views of these children in decision-making as expressed through association and assembly; and promoting the participation of these children in recreation, leisure, sports, artistic and cultural activities alongside other children in the community. Legislation should not require children in street situations’ associations or peaceful assemblies to be formally registered to incur protection under article 15.
- 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
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Because of how corporate groups are organized, business entities routinely escape liability by hiding behind the so-called corporate veil, as the parent company seeks to avoid liability for the acts of the subsidiary even when it would have been in a position to influence its conduct. Other barriers to effective access to remedies for victims of human rights violations by business entities include the difficulty of accessing information and evidence to substantiate claims, much of which is often in the hands of the corporate defendant; the unavailability of collective redress mechanisms where violations are widespread and diffuse; and the lack of legal aid and other funding arrangements to make claims financially viable.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- By virtue of their complementary mandates and shared commitment to strengthening protection of all children in the context of international migration, both Committees decided to develop these joint general comments. While the present comment is based on the provisions of both Conventions, it is important to underline that the human rights norms clarified herein are built on the provisions and principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Therefore, the authoritative guidance contained in the present joint general comment is equally applicable to all States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and/or the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 6b
- Paragraph text
- [The present joint general comment also builds on other United Nations resolutions and reports, various outputs of the United Nations human rights mechanisms and United Nations, intergovernmental and civil society initiatives relating to children in the context of international migration, including:] The New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, in which the Heads of State and Government undertook to protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all refugee and migrant children, regardless of their status, and giving primary consideration at all times to the best interests of the child, and to comply with their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- The Committees acknowledge that the phenomenon of international migration affects all regions of the world and all societies and, increasingly, millions of children. While migration can bring positive outcomes to individuals, families and broader communities in countries of origin, transit, destination and return, the drivers of migration, in particular unsafe and/or irregular migration, are often directly related to violations of human rights, including the rights of the child as recognized in several human rights treaties, in particular the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- The obligations of States parties under the Conventions apply to each child within their jurisdictions, including the jurisdiction arising from a State exercising effective control outside its borders. Those obligations cannot be arbitrarily and unilaterally curtailed either by excluding zones or areas from the territory of a State or by defining particular zones or areas as not or only partly under the jurisdiction of the State, including in international waters or other transit zones where States put in place migration control mechanisms. The obligations apply within the borders of the State, including with respect to those children who come under its jurisdiction while attempting to enter its territory.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- The Committees are of the view that addressing only de jure discrimination will not necessarily ensure de facto equality. Therefore, States parties shall fulfil the rights under the Conventions for children in the context of international migration by adopting positive measures to prevent, diminish and eliminate the conditions and attitudes that cause or perpetuate de facto discrimination against them. They should systematically record incidences of discrimination against children and/or their families in the context of international migration, and investigate and sanction such conduct appropriately and effectively.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- States parties should respect non-refoulement obligations deriving from international human rights, humanitarian, refugee and customary international law. The Committees highlight that the principle of non-refoulement has been interpreted by international human rights bodies, regional human rights courts and national courts to be an implicit guarantee flowing from the obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. It prohibits States from removing individuals, regardless of migration, nationality, asylum or other status, from their jurisdiction when they would be at risk of irreparable harm upon return, including persecution, torture, gross violations of human rights or other irreparable harm.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- The Committees recall that article 22 (1) of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and other international and regional human rights instruments forbid collective expulsions and require that each case that could eventually become an expulsion be examined and decided individually, ensuring the effective fulfilment of all the due process guarantees and the right to access to justice. States parties should adopt all measures necessary in order to prevent collective expulsions of migrant children and families.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Children that remain in their countries of origin may end up migrating irregularly and unsafely, seeking to be reunited with their parents and/or older siblings in destination countries. States should develop effective and accessible family reunification procedures that allow children to migrate in a regular manner, including children remaining in countries of origin who may migrate irregularly. States are encouraged to develop policies that enable migrants to regularly be accompanied by their families in order to avoid separation. Procedures should seek to facilitate family life and ensure that any restrictions are legitimate, necessary and proportionate. While this duty is primarily for receiving and transit countries, States of origin should also take measures to facilitate family reunification.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- The Committees are also aware that restrictive migration or asylum policies, including criminalization of irregular migration, the absence of sufficient safe, orderly, accessible and affordable regular migration channels or lack of adequate child protection systems, render migrant and asylum-seeking children, including unaccompanied or separated children, particularly vulnerable to suffering violence and abuse during their migration journey and in the countries of destination.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, States should take the following actions to ensure the full and effective protection of migrant children from all forms of violence and abuse: - Take effective measures to ensure that they are protected from any form of slavery and commercial sexual exploitation and from being used for illicit activities or from any work that would jeopardize their health, safety or morals, including by becoming party to relevant conventions of the International Labour Organization - Take effective measures to protect them from all forms of violence and abuse, regardless of their migration status - Recognize and address the gender-specific vulnerable situations of girls and boys and children with disabilities as potential victims of trafficking for sexual, labour and all other forms of exploitation - Ensure comprehensive protection, support services and access to effective redress mechanisms, including psychosocial assistance and information about those remedies, for migrant children and their families reporting cases of violence, abuse or exploitation to police or other relevant authorities, regardless of their migration status; children and parents must be able to safely report to police or other authorities as victims or witnesses without any risk of immigration enforcement as a result - Recognize the important role that can be played by community services and civil society organizations in regard to the protection of migrant children - Develop comprehensive policies aimed at addressing the root causes of all forms of violence, exploitation and abuse against migrant children, including adequate resources for their proper implementation
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- With due respect to international labour standards related to the minimum age for admission to employment and the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, not all work carried out by migrant children who are above legal working age is exploitative or undertaken in hazardous conditions. The Committees remind States that migrant children above working age, irrespective of their status, should enjoy equal treatment to that of national children in respect of remuneration, other conditions of work and terms of employment.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- The Committees are also aware that restrictive migration or asylum policies, including criminalization of irregular migration, the absence of sufficient safe, orderly, accessible and affordable regular migration channels or lack of adequate child protection systems, render migrant and asylum-seeking children, including unaccompanied or separated children, particularly vulnerable to suffering violence and abuse during their migration journey and in the countries of destination.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- Immigration detention is understood by the Committees as any setting in which a child is deprived of his/her liberty for reasons related to his/her, or his/her parents’, migration status, regardless of the name and reason given to the action of depriving a child of his or her liberty, or the name of the facility or location where the child is deprived of liberty. “Reasons related to migration status” is understood by the Committees to be a person’s migratory or residence status, or the lack thereof, whether relating to irregular entry or stay or not, consistent with the Committees’ previous guidance.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- The Committees are concerned about cases where children are separated from parents and placed in alternative care by child protection systems when there are no concerns related to parental abuse and neglect. Financial and material poverty, or conditions directly and uniquely attributable to such poverty, should never be the sole justification for removing a child from parental care, for receiving a child into alternative care or for preventing a child’s social reintegration. In this regard, States should provide appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities, including by providing social benefits and child allowances and other social support services regardless of the migration status of the parents or the child.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- The Committees are also of the opinion that based on article 18 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a comprehensive approach to the child’s right to a family environment in the context of migration should contemplate measures directed at enabling parents to fulfil their duties with regard to child development. Considering that irregular migration status of children and/or their parents may obstruct such goals, States should make available regular and non-discriminatory migration channels, as well as provide permanent and accessible mechanisms for children and their families to access long-term regular migration status or residency permits based on grounds such as family unity, labour relations, social integration and others.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- The Committees acknowledge that the lack of regular and safe channels for children and families to migrate contribute to children taking life-threatening and extremely dangerous migration journeys. The same is true for border control and surveillance measures that focus on repression rather than facilitating, regulating and governing mobility, including detention and deportation practices, lack of timely family reunification opportunities and lack of avenues for regularization.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- The Committees underline the interrelation between articles 2, 6 and 27 (1) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; States parties should ensure that children in the context of international migration, regardless of their status or that of their parents, have a standard of living adequate for their physical, mental, spiritual and moral development.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- The Committees acknowledge that the lack of regular and safe channels for children and families to migrate contribute to children taking life-threatening and extremely dangerous migration journeys. The same is true for border control and surveillance measures that focus on repression rather than facilitating, regulating and governing mobility, including detention and deportation practices, lack of timely family reunification opportunities and lack of avenues for regularization.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- The Committees underline the interrelation between articles 2, 6 and 27 (1) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; States parties should ensure that children in the context of international migration, regardless of their status or that of their parents, have a standard of living adequate for their physical, mental, spiritual and moral development.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- States parties should develop policies aimed at fulfilling the rights of all children in the context of international migration, in particular regarding migration management objectives or other administrative or political considerations.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 32a
- Paragraph text
- Give high priority to the child’s best interests in their legislation, policy and practice;
- 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
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 32b
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees stress that States parties should:] Give high priority to the child’s best interests in their legislation, policy and practice;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 55d
- Paragraph text
- [States that have not yet done so are encouraged to ratify or accede to:] The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 55e
- Paragraph text
- [States that have not yet done so are encouraged to ratify or accede to:] The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- Despite those advances, gender-based violence against women, whether committed by States, intergovernmental organizations or non-State actors, including private persons and armed groups, remains pervasive in all countries, with high levels of impunity. It manifests itself on a continuum of multiple, interrelated and recurring forms, in a range of settings, from private to public, including technology-mediated settings and in the contemporary globalized world it transcends national boundaries.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- The Committee considers that gender-based violence against women is one of the fundamental social, political and economic means by which the subordinate position of women with respect to men and their stereotyped roles are perpetuated. Throughout its work, the Committee has made clear that such violence is a critical obstacle to the achievement of substantive equality between women and men and to the enjoyment by women of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, as enshrined in the Convention.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- The Committee endorses the view of other human rights treaty bodies and special procedures mandate holders that, in determining when acts of gender-based violence against women amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, a gender-sensitive approach is required to understand the level of pain and suffering experienced by women, and that the purpose and intent requirements for classifying such acts as torture are satisfied when acts or omissions are gender-specific or perpetrated against a person on the basis of sex.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- The Committee regards gender-based violence against women as being rooted in gender-related factors, such as the ideology of men’s entitlement and privilege over women, social norms regarding masculinity, and the need to assert male control or power, enforce gender roles or prevent, discourage or punish what is considered to be unacceptable female behaviour. Those factors also contribute to the explicit or implicit social acceptance of gender-based violence against women, often still considered a private matter, and to the widespread impunity in that regard.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Effective access to justice for indigenous peoples may require States parties to recognize the customary laws, traditions and practices of indigenous peoples and customary ownership over their lands and natural resources in judicial proceedings. States parties should also ensure the use of indigenous languages and/or interpreters in courts and the availability of legal services and information on remedies in indigenous languages, as well as providing training to court officials on indigenous history, legal traditions and customs.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- While they generally should not be seen as a substitute for judicial mechanisms (which often remain indispensable for effective protection against certain violations of Covenant rights), non-judicial remedies may contribute to providing effective remedy to victims whose Covenant rights have been violated by business actors and ensuring accountability for such violations. These alternative mechanisms should be adequately coordinated with available judicial mechanisms, both in relation to the sanction and to the compensation for victims.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- The present joint general comment should be read in conjunction with other relevant general comments issued by the Committees; building upon those general comments and the evolving challenges children face in the context of international migration, it should also be read as authoritative guidance from the Committees as regards the rights of children in the context of international migration.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- States should ensure that children in the context of international migration are treated first and foremost as children. States parties to the Conventions have a duty to comply with their obligations set out therein to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of children in the context of international migration, regardless of their or their parents’ or legal guardians’ migration status.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- States parties should conduct a robust gender analysis of the specific impacts of migration policies and programmes on children of all genders. States parties should review and amend any gender-discriminatory restrictions on migration in law or practice that limit opportunities for girls or that do not recognize their capacity and autonomy to make their own decisions.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- In particular, the best interests of the child should be ensured explicitly through individual procedures as an integral part of any administrative or judicial decision concerning the entry, residence or return of a child, placement or care of a child, or the detention or expulsion of a parent associated with his or her own migration status.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 17b
- Paragraph text
- [More specifically, and in particular in the context of best interest assessments and within best interest determination procedures, children should be guaranteed the right to:] Be notified of the existence of a proceeding and of the decision adopted in the context of the immigration and asylum proceedings, its implications and possibilities for appeal;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 17c
- Paragraph text
- [More specifically, and in particular in the context of best interest assessments and within best interest determination procedures, children should be guaranteed the right to:] Have the immigration proceedings conducted by a specialized official or judge, and any interviews carried out in person by professionals trained in communicating with children;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 17d
- Paragraph text
- [More specifically, and in particular in the context of best interest assessments and within best interest determination procedures, children should be guaranteed the right to:] Be heard and take part in all stages of the proceedings and be assisted without charge by a translator and/or interpreter;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 17e
- Paragraph text
- [More specifically, and in particular in the context of best interest assessments and within best interest determination procedures, children should be guaranteed the right to:] Have effective access to communication with consular officials and consular assistance, and to receive child-sensitive rights-based consular protection;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 17f
- Paragraph text
- [More specifically, and in particular in the context of best interest assessments and within best interest determination procedures, children should be guaranteed the right to:] Be assisted by an attorney trained and/or experienced in representing children at all stages of the proceedings and communicate freely with the representative, and have access to free legal aid;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- The Committees acknowledge that a child’s physical and mental health can be affected by a variety of factors, including structural determinants such as poverty, unemployment, migration and population displacements, violence, discrimination and marginalization. The Committees are aware that migrant and refugee children may experience severe emotional distress and may have particular and often urgent mental health needs. Children should therefore have access to specific care and psychological support, recognizing that children experience stress differently from adults.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Movement
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Discrimination can often exacerbate insufficient financial and legal protection, and may force migrant children to postpone treatment until they are seriously ill. Attention should be paid to resolving the issues surrounding complicated health services that require prompt and extensive responses, in which discriminatory approaches may severely affect the health of migrant children and significantly delay their treatment and recovery period. The commitment of health professionals should be first to their patients and to upholding children’s health as a human right.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- Restrictions on adult migrants’ right to health on the basis of their nationality or migration status could also affect their children’s right to health, life and development. Therefore, a comprehensive approach to children’s rights should include measures directed at ensuring the right to health to all migrant workers and their families, regardless of their migration status, as well as measures aimed at ensuring an intercultural approach to health policies, programmes and practices.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- States should put in place adequate measures to recognize the child’s former education by acknowledging previously obtained school certificates and/or issuing new certification based on the child’s capacities and capabilities, to avoid creating stigmatization or penalization. This is equally applicable to countries of origin or third countries in the case of return.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- States should develop concrete measures to foster intercultural dialogue between migrant and host communities and to address and prevent xenophobia or any type of discrimination or related intolerance against migrant children. In addition, integrating human rights education, including on non-discrimination, as well as migration and migrants’ rights and children’s rights, within education curricula would contribute to preventing in xenophobic or any form of discriminatory attitudes that could affect migrants’ integration in the long term.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- The Committees recognize the negative impacts on children’s well-being of having an insecure and precarious migration status. The Committees therefore recommend that States ensure that there are clear and accessible status determination procedures for children to regularize their status on various grounds (such as length of residence).
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- In order to ensure that this comprehensive and balanced approach is consistent with the best interests of children, child protection/welfare agencies should have a key role in the development of any international, regional or bilateral agreements that affect the rights and treatment of children in the context of international migration. Bilateral, regional and international initiatives should be encouraged in order to facilitate family reunification, implement best interest assessment and determination, and guarantee children’s right to be heard and due process safeguards. Such initiatives should ensure access to justice in cross-border situations where children whose rights are affected in the country of transit or destination need it after they have returned to the country of origin or gone to a third country. In addition, States should ensure the participation of children and civil society organizations, including regional intergovernmental institutions, in these processes. States should also avail themselves of technical cooperation from the international community and United Nations agencies and entities, including the United Nations Children’s Fund and the International Organization for Migration, for the implementation of migration policies in respect of children in line with the present joint general comment.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- States should put in place adequate measures to recognize the child’s former education by acknowledging previously obtained school certificates and/or issuing new certification based on the child’s capacities and capabilities, to avoid creating stigmatization or penalization. This is equally applicable to countries of origin or third countries in the case of return.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- States should develop concrete measures to foster intercultural dialogue between migrant and host communities and to address and prevent xenophobia or any type of discrimination or related intolerance against migrant children. In addition, integrating human rights education, including on non-discrimination, as well as migration and migrants’ rights and children’s rights, within education curricula would contribute to preventing in xenophobic or any form of discriminatory attitudes that could affect migrants’ integration in the long term.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 17i
- Paragraph text
- [More specifically, and in particular in the context of best interest assessments and within best interest determination procedures, children should be guaranteed the right to:] For unaccompanied and separated children, have appointed a competent guardian, as expeditiously as possible, who serves as a key procedural safeguard to ensure respect for their best interests;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- The realities in which children in street situations live do not fit traditional definitions or conceptualizations of childhood. They have a unique relationship to public spaces compared with other children. State restrictions on article 15 in relation to public spaces may therefore have a disproportionate impact on children in street situations. States should ensure that their access to political and public space in which to associate and peacefully assemble is not denied in a discriminatory way.
- 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
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- Acknowledging those developments, and the work of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, and of the human rights treaty bodies and the special procedures mandate holders of the Human Rights Council, the Committee has decided to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of general recommendation No. 19 by providing States parties with further guidance aimed at accelerating the elimination of gender-based violence against women.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 30c
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following preventive measures:] Develop and implement effective measures to make public spaces safe for and accessible to all women and girls, including by promoting and supporting community-based measures adopted with the participation of women’s groups. Measures should include ensuring adequate physical infrastructure, including lighting, in urban and rural settings, in particular in and around schools;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 17h
- Paragraph text
- [More specifically, and in particular in the context of best interest assessments and within best interest determination procedures, children should be guaranteed the right to:] Appeal the decision to a higher court or independent authority, with suspensive effect;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- The Committees are of the view that the rupture of the family unit by the expulsion of one or both parents based on a breach of immigration laws related to entry or stay is disproportionate, as the sacrifice inherent in the restriction of family life and the impact on the life and development of the child is not outweighed by the advantages obtained by forcing the parent to leave the territory because of an immigration-related offence. Migrant children and their families should also be protected in cases where expulsions would constitute arbitrary interference with the right to family and private life. The Committees recommend that States provide avenues for status regularization for migrants in an irregular situation residing with their children, particularly when a child has been born or has lived in the country of destination for an extended period of time, or when return to the parent’s country of origin would be against the child’s best interests. Where the expulsion of parents is based on criminal offences, their children’s rights, including the right to have their best interests be a primary consideration and their right to be heard and have their views taken seriously, should be ensured, also taking into account the principle of proportionality and other human rights principles and standards.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- The obligations attached to this right are fundamental, as part of a child rights approach, to secure the holistic physical, psychological and moral integrity of children in street situations and promote their human dignity. These children have been identified as particularly vulnerable. As the Committee has already stated, the best interests of a child in a specific situation of vulnerability will not be the same as those of all the children in the same vulnerable situation. Authorities and decision makers need to take into account the different kinds and degrees of vulnerability of each child, as each child is unique and each situation must be assessed according to the child’s uniqueness. In this context, “vulnerability” should be considered in conjunction with the resilience and self-reliance of individual 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
- 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. 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. 30
- Paragraph text
- The Committee has already highlighted that growing up in conditions of absolute poverty threatens children’s survival and their health and undermines their basic quality of life.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- In accordance with article 27 (3), States should ensure that all children have a standard of living adequate for their physical, mental, spiritual and moral development, to prevent them ending up in street situations and to fulfil the rights of children already in street situations. States shall take appropriate measures to assist parents and others responsible for the child to implement this right and shall in case of need provide material assistance and support programmes, particularly with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing. Those prescriptions leave no leeway for the discretion of States. The implementation of the above in accordance with national conditions and within the means of States parties should be interpreted in conjunction with article 4, that is, to the maximum extent of States parties’ available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international cooperation, with particular regard to the obligations of States to fulfil the minimum core obligation for social, economic and cultural rights. In terms of material assistance, children in street situations prioritize the need for a safe place to live, food and free and accessible medical care and education, through State support to parents and caregivers, particularly in relation to subsidized, adequate housing and income generation. The interpretation of article 27 (3) is not limited to measures to assist parents and others responsible for the child. The obligation to provide material assistance and support programmes in case of need should be interpreted as also meaning assistance provided directly to children. This is particularly relevant for children in street situations with non-existent or abusive family connections. Direct material assistance to children in the form of services may be provided either by the State or via State support to civil society organizations. For single-parent and reconstructed families, States’ measures to secure maintenance for the child are particularly important (see article 27 (4)).
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- The right to housing is an important component of article 27 that is particularly relevant for children in street situations. It has been interpreted broadly by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as the right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity, which clarifies that the concept of “adequacy” in relation to housing requires attention to: legal security of tenure; availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure; affordability; habitability; accessibility; location; and cultural adequacy. Children are among those who suffer disproportionately from the practice of forced eviction. Forced evictions, including through demolition of informal or illegal housing, can make life more precarious for children, forcing them to sleep on the streets and exposing them to further rights violations. A predominant theme of consultations with children in street situations is the inadequacy and inappropriateness of some State-run “shelters”, and their high levels of violence and insecurity, such that children prefer to be on the streets.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- States should take measures to address the structural causes of poverty and income inequalities to reduce pressure on and strengthen precarious families, as a means of offering better protection for children and reducing the likelihood of children ending up in street situations. Such measures include: introducing tax and expenditure policies that reduce economic inequalities; expanding fair-wage employment and other opportunities for income generation; introducing pro-poor policies for rural and urban development; eliminating corruption; introducing child-focused policies and budgeting; strengthening child-centred poverty alleviation programmes in areas known for high levels of migration; and offering adequate social security and social protection. Specific examples include child benefit programmes used in European and North American countries, and cash transfer programmes introduced in Latin American countries and widely applied in Asian and African countries. States should make efforts so that such programmes reach the most marginalized families who may not have bank accounts. Material support should be made available to parents and caregivers and also directly to children in street situations, and such mechanisms and services should be designed and implemented on the basis of a child rights approach. With regard to housing, security of tenure is essential for preventing children from coming into street situations. This includes access to adequate housing that is safe, with access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene facilities. Children, including those living in informal or illegal housing, should not be subject to forced evictions prior to the provision of adequate alternative accommodation: States are required to make appropriate provisions for affected children. Child and human rights impact assessments should be a prerequisite for development and infrastructure projects to minimize the negative impacts of displacement.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Gender-based violence against women occurs in all spaces and spheres of human interaction, whether public or private, including in the contexts of the family, the community, public spaces, the workplace, leisure, politics, sport, health services and educational settings, and the redefinition of public and private through technology-mediated environments, such as contemporary forms of violence occurring online and in other digital environments. In all those settings, gender-based violence against women can result from acts or omissions of State or non-State actors, acting territorially or extraterritorially, including extraterritorial military actions of States, individually or as members of international or intergovernmental organizations or coalitions, or extraterritorial operations of private corporations.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- Gender-based violence against women constitutes discrimination against women under article 1 and therefore engages all obligations under the Convention. Article 2 provides that the overarching obligation of States parties is to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women, including gender-based violence against women. That is an obligation of an immediate nature; delays cannot be justified on any grounds, including economic, cultural or religious grounds. In general recommendation No. 19, it is indicated that, with regard to gender-based violence against women, the obligation comprises two aspects of State responsibility for such violence, that which results from the acts or omissions of both the State party or its actors, on the one hand, and non-State actors, on the other.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Under the Convention and general international law, a State party is responsible for acts or omissions of its organs and agents that constitute gender-based violence against women, which include the acts or omissions of officials in its executive, legislative and judicial branches. Article 2 (d) of the Convention provides that States parties, and their organs and agents, are to refrain from engaging in any act or practice of direct or indirect discrimination against women and ensure that public authorities and institutions act in conformity with that obligation. Besides ensuring that laws, policies, programmes and procedures do not discriminate against women, in accordance with articles 2 (c) and (g), States parties must have an effective and accessible legal and legal services framework in place to address all forms of gender-based violence against women committed by State agents, whether on their territory or extraterritorially.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- States parties are responsible for preventing such acts or omissions by their own organs and agents, including through training and the adoption, implementation and monitoring of legal provisions, administrative regulations and codes of conduct, and for investigating, prosecuting and applying appropriate legal or disciplinary sanctions, as well as providing reparation, in all cases of gender-based violence against women, including those constituting international crimes, and in cases of failure, negligence or omission on the part of public authorities. In so doing, the diversity of women and the risks of intersecting forms of discrimination should be taken into consideration.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 24a
- Paragraph text
- [Under general international law, as well as under international treaties, acts or omissions of a private actor may engage the international responsibility of the State in certain cases, which include the following:] [Acts or omissions by non-State actors attributable to the State] The acts or omissions of private actors empowered by the law of that State to exercise elements of governmental authority, including private bodies providing public services, such as health care or education, or operating places of detention, are considered acts attributable to the State itself, as are the acts or omissions of private agents acting on the instruction or under the direction or control of that State, including when operating abroad;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 24b
- Paragraph text
- [Under general international law, as well as under international treaties, acts or omissions of a private actor may engage the international responsibility of the State in certain cases, which include the following:] [Acts or omissions by non-State actors attributable to the State] Article 2 (e) of the Convention explicitly provides that States parties are to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women by any person, organization or enterprise. That obligation, frequently referred to as an obligation of due diligence, underpins the Convention as a whole and accordingly States parties will be held responsible should they fail to take all appropriate measures to prevent, as well as to investigate, prosecute, punish and provide reparations for, acts or omissions by non-State actors that result in gender-based violence against women, including actions taken by corporations operating extraterritorially. In particular, States parties are required to take the steps necessary to prevent human rights violations perpetrated abroad by corporations over which they may exercise influence, whether through regulatory means or the use of incentives, including economic incentives. Under the obligation of due diligence, States parties must adopt and implement diverse measures to tackle gender-based violence against women committed by non-State actors, including having laws, institutions and a system in place to address such violence and ensuring that they function effectively in practice and are supported by all State agents and bodies who diligently enforce the laws. The failure of a State party to take all appropriate measures to prevent acts of gender-based violence against women in cases in which its authorities are aware or should be aware of the risk of such violence, or the failure to investigate, to prosecute and punish perpetrators and to provide reparations to victims/survivors of such acts, provides tacit permission or encouragement to perpetrate acts of gender-based violence against women. Such failures or omissions constitute human rights violations.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The present general comment addresses the States parties to the Covenant, and in that context it only deals with the conduct of private actors — including business entities — indirectly. In accordance with international law, however, States parties may be held directly responsible for the action or inaction of business entities: (a) if the entity concerned is in fact acting on that State party’s instructions or is under its control or direction in carrying out the particular conduct at issue, as may be the case in the context of public contracts; (b) when a business entity is empowered under the State party’s legislation to exercise elements of governmental authority or if the circumstances call for such exercise of governmental functions in the absence or default of the official authorities; or (c) if and to the extent that the State party acknowledges and adopts the conduct as its own.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- The obligation to respect economic, social and cultural rights is violated when States parties prioritize the interests of business entities over Covenant rights without adequate justification, or when they pursue policies that negatively affect such rights. This may occur for instance when forced evictions are ordered in the context of investment projects. Indigenous peoples’ cultural values and rights associated with their ancestral lands are particularly at risk. States parties and businesses should respect the principle of free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples in relation to all matters that could affect their rights, including their lands, territories and resources that they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- States parties should consider imposing criminal or administrative sanctions and penalties, as appropriate, where business activities result in abuses of Covenant rights or where a failure to act with due diligence to mitigate risks allows such infringements to occur; enable civil suits and other effective means of claiming reparations by victims of rights violations against corporate perpetrators, in particular by lowering the costs to victims and by allowing forms of collective redress; revoke business licences and subsidies, if and to the extent necessary, from offenders; and revise relevant tax codes, public procurement contracts, export credits and other forms of State support, privileges and advantages in case of human rights violations, thus aligning business incentives with human rights responsibilities. States parties should regularly review the adequacy of laws and identify and address compliance and information gaps, as well as emerging problems.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- The obligation to protect entails a positive duty to adopt a legal framework requiring business entities to exercise human rights due diligence in order to identify, prevent and mitigate the risks of violations of Covenant rights, to avoid such rights being abused, and to account for the negative impacts caused or contributed to by their decisions and operations and those of entities they control on the enjoyment of Covenant rights. States should adopt measures such as imposing due diligence requirements to prevent abuses of Covenant rights in a business entity’s supply chain and by subcontractors, suppliers, franchisees, or other business partners.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Improved international cooperation should reduce the risks of positive and negative conflicts of jurisdiction, which may result in legal uncertainty and in forum-shopping by litigants, or in an inability for victims to obtain redress. The Committee welcomes, in this regard, any efforts at the adoption of international instruments that could strengthen the duty of States to cooperate in order to improve accountability and access to remedies for victims of violations of Covenant rights in transnational cases. Inspiration can be found in instruments such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, in force since 2013, which establishes a system of harmonized national legislation and inspections both by flag States and by port States upon complaints of seafarers on board ship when the ship comes into a foreign port; or in the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189) and the ILO Domestic Workers Recommendation, 2011 (No. 201).
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- 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. 42
- Paragraph text
- The right of children in street situations to have access to, seek and impart information about their rights is crucial if those rights are to be understood and realized in practice. Context-specific, accessible child rights education will help to overcome barriers to participation so their voices can be heard. Children in street situations need to have access through accessible and appropriate channels to accurate, high-quality and child-friendly information relating to: (a) the role and accountability of the State, and complaints mechanisms for redress in relation to human rights violations; (b) protection from violence; (c) sexual and reproductive health, including family planning and prevention of sexually transmitted infections; (d) healthy lifestyles, including diet and physical activity; (e) safe and respectful social and sexual behaviours; (f) prevention of accidents; and (g) the negative impacts of abuse of alcohol, tobacco, drugs and other harmful substances.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- States parties shall ensure that the best interests of the child are taken fully into consideration in immigration law, planning, implementation and assessment of migration policies and decision-making on individual cases, including in granting or refusing applications on entry to or residence in a country, decisions regarding migration enforcement and restrictions on access to social rights by children and/or their parents or legal guardians, and decisions regarding family unity and child custody, where the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration and thus have high priority.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 32d
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees stress that States parties should:] Ensure that all best-interests assessments and determinations developed and conducted give appropriate weight to fulfilling the rights of the child — in the short and long terms — in the decision-making processes affecting children; and ensure due process safeguards are established, including the right to free, qualified and independent legal representation. The best-interests assessment should be carried out by actors independent of the migration authorities in a multidisciplinary way, including a meaningful participation of authorities responsible for child protection and welfare and other relevant actors, such as parents, guardians and legal representatives, as well as the child;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 32f
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees stress that States parties should:] Assess and determine the best interests of the child at the different stages of migration and asylum procedures that could result in the detention or deportation of the parents due to their migration status. Best-interests determination procedures should be put in place in any decision that would separate children from their family, and the same standards applied in child custody, when the best interests of the child should be a primary consideration. In adoption cases, the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- In addition, both the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families have emphasized that children should not be criminalized or subject to punitive measures, such as detention, because of their or their parents’ migration status. Irregular entry and stay do not constitute crimes per se against persons, property or national security. Criminalizing irregular entry and stay exceeds the legitimate interest of States parties to control and regulate migration, and leads to arbitrary detention.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- States parties should respect non-refoulement obligations deriving from international human rights, humanitarian, refugee and customary international law. The Committees highlight that the principle of non-refoulement has been interpreted by international human rights bodies, regional human rights courts and national courts to be an implicit guarantee flowing from the obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. It prohibits States from removing individuals, regardless of migration, nationality, asylum or other status, from their jurisdiction when they would be at risk of irreparable harm upon return, including persecution, torture, gross violations of human rights or other irreparable harm.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- The Committees recall that article 22 (1) of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and other international and regional human rights instruments forbid collective expulsions and require that each case that could eventually become an expulsion be examined and decided individually, ensuring the effective fulfilment of all the due process guarantees and the right to access to justice. States parties should adopt all measures necessary in order to prevent collective expulsions of migrant children and families.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- The Committees reaffirm that, in all international, regional or bilateral cooperation agreements on border management and migration governance, the impacts of such initiatives on children’s rights should be duly considered and adaptations made as necessary to uphold the rights of the child. The Committees are concerned by the increase in bilateral or multilateral cooperation agreements that focus on restricting migration, which have demonstrably negative impacts on children’s rights, and instead urge cooperation that facilitates safe, orderly and regular migration with full respect for human rights.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- The right to family unity for migrants may intersect with States’ legitimate interests in making decisions on the entry or stay of non-nationals in their territory. However, children in the context of international migration and families should not be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with their privacy and family life. Separating a family by deporting or removing a family member from a State party’s territory, or otherwise refusing to allow a family member to enter or remain in the territory, may amount to arbitrary or unlawful interference with family life.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- The Committees are concerned about cases where children are separated from parents and placed in alternative care by child protection systems when there are no concerns related to parental abuse and neglect. Financial and material poverty, or conditions directly and uniquely attributable to such poverty, should never be the sole justification for removing a child from parental care, for receiving a child into alternative care or for preventing a child’s social reintegration. In this regard, States should provide appropriate assistance to parents and legal guardians in the performance of their child-rearing responsibilities, including by providing social benefits and child allowances and other social support services regardless of the migration status of the parents or the child.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- The Committees are also of the opinion that based on article 18 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a comprehensive approach to the child’s right to a family environment in the context of migration should contemplate measures directed at enabling parents to fulfil their duties with regard to child development. Considering that irregular migration status of children and/or their parents may obstruct such goals, States should make available regular and non-discriminatory migration channels, as well as provide permanent and accessible mechanisms for children and their families to access long-term regular migration status or residency permits based on grounds such as family unity, labour relations, social integration and others.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Under article 10 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, States parties are to ensure that applications for family reunification are dealt with in a positive, humane and expeditious manner, including facilitating the reunification of children with their parents. When the child’s relations with his or her parents and/or sibling(s) are interrupted by migration (in both the cases of the parents without the child, or of the child without his or her parents and/or sibling(s)), preservation of the family unit should be taken into account when assessing the best interests of the child in decisions on family reunification.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- The Committees reaffirm that, in all international, regional or bilateral cooperation agreements on border management and migration governance, the impacts of such initiatives on children’s rights should be duly considered and adaptations made as necessary to uphold the rights of the child. The Committees are concerned by the increase in bilateral or multilateral cooperation agreements that focus on restricting migration, which have demonstrably negative impacts on children’s rights, and instead urge cooperation that facilitates safe, orderly and regular migration with full respect for human rights.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- States parties should disseminate widely the present joint general comment to all stakeholders, in particular parliaments, governmental authorities, including child protection and migration authorities and personnel, and the judiciary, at all national, regional and local levels. It should be made known to all children and all relevant professionals and stakeholders, including those working for and with children (i.e., judges, lawyers, police and other law enforcement entities, teachers, guardians, social workers, staff of public or private welfare institutions and shelters, and health-care providers), the media and civil society at large.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- All children in the context of international migration, irrespective of status, shall have full access to all levels and all aspects of education, including early childhood education and vocational training, on the basis of equality with nationals of the country where those children are living. This obligation implies that States should ensure equal access to quality and inclusive education for all migrant children, irrespective of their migration status. Migrant children should have access to alternative learning programmes where necessary and participate fully in examinations and receive certification of their studies.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Children should be able to bring complaints before courts, administrative tribunals or other bodies at lower levels that are easily accessible to them, e.g., in child protection and youth institutions, schools and national human rights institutions, and should be able to receive advice and representation in a child-friendly manner by professionals with specialized knowledge of children and migration issues when their rights have been violated. States should ensure standardized policies to guide authorities in offering free, quality legal advice and representation for migrant, asylum-seeking and refugee children, including equal access for unaccompanied and separated children in local authority care and undocumented children.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- The Committees are of the opinion that a comprehensive interpretation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child with articles 7 (a), 23 and 65 (2) of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families should imply the development and implementation of effective consular protection policies which include specific measures directed to protecting children’s rights, such as providing ongoing training to consular staff on the two Conventions, as well as on other human rights instruments, and promoting protocols on consular protection services.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- The Committee highlights the right to rest, play, leisure and participation in artistic and cultural activities. Children in street situations apply their own creativity to utilize the informal setting of the streets for play opportunities. States should ensure they are not excluded in a discriminatory way from parks and playgrounds, for example, in relation to dress codes, and adopt measures to assist them in developing their creativity and practising sport, including with mobile recreation and sports facilities.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- The obligation to protect means that States parties must prevent effectively infringements of economic, social and cultural rights in the context of business activities. This requires that States parties adopt legislative, administrative, educational and other appropriate measures, to ensure effective protection against Covenant rights violations linked to business activities, and that they provide victims of such corporate abuses with access to effective remedies.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- Ensuring corporate accountability for violations of Covenant rights requires reliance on various tools. The most serious violations of the Covenant should give rise to criminal liability of corporations and/or of the individuals responsible. Prosecuting authorities may have to be made aware of their role in upholding Covenant rights. Victims of violations of Covenant rights should have access to reparations where Covenant rights are at stake and whether or not criminal liability is engaged.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Building on general recommendation No. 19 and the Committee’s work since its adoption, the Committee urges States parties to strengthen the implementation of their obligations in relation to gender-based violence against women, whether within their territory or extraterritorially. The Committee reiterates its call upon States parties to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention and examine all remaining reservations to the Convention with a view to their withdrawal.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 9b
- Paragraph text
- [The objectives of the general comment are:] To provide comprehensive and authoritative guidance to States on using a holistic, child rights approach to: prevent children experiencing rights violations and the lack of choices that results in them having to depend on the streets for their survival and development; and to promote and protect the rights of children already in street situations, ensuring a continuum of care and helping them to develop to their fullest potential;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- In its general recommendation No. 19 (1992) on violence against women, adopted at its eleventh session, the Committee clarified that discrimination against women, as defined in article 1 of the Convention, included gender-based violence, that is “violence which is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately”, and that it constituted a violation of their human rights.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- When a country of destination refuses family reunification to the child and/or to his/her family, it should provide detailed information to the child, in a child-friendly and age-appropriate manner, on the reasons for the refusal and on the child’s right to appeal.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Violations of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, such as forced sterilization, forced abortion, forced pregnancy, criminalization of abortion, denial or delay of safe abortion and/or post-abortion care, forced continuation of pregnancy, and abuse and mistreatment of women and girls seeking sexual and reproductive health information, goods and services, are forms of gender-based violence that, depending on the circumstances, may amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- In discharging their duty to protect, States parties should also require corporations to deploy their best efforts to ensure that entities whose conduct those corporations may influence, such as subsidiaries (including all business entities in which they have invested, whether registered under the State party’s laws or under the laws of another State) or business partners (including suppliers, franchisees and subcontractors), respect Covenant rights. Corporations domiciled in the territory and/or jurisdiction of States parties should be required to act with due diligence to identify, prevent and address abuses to Covenant rights by such subsidiaries and business partners, wherever they may be located. The Committee underlines that, although the imposition of such due diligence obligations does have impacts on situations located outside these States’ national territories since potential violations of Covenant rights in global supply chains or in multinational groups of companies should be prevented or addressed, this does not imply the exercise of extraterritorial jurisdiction by the States concerned. Appropriate monitoring and accountability procedures must be put in place to ensure effective prevention and enforcement. Such procedures may include imposing a duty on companies to report on their policies and procedures to ensure respect for human rights, and providing effective means of accountability and redress for abuses of Covenant rights.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 5b
- Paragraph text
- [The present joint general comment builds on the increasing attention that both Committees have given to the rights of children in the context of international migration through a number of initiatives, including:] A day of general discussion held in Geneva in September 2012 by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, on the rights of all children in the context of international migration, for which the Committee drafted a background paper and adopted a report, with conclusions and recommendations;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 5c
- Paragraph text
- [The present joint general comment builds on the increasing attention that both Committees have given to the rights of children in the context of international migration through a number of initiatives, including:] The endorsement in 2016 by the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families of the recommended principles to guide actions concerning children on the move and other children affected by migration. In addition, both Committees are members of the Inter-Agency Working Group to End Child Immigration Detention;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 32j
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees stress that States parties should:] Provide guidance to all relevant authorities on the operationalization of the principle of the best interests of the child for migrant children, including children in transit, and develop mechanisms aimed at monitoring its proper implementation in practice;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- States parties should include in their periodic reports under article 73 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and article 44 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child information about the measures guided by the present joint general comment that they have implemented and their outcomes.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- [States that have not yet done so are encouraged to ratify or accede to:] States parties are encouraged to review, modify and/or withdraw reservations made upon ratification or accession, with a view to ensuring that children in the context of international migration fully enjoy all of their rights under both Conventions.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the Convention on the Rights of the Child contain legally binding obligations that relate both in general and specific terms to the protection of the rights of children in the context of international migration
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 5a
- Paragraph text
- [The present joint general comment builds on the increasing attention that both Committees have given to the rights of children in the context of international migration through a number of initiatives, including:] Committee on the Rights of the Child general comment No. 6 (2005) on treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of origin, which includes a set of recommendations specifically for those migrant children outside their country of origin who are unaccompanied and separated;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child places emphasis on the prevention of statelessness by specifying that States parties shall ensure the implementation of the rights of a child to be registered, to a name, to acquire a nationality and to know and be cared for by his or her parents. The same right is enshrined for all children of migrant workers in article 29 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 32c
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees stress that States parties should:] Ensure that the principle of the best interests of the child is appropriately integrated, consistently interpreted and applied through robust, individualized procedures in all legislative, administrative and judicial proceedings and decisions, and in all migration policies and programmes that are relevant to and have an impact on children, including consular protection policies and services. Adequate resources should be put in place in order to ensure this principle is applied in practice;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 32e
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees stress that States parties should:] Develop procedures and define criteria to provide guidance to all relevant persons involved with migration procedures on determining the best interests of the child and on giving them due weight as a primary consideration, including in entry, residence, resettlement and return procedures, and develop mechanisms aimed at monitoring its proper implementation in practice;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 17j
- Paragraph text
- [More specifically, and in particular in the context of best interest assessments and within best interest determination procedures, children should be guaranteed the right to:] Be fully informed throughout the entire procedure, together with their guardian and legal adviser, including information on their rights and all relevant information that could affect them.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- The Committees recognize the negative impacts on children’s well-being of having an insecure and precarious migration status. The Committees therefore recommend that States ensure that there are clear and accessible status determination procedures for children to regularize their status on various grounds (such as length of residence).
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Should a child’s identity documents have been procured irregularly on his or her behalf and the child requests the restoration of his or her identity documents, States parties are encouraged to adopt flexible measures in the best interests of the child, specifically by issuing corrected documents and avoiding prosecution where falsification has been committed.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 17b
- Paragraph text
- [More specifically, and in particular in the context of best interest assessments and within best interest determination procedures, children should be guaranteed the right to:] Be notified of the existence of a proceeding and of the decision adopted in the context of the immigration and asylum proceedings, its implications and possibilities for appeal;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Children in the context of international migration, in particular those who are undocumented, stateless, unaccompanied or separated from their families, are particularly vulnerable, throughout the migratory process, to different forms of violence, including neglect, abuse, kidnapping, abduction and extortion, trafficking, sexual exploitation, economic exploitation, child labour, begging or involvement in criminal and illegal activities, in countries of origin, transit, destination and return. Such children are at risk of experiencing violence by State or non-State actors or witnessing violence against their parents or others, particularly when travelling or residing in an irregular manner. The Committees draw the attention of States to article 6 of the Hague Convention of 19 October 1996 on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Cooperation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children under which the judicial or administrative authorities of the Contracting State have jurisdiction to take measures directed to the protection of the child’s person or property with regard to refugee children and children who, due to disturbances occurring in their country, are internationally displaced and are present on the territory as a result of their displacement.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 17e
- Paragraph text
- [More specifically, and in particular in the context of best interest assessments and within best interest determination procedures, children should be guaranteed the right to:] Have effective access to communication with consular officials and consular assistance, and to receive child-sensitive rights-based consular protection;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 55a
- Paragraph text
- [States that have not yet done so are encouraged to ratify or accede to:] The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, including by making the binding declarations under articles 76 and 77;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 17h
- Paragraph text
- [More specifically, and in particular in the context of best interest assessments and within best interest determination procedures, children should be guaranteed the right to:] Appeal the decision to a higher court or independent authority, with suspensive effect;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- The Committees are of the view that the rupture of the family unit by the expulsion of one or both parents based on a breach of immigration laws related to entry or stay is disproportionate, as the sacrifice inherent in the restriction of family life and the impact on the life and development of the child is not outweighed by the advantages obtained by forcing the parent to leave the territory because of an immigration-related offence. Migrant children and their families should also be protected in cases where expulsions would constitute arbitrary interference with the right to family and private life. The Committees recommend that States provide avenues for status regularization for migrants in an irregular situation residing with their children, particularly when a child has been born or has lived in the country of destination for an extended period of time, or when return to the parent’s country of origin would be against the child’s best interests. Where the expulsion of parents is based on criminal offences, their children’s rights, including the right to have their best interests be a primary consideration and their right to be heard and have their views taken seriously, should be ensured, also taking into account the principle of proportionality and other human rights principles and standards.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- 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. 27
- Paragraph text
- Discrimination should be eliminated formally, by ensuring that a State’s constitution, laws and policies do not discriminate on the grounds of street situation, and substantively, by paying sufficient attention to children in street situations as a group who have suffered persistent prejudice and who require affirmative action. Temporary special measures necessary to accelerate or achieve de facto equality of children in street situations should not be considered discrimination. States should ensure: that children in street situations are equal under the law; that all discrimination on the basis of street situation is prohibited; that incitement to discriminate and harassment is addressed; that children in street situations and their families are not arbitrarily deprived of their property; and that curfews are legitimate, proportional and non-discriminatory. States should also sensitize professionals, the private sector and the public to the experiences and rights of children in street situations, with the aim of positively transforming attitudes. States should support creative artistic, cultural and/or sports programmes led by, or involving, children in street situations that help to address misconceptions and break down barriers with professionals, communities — including other children — and wider society through visible mutual dialogue and interaction. This may include street circus, theatre, music, art and sports matches. States should work with print, broadcast and social media to disseminate and amplify sensitization and de-stigmatization messages and stories on the basis of a child rights approach. Public fear of crime committed by children in street situations is often media-fuelled and disproportionate to reality. The media should be actively encouraged to use accurate data and evidence and conform to child protection standards to safeguard children’s dignity, physical security and psychological integrity.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- 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
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 29c (i)
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following legislative measures:] Repeal, including in customary, religious and indigenous laws, all legal provisions that are discriminatory against women and thereby enshrine, encourage, facilitate, justify or tolerate any form of gender-based violence. In particular, repeal the following: Provisions that allow, tolerate or condone forms of gender-based violence against women, including child or forced marriage and other harmful practices, provisions allowing medical procedures to be performed on women with disabilities without their informed consent and provisions that criminalize abortion, being lesbian, bisexual or transgender, women in prostitution and adultery, or any other criminal provisions that affect women disproportionally, including those resulting in the discriminatory application of the death penalty to women;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- LGBTQI+
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 29c (ii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following legislative measures:] Repeal, including in customary, religious and indigenous laws, all legal provisions that are discriminatory against women and thereby enshrine, encourage, facilitate, justify or tolerate any form of gender-based violence. In particular, repeal the following: Discriminatory evidentiary rules and procedures, including procedures allowing for the deprivation of women’s liberty to protect them from violence, practices focused on “virginity” and legal defences or mitigating factors based on culture, religion or male privilege, such as the defence of so-called “honour”, traditional apologies, pardons from the families of victims/survivors or the subsequent marriage of the victim/survivor of sexual assault to the perpetrator, procedures that result in the harshest penalties, including stoning, lashing and death, often being reserved for women and judicial practices that disregard a history of gender-based violence to the detriment of women defendants;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 29c (iii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following legislative measures:] Repeal, including in customary, religious and indigenous laws, all legal provisions that are discriminatory against women and thereby enshrine, encourage, facilitate, justify or tolerate any form of gender-based violence. In particular, repeal the following: All laws that prevent or deter women from reporting gender-based violence, such as guardianship laws that deprive women of legal capacity or restrict the ability of women with disabilities to testify in court, the practice of so-called “protective custody”, restrictive immigration laws that discourage women, including migrant domestic workers, from reporting such violence, and laws allowing for dual arrests in cases of domestic violence or for the prosecution of women when the perpetrator is acquitted;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 31b
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following protective measures:] Ensure that all legal proceedings, protective and support measures and services concerning victims/survivors respect and strengthen their autonomy. They should be accessible to all women, in particular those affected by intersecting forms of discrimination, take into account any specific needs of their children and other dependants, be available throughout the State party and be provided irrespective of residency status or ability or willingness to cooperate in legal proceedings against the alleged perpetrator. States should also respect the principle of non-refoulement;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 32a
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following measures with regard to prosecution and punishment for gender-based violence against women:] Ensure effective access for victims to courts and tribunals and that the authorities adequately respond to all cases of gender-based violence against women, including by applying criminal law and, as appropriate, ex officio prosecution to bring alleged perpetrators to trial in a fair, impartial, timely and expeditious manner and imposing adequate penalties. Fees or court charges should not be imposed on victims/survivors;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 30b (i)
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following preventive measures:] Develop and implement effective measures, with the active participation of all relevant stakeholders, such as representatives of women’s organizations and of marginalized groups of women and girls, to address and eradicate the stereotypes, prejudices, customs and practices set out in article 5 of the Convention, which condone or promote gender-based violence against women and underpin the structural inequality of women with men. Such measures should include the following: Integration of content on gender equality into curricula at all levels of education, both public and private, from early childhood onwards and into education programmes with a human rights approach. The content should target stereotyped gender roles and promote the values of gender equality and non-discrimination, including non-violent masculinities, and ensure age-appropriate, evidence-based and scientifically accurate comprehensive sexuality education for girls and boys;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Girls
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 33b
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following measures with regard to reparations:] Establish specific funds for reparations or include allocations in the budgets of existing funds, including under transitional justice mechanisms, for reparations to victims of gender-based violence against women. States parties should implement administrative reparations schemes without prejudice to the rights of victims/survivors to seek judicial remedies, design transformative reparations programmes that help to address the underlying discrimination or disadvantaged position that caused or significantly contributed to the violation, taking into account the individual, institutional and structural aspects. Priority should be given to the agency, wishes, decisions, safety, dignity and integrity of victims/survivors.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- The general obligations described above encompass all areas of State action, including in the legislative, executive and judicial branches and at the federal, national, subnational, local and decentralized levels, as well as action under governmental authority by privatized governmental services. They require the formulation of legal norms, including at the constitutional level, and the design of public policies, programmes, institutional frameworks and monitoring mechanisms aimed at eliminating all forms of gender-based violence against women, whether perpetrated by State or non-State actors. They also require, in accordance with articles 2 (f) and 5 (a) of the Convention, the adoption and implementation of measures to eradicate prejudices, stereotypes and practices that are the root causes of gender-based violence against women. In general terms, and without prejudice to the specific recommendations provided in the following section, the obligations include the following:
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Finally, the Committee draws the attention of States parties to the challenges facing human rights defenders. The Committee has regularly come across accounts of threats and attacks aimed at those seeking to protect their own or others’ Covenant rights, particularly in the context of extractive and development projects. In addition, trade union leaders, leaders of peasant movements, indigenous leaders and anti-corruption activists are often subject to the risk of harassment. States parties should take all measures necessary to protect human rights advocates and their work. They should refrain from resorting to criminal prosecution to hinder their work, or from otherwise obstructing their work.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Activists
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- States parties should also consider the use of administrative sanctions to discourage conduct by business entities that leads, or may lead, to violations of the rights under the Covenant. For instance, in their public procurement regimes, States could deny the awarding of public contracts to companies that have not provided information on the social or environmental impacts of their activities or that have not put in place measures to ensure that they act with due diligence to avoid or mitigate any negative impacts on the rights under the Covenant. Access to export credit and other forms of State support may also be denied in such circumstances, and in transnational contexts, investment treaties may deny protection to foreign investors of the other party that have engaged in conduct leading to a violation of Covenant rights.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Violations of Covenant rights will often be remedied by an individual claim against the State, whether on the basis of the Covenant itself or on the basis of domestic constitutional or legislative provisions that incorporate the guarantees of the Covenant. However, where the violation is directly attributable to a business entity, victims should be able to sue such an entity either directly on the basis of the Covenant in jurisdictions which consider that the Covenant imposes self-executing obligations on private actors, or on the basis of domestic legislation incorporating the Covenant in the national legal order. In this regard, civil remedies play an important role in ensuring access to justice for victims of violations of Covenant rights.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Consistent with article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this obligation to fulfil requires States parties to contribute to creating an international environment that enables the fulfilment of the Covenant rights. To that end, States parties must take the necessary steps in their legislation and policies, including diplomatic and foreign relations measures, to promote and help create such an environment. States parties should also encourage business actors whose conduct they are in a position to influence to ensure that they do not undermine the efforts of the States in which they operate to fully realize the Covenant rights — for instance by resorting to tax evasion or tax avoidance strategies in the countries concerned. To combat abusive tax practices by transnational corporations, States should combat transfer pricing practices and deepen international tax cooperation, and explore the possibility to tax multinational groups of companies as single firms, with developed countries imposing a minimum corporate income tax rate during a period of transition. Lowering the rates of corporate tax solely with a view to attracting investors encourages a race to the bottom that ultimately undermines the ability of all States to mobilize resources domestically to realize Covenant rights. As such, this practice is inconsistent with the duties of the States parties to the Covenant. Providing excessive protection for bank secrecy and permissive rules on corporate tax may affect the ability of States where economic activities are taking place to meet their obligation to mobilize the maximum available resources for the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- In discharging their duty to protect, States parties should both create appropriate regulatory and policy frameworks and enforce such frameworks. Therefore, effective monitoring, investigation and accountability mechanisms must be put in place to ensure accountability and access to remedies, preferably judicial remedies, for those whose Covenant rights have been violated in the context of business activities. States parties should inform individuals and groups of their rights and the remedies accessible to them pertaining to the Covenant rights in the context of business activities, ensuring specifically that information and guidance, including human rights impact assessments, are accessible to indigenous peoples. They also should provide businesses with relevant information, training and support, ensuring that they are made aware of the duties of the State under the Covenant.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- The obligation to fulfil requires States parties to take necessary steps, to the maximum of their available resources, to facilitate and promote the enjoyment of Covenant rights, and, in certain cases, to directly provide goods and services essential to such enjoyment. Discharging such duties may require the mobilization of resources by the State, including by enforcing progressive taxation schemes. It may require seeking business cooperation and support to implement the Covenant rights and comply with other human rights standards and principles.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- In its 2011 statement on the obligations of States parties regarding the corporate sector and economic, social and cultural rights, the Committee reiterated that States parties’ obligations under the Covenant did not stop at their territorial borders. States parties were required to take the steps necessary to prevent human rights violations abroad by corporations domiciled in their territory and/or jurisdiction (whether they were incorporated under their laws, or had their statutory seat, central administration or principal place of business on the national territory), without infringing the sovereignty or diminishing the obligations of the host States under the Covenant. The Committee has also addressed specific extraterritorial obligations of States parties concerning business activities in its previous general comments relating to the right to water, the right to work, the right to social security, and the right to just and favourable conditions of work, as well as in its examination of States’ periodic reports.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- The Committee has previously underlined that discrimination in the exercise of economic, social and cultural rights is frequently found in private spheres, including in workplaces and the labour market and in the housing and lending sectors. Under articles 2 and 3 of the Covenant, States parties have the obligation to guarantee the enjoyment of Covenant rights to all without discrimination. The requirement to eliminate formal as well as substantive forms of discrimination includes a duty to prohibit discrimination by non-State entities in the exercise of economic, social and cultural rights.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- States parties should facilitate access to relevant information through mandatory disclosure laws and by introducing procedural rules allowing victims to obtain the disclosure of evidence held by the defendant. Shifting the burden of proof may be justified where the facts and events relevant for resolving a claim lie wholly or in part within the exclusive knowledge of the corporate defendant. The conditions under which the protection of trade secrets and other grounds for refusing disclosure may be invoked should be defined restrictively, without jeopardizing the right of all parties to a fair trial. Furthermore, States parties and their judicial and enforcement agencies have a duty to cooperate with one another in order to promote information-sharing and transparency and prevent the denial of justice.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- States parties shall ensure that the best interests of the child are taken fully into consideration in immigration law, planning, implementation and assessment of migration policies and decision-making on individual cases, including in granting or refusing applications on entry to or residence in a country, decisions regarding migration enforcement and restrictions on access to social rights by children and/or their parents or legal guardians, and decisions regarding family unity and child custody, where the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration and thus have high priority.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 32d
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees stress that States parties should:] Ensure that all best-interests assessments and determinations developed and conducted give appropriate weight to fulfilling the rights of the child — in the short and long terms — in the decision-making processes affecting children; and ensure due process safeguards are established, including the right to free, qualified and independent legal representation. The best-interests assessment should be carried out by actors independent of the migration authorities in a multidisciplinary way, including a meaningful participation of authorities responsible for child protection and welfare and other relevant actors, such as parents, guardians and legal representatives, as well as the child;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- Every child, at all times, has a fundamental right to liberty and freedom from immigration detention. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has asserted that the detention of any child because of their or their parents’ migration status constitutes a child rights violation and contravenes the principle of the best interests of the child. In this light, both Committees have repeatedly affirmed that children should never be detained for reasons related to their or their parents’ migration status and States should expeditiously and completely cease or eradicate the immigration detention of children. Any kind of child immigration detention should be forbidden by law and such prohibition should be fully implemented in practice.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- Immigration detention is understood by the Committees as any setting in which a child is deprived of his/her liberty for reasons related to his/her, or his/her parents’, migration status, regardless of the name and reason given to the action of depriving a child of his or her liberty, or the name of the facility or location where the child is deprived of liberty. “Reasons related to migration status” is understood by the Committees to be a person’s migratory or residence status, or the lack thereof, whether relating to irregular entry or stay or not, consistent with the Committees’ previous guidance.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- States parties should appoint a qualified legal representative for all children, including those with parental care, and a trained guardian for unaccompanied and separated children, as soon as possible on arrival, free of charge. Accessible complaints mechanisms for children should be ensured. Throughout the process, children should be offered the possibility to be provided with a translator in order that they may express themselves fully in their native language and/or receive support from someone familiar with the child’s ethnic, religious and cultural background. These professionals should be trained on the specific needs of children in the context of international migration, including gender, cultural, religious and other intersecting aspects.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- In the view of the Committees, the obligation of States parties under article 6 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and article 9 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families include the protection and reduction — to the maximum extent possible — of migration-related risks faced by children, which may jeopardize a child’s right to life, survival and development. States, especially those of transit and destination, should devote special attention to the protection of undocumented children, whether unaccompanied and separated or with families, and to the protection of asylum-seeking children, stateless children and child victims of transnational organized crime, including trafficking, sale of children, commercial sexual exploitation of children and child marriage. States should also consider the specific vulnerable circumstances that could face migrant children on the basis of their gender and other factors, such as poverty, ethnicity, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or others, that may aggravate the child’s vulnerability to sexual abuse, exploitation, violence, among other human rights abuses, throughout the entire migratory process. Specific policies and measures, including access to child-friendly, gender-sensitive and safe judicial and non-judicial remedies, should be put in place in order to fully protect and assist such children, aiming to facilitate their ability to resume their lives with their rights as children fully respected, protected and fulfilled.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Nationality laws that discriminate with regard to the transmission or acquisition of nationality on the basis of prohibited grounds, including in relation to the child and/or his or her parents’ race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability and migration status, should be repealed. Furthermore, all nationality laws should be implemented in a non-discriminatory manner, including with regard to residence status in relation to the length of residency requirements, to ensure that every child’s right to a nationality is respected, protected and fulfilled.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- States parties should disseminate widely the present joint general comment to all stakeholders, in particular parliaments, governmental authorities, including child protection and migration authorities and personnel, and the judiciary, at all national, regional and local levels. It should be made known to all children and all relevant professionals and stakeholders, including those working for and with children (i.e., judges, lawyers, police and other law enforcement entities, teachers, guardians, social workers, staff of public or private welfare institutions and shelters, and health-care providers), the media and civil society at large.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- In cases of migrant families, including with children born to migrant parents, the Committees stress the interdependence between parental responsibilities for the upbringing and development of the child under articles 5 and 18 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and labour rights for migrant workers under relevant provisions of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. Therefore, States should, as far as possible, take measures to ensure that the rights at work of migrant parents, including those in an irregular situation, are fully respected.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- The Committees urge States parties to take all necessary measures to ensure that all children are immediately registered at birth and issued birth certificates, irrespective of their migration status or that of their parents. Legal and practical obstacles to birth registration should be removed, including by prohibiting data sharing between health providers or civil servants responsible for registration with immigration enforcement authorities; and not requiring parents to produce documentation regarding their migration status. Measures should also be taken to facilitate late registration of birth and to avoid financial penalties for late registration. Children who have not been registered should be ensured equal access to health care, protection, education and other social services.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Infants
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Under article 10 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, States parties are to ensure that applications for family reunification are dealt with in a positive, humane and expeditious manner, including facilitating the reunification of children with their parents. When the child’s relations with his or her parents and/or sibling(s) are interrupted by migration (in both the cases of the parents without the child, or of the child without his or her parents and/or sibling(s)), preservation of the family unit should be taken into account when assessing the best interests of the child in decisions on family reunification.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Children that remain in their countries of origin may end up migrating irregularly and unsafely, seeking to be reunited with their parents and/or older siblings in destination countries. States should develop effective and accessible family reunification procedures that allow children to migrate in a regular manner, including children remaining in countries of origin who may migrate irregularly. States are encouraged to develop policies that enable migrants to regularly be accompanied by their families in order to avoid separation. Procedures should seek to facilitate family life and ensure that any restrictions are legitimate, necessary and proportionate. While this duty is primarily for receiving and transit countries, States of origin should also take measures to facilitate family reunification.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- States parties should disseminate widely the present joint general comment to all stakeholders, in particular parliaments, governmental authorities, including child protection and migration authorities and personnel, and the judiciary, at all national, regional and local levels. It should be made known to all children and all relevant professionals and stakeholders, including those working for and with children (i.e., judges, lawyers, police and other law enforcement entities, teachers, guardians, social workers, staff of public or private welfare institutions and shelters, and health-care providers), the media and civil society at large.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- The present joint general comment should be translated into relevant languages, and child-friendly/appropriate versions and formats accessible to persons with disabilities should be made available. Conferences, seminars, workshops and other events should be held to share good practices on how best to implement it. It should also be incorporated into the formal pre- and in-service training of all concerned professionals and to technical staff in particular, as well as to child protection, migration and law enforcement authorities and personnel, and should be made available to all national and local human rights institutions and other human rights civil society organizations.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, States should take the following actions to ensure the full and effective protection of migrant children from all forms of violence and abuse: - Take effective measures to ensure that they are protected from any form of slavery and commercial sexual exploitation and from being used for illicit activities or from any work that would jeopardize their health, safety or morals, including by becoming party to relevant conventions of the International Labour Organization - Take effective measures to protect them from all forms of violence and abuse, regardless of their migration status - Recognize and address the gender-specific vulnerable situations of girls and boys and children with disabilities as potential victims of trafficking for sexual, labour and all other forms of exploitation - Ensure comprehensive protection, support services and access to effective redress mechanisms, including psychosocial assistance and information about those remedies, for migrant children and their families reporting cases of violence, abuse or exploitation to police or other relevant authorities, regardless of their migration status; children and parents must be able to safely report to police or other authorities as victims or witnesses without any risk of immigration enforcement as a result - Recognize the important role that can be played by community services and civil society organizations in regard to the protection of migrant children - Develop comprehensive policies aimed at addressing the root causes of all forms of violence, exploitation and abuse against migrant children, including adequate resources for their proper implementation
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Families
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- With due respect to international labour standards related to the minimum age for admission to employment and the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, not all work carried out by migrant children who are above legal working age is exploitative or undertaken in hazardous conditions. The Committees remind States that migrant children above working age, irrespective of their status, should enjoy equal treatment to that of national children in respect of remuneration, other conditions of work and terms of employment.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- In cases of migrant families, including with children born to migrant parents, the Committees stress the interdependence between parental responsibilities for the upbringing and development of the child under articles 5 and 18 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and labour rights for migrant workers under relevant provisions of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. Therefore, States should, as far as possible, take measures to ensure that the rights at work of migrant parents, including those in an irregular situation, are fully respected.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- States should ensure that children in the context of international migration have a standard of living adequate for their physical, mental, spiritual and moral development. As provided in article 27 (3) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. States, in accordance with national conditions and within their means, shall take appropriate measures to assist parents and others responsible for the child to implement this right and shall in case of need provide material assistance and support programmes, particularly with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- States should develop procedures and standards to establish firewalls between public or private service providers, including public or private housing providers, and immigration enforcement authorities. Similarly, States should ensure that irregular migrant children are not criminalized for exercising their right to housing and that private actors, such as landlords and civil society organizations, who facilitate their exercise of this right are also not criminalized.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- In the case of undocumented children in the context of international migration, States shall develop and implement guidelines, taking particular care that time limits, discretionary powers, and/or lack of transparency in administration procedures should not hinder the child’s right to family reunification.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- States parties should include in their reports under article 73 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and article 44 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child information about the measures guided by the present joint general comments that they have implemented and their outcomes.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and the Convention on the Rights of the Child contain legally binding obligations that relate both in general and specifically to the protection of the human rights of children and migrants. Both Conventions contain several provisions that establish specific obligations related to the rights of children in the context of international migration in the countries of origin, transit, destination and return.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 29a
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following legislative measures:] Ensure that all forms of gender-based violence against women in all spheres, which amount to a violation of their physical, sexual or psychological integrity, are criminalized and introduce, without delay, or strengthen, legal sanctions commensurate with the gravity of the offence, as well as civil remedies;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- Non-judicial mechanisms for indigenous victims should be developed with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions. As with judicial remedies, States parties should address barriers to indigenous peoples accessing the mechanism, including language barriers.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, non-judicial remedies should also be available in transnational settings. Examples include access by victims located outside the State’s territory to that State’s human rights institutions or ombudspersons as well as to complaints mechanisms established under international organizations, such as the national contact points operating under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- States should not interfere with children’s right to housing by means of measures which prevent migrants from renting properties. Measures should be taken to ensure that migrant children, regardless of their status, are able to access homeless shelters.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- The Committees stress the primacy of the rights of the child in the context of international migration and therefore the need for the Conventions to be integrated by States into migration-related frameworks, policies, practices and/or other measures.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 55c
- Paragraph text
- [States that have not yet done so are encouraged to ratify or accede to:] The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children child prostitution and child pornography;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- States should not interfere with children’s right to housing by means of measures which prevent migrants from renting properties. Measures should be taken to ensure that migrant children, regardless of their status, are able to access homeless shelters.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- 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
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 32i
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees stress that States parties should:] Ensure that children are identified promptly in border controls and other migration-control procedures within the State’s jurisdiction, and that anyone claiming to be a child is treated as such, promptly referred to child protection authorities and other relevant services, and appointed a guardian, if unaccompanied or separated;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- States parties should also avail themselves of technical cooperation from the international community, including from the United Nations agencies and entities and regional organizations for the implementation of migration policies in respect of children in line with the present joint general comment.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- States parties should adopt measures directed at facilitating the participation of all children in the context of international migration in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies that could directly or indirectly affect them, as individuals or a group, including in the fields of social policies and social services. Initiatives should be taken to prepare girls and transgender children to participate actively, effectively and equally with boys at all levels of social, economic, political and cultural leadership. In countries of origin, the participation of children is paramount in developing policies on and in processes aimed at addressing drivers of the migration of children and/or their parents and developing policies in that regard. In addition, States should adopt measures aimed at empowering children affected by international migration to participate on different levels, through consultations, collaborations and child-led initiatives, and at ensuring that civil society organizations, including children associations and child-led organizations, can participate effectively in policy dialogues and processes on children in the context of international migration, at the local, national, regional and international levels. Any limitations on children’s freedom of association, including through legally establishing associations, should be removed.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Article 6 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child highlights the States parties’ obligations to ensure the right of life, survival and development of the child, including the physical, mental, moral, spiritual and social dimensions of his or her development. At any point during the migratory process, a child’s right to life and survival may be at stake owing to, inter alia, violence as a result of organized crime, violence in camps, push-back or interception operations, excessive use of force of border authorities, refusal of vessels to rescue them, or extreme conditions of travel and limited access to basic services. Unaccompanied and separated children may face further vulnerabilities and can be more exposed to risks, such as gender-based, sexual and other forms of violence and trafficking for sexual or labour exploitation. Children travelling with their families often also witness and experience violence. While migration can provide opportunities to improve living conditions and escape from abuses, migration processes can pose risks, including physical harm, psychological trauma, marginalization, discrimination, xenophobia and sexual and economic exploitation, family separation, immigration raids and detention. At the same time, the obstacles children may face in gaining access to education, adequate housing, sufficient safe food and water or health services can negatively affect the physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development of migrant children and children of migrants.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- The Committees stress that a comprehensive interpretation of the Conventions should lead States parties to develop bilateral, regional and global cooperation in order to ensure the rights of all children in the context of international migration, taking into consideration the guidance developed in the present joint general comment.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- The Committees recognize the importance of coordinating efforts among countries of origin, transit, destination and return, and their roles and responsibilities in addressing the needs of children in the context of international migration and in safeguarding their rights, with the best interests of the child being a primary consideration.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 32h
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees stress that States parties should:] Conduct a best-interests determination in cases that could lead to the expulsion of migrant families due to their migration status, in order to evaluate the impact of deportation on children’s rights and development, including their mental health;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 32i
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees stress that States parties should:] Ensure that children are identified promptly in border controls and other migration-control procedures within the State’s jurisdiction, and that anyone claiming to be a child is treated as such, promptly referred to child protection authorities and other relevant services, and appointed a guardian, if unaccompanied or separated;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 32j
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees stress that States parties should:] Provide guidance to all relevant authorities on the operationalization of the principle of the best interests of the child for migrant children, including children in transit, and develop mechanisms aimed at monitoring its proper implementation in practice;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on the Rights of the Child, in relation to unaccompanied and separated children, stated in 2005 that children should not be deprived of their liberty and that detention cannot be justified solely on the basis of the child being unaccompanied or separated, or on their migratory or residence status or lack thereof.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 17a
- Paragraph text
- [More specifically, and in particular in the context of best interest assessments and within best interest determination procedures, children should be guaranteed the right to:] Access to the territory, regardless of the documentation they have or lack, and to be referred to authorities in charge of evaluating their needs in terms of protection of their rights, ensuring their procedural safeguards;
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on the Rights of the Child, in relation to unaccompanied and separated children, stated in 2005 that children should not be deprived of their liberty and that detention cannot be justified solely on the basis of the child being unaccompanied or separated, or on their migratory or residence status or lack thereof.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- In order to ensure that this comprehensive and balanced approach is consistent with the best interests of children, child protection/welfare agencies should have a key role in the development of any international, regional or bilateral agreements that affect the rights and treatment of children in the context of international migration. Bilateral, regional and international initiatives should be encouraged in order to facilitate family reunification, implement best interest assessment and determination, and guarantee children’s right to be heard and due process safeguards. Such initiatives should ensure access to justice in cross-border situations where children whose rights are affected in the country of transit or destination need it after they have returned to the country of origin or gone to a third country. In addition, States should ensure the participation of children and civil society organizations, including regional intergovernmental institutions, in these processes. States should also avail themselves of technical cooperation from the international community and United Nations agencies and entities, including the United Nations Children’s Fund and the International Organization for Migration, for the implementation of migration policies in respect of children in line with the present joint general comment.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Discrimination can often exacerbate insufficient financial and legal protection, and may force migrant children to postpone treatment until they are seriously ill. Attention should be paid to resolving the issues surrounding complicated health services that require prompt and extensive responses, in which discriminatory approaches may severely affect the health of migrant children and significantly delay their treatment and recovery period. The commitment of health professionals should be first to their patients and to upholding children’s health as a human right.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- Ensuring that business activities are pursued in line with the requirements of the Covenant requires an ongoing effort from States parties. To support this, the national action plans or strategies that States parties are expected to adopt to ensure full realization of the Covenant rights should specifically address the question of the role of business entities in the progressive realization of Covenant rights.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- The Committee recalls that all government branches and agencies of States parties, including the judiciary and law enforcement agencies, are bound by the obligations under the Covenant. States parties should ensure that the judiciary, in particular judges and lawyers, are well informed of the obligations under the Covenant linked to business activities, and that they can exercise their functions in complete independence.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- State-based non-judicial mechanisms should provide effective protection for victims’ rights. Where such alternative non-judicial mechanisms are established, they should also possess a number of characteristics ensuring that they are credible and can contribute effectively to the prevention of and reparation for violations; their decisions should be enforceable, and such mechanisms should be accessible to all.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 11c
- Paragraph text
- [According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), a child rights approach is one that:] Builds the capacity of children as rights holders to claim their rights and the capacity of duty bearers to fulfil their obligations to children.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- 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. 13
- Paragraph text
- To comply with obligations under the Convention, States are urged to adopt holistic and long-term strategies and make the necessary budget allocations for children in street situations. The cross-cutting issues and processes are shown below, followed by the thematic content to be addressed in such strategies. As experts on their own lives, children in street situations should participate in developing and implementing strategies. A first step is for States to collect information about such children in their country to decide how best to uphold their rights. States should take a cross-sectoral approach to understand how policy in one area, for example, finance, affects policy in another, for example, education, which in turn affects children in street situations. States should encourage cross-sectoral and inter-State cooperation.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- 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
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- In many States, legislation addressing gender-based violence against women is non-existent, inadequate or poorly implemented. An erosion of the legal and policy frameworks that aim to eliminate gender-based discrimination or violence, often justified in the name of tradition, culture, religion or fundamentalist ideology, and significant reductions in public spending, often as part of so-called “austerity measures” following economic and financial crises, further weaken States responses. In the context of shrinking democratic spaces and the consequent deterioration of the rule of law, all of those factors contribute to the pervasiveness of gender-based violence against women and lead to a culture of impunity.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- Accessible, free, safe, relevant and quality education is crucial to preventing children from ending up in street situations and fulfilling the rights of children already in street situations. For many children, education represents the last connection point with wider societies. States should make adequate provision, including support to parents, caregivers and families, to ensure that children in street situations can stay in school and that their right to quality education is fully protected. A range of education options is necessary, including “second-chance education”, catch-up classes, mobile schools, vocational training linked to market research and followed up with long-term support for income generation, and pathways into formal education, through partnerships with civil society. Teachers should be trained on child rights and children in street situations, and child-centred, participatory teaching methodologies.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- The aims of education for children in street situations should comply with article 29 and include literacy, numeracy, digital literacy, life skills, child rights education, tolerance for diversity, and citizenship education. Such education is vitally important for the fulfilment of children’s rights to protection, development and participation, including strengthening their autonomy and empowering them to better negotiate situations of risk, to prevent children from ending up in street situations and for those who are in street situations. States should take measures to provide good quality, free child rights education and life skills universally to all children, through the school curriculum and through non-formal and street education, to reach out-of-school children.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Violence in all its forms — emotional, physical or sexual — is a fundamental cause and a consequence of children ending up in street situations. Violence of all kinds permeates the lives of children in street situations on a vast scale and it is a primary concern highlighted by children themselves. Specific, immediate and urgent measures need to be taken to protect children in street situations. In conjunction with all the recommendations in general comment No. 13, such measures include: prohibiting all forms of violence, including corporal punishment; mechanisms for reaching out to vulnerable children in the process of disconnecting from family and community; mechanisms for reporting violence, discrimination and other forms of rights violations; and mechanisms for holding perpetrators of violence to account, whether State or non-State, individuals or groups. Special mechanisms might have to be established to deal with individuals reported by these children as threats to their well-being, such as some members of the police and those involved in organized crime and drug trafficking.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 58
- Paragraph text
- Children in street situations are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence and exploitation, and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography is particularly relevant for them. Gender-sensitive responses should be made by professionals who are trained in understanding the specific circumstances of children in street situations. Children may have ended up in street situations through trafficking for sexual or labour exploitation, and/or may be vulnerable to such trafficking, as well as trafficking for body parts, and other forms of exploitation, once they are on the streets.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 34d
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following measures with regard to coordination and monitoring and the collection of data regarding gender-based violence against women:] Ensure that the process of collecting and maintaining data on gender-based violence against women complies with established international standards and safeguards, including legislation on data protection. The collection and use of data and statistics should conform to internationally accepted norms for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms and ethical principles;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 60
- Paragraph text
- Children in street situations are more likely to be targeted, criminalized and end up in the juvenile or adult justice system and less likely to benefit from diversion, alternatives to detention or restorative practices as they are unable to afford bail and may have no responsible adults to vouch for them. Police misconduct, such as harassment (including stealing children’s money and possessions, rounding them up or arbitrarily moving children on, often on the orders of their superiors and/or politicians), corruption, extortion (for money or sex) and physical, psychological or sexual violence are common rights violations that States should criminalize as a matter of urgency. The Committee is concerned about the application of “zero tolerance” policies criminalizing children in street situations and resulting in forced institutionalization. States should support community policing, with an emphasis on protection rather than punishment of children in street situations, and adopt a multicultural police service. States should guarantee all rights to all children, including those in street situations, in the context of a restorative rather than punitive juvenile justice system.
- 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
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict is relevant as children in street situations are vulnerable to recruitment into armed forces or armed groups. Conflicts may lead to children ending up in street situations through the disruption of social networks, family separation, displacement from communities or rejection of demobilized child combatants from communities. In relation to prevention, child rights education, including peace education, and anti-recruitment initiatives need to reach children in street situations. Interventions to minimize the impact of armed conflict need to mitigate proactively the separation of children from families, and family tracing programmes should be prioritized. Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes for children should take into account the dynamics of street-connectedness as a cause and a consequence of children’s involvement in armed conflict.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Children in street situations 2017, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- The Committee recommends that States widely disseminate the present general comment within government, legal and administrative structures, to children in street situations, parents and caregivers, professional organizations, communities, the private sector and civil society. All channels of dissemination, including print media, the Internet, and children’s own communication means, such as storytelling and peer education, should be used. This will necessitate translating it into relevant languages, including sign languages, Braille and easy-to-understand formats for children with disabilities and limited literacy levels. It also requires making culturally appropriate and child-friendly versions and pictorial rather than text-based versions available, holding workshops and seminars, implementing age- and disability-specific support to discuss its implications and how best to implement it, and incorporating it into the training of all professionals working for and with children in street situations. States are also encouraged to include information on children in street situations in their reports to the Committee.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Gender-based violence against women, updating general recommendation No. 19 2017, para. 30d (i)
- Paragraph text
- [The Committee recommends that States parties implement the following preventive measures:] Adopt and implement effective measures to encourage the media to eliminate discrimination against women, including the harmful and stereotypical portrayal of women or specific groups of women, such as women human rights defenders, from their activities, practices and output, including in advertising, online and in other digital environments. Measures should include the following: Encouraging the creation or strengthening of self-regulatory mechanisms by media organizations, including online or social media organizations, aimed at the elimination of gender stereotypes relating to women and men, or to specific groups of women, and addressing gender-based violence against women that takes place through their services and platforms;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- This obligation extends to any business entities over which States parties may exercise control, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and applicable international law. Consistent with the admissible scope of jurisdiction under general international law, States may seek to regulate corporations that are domiciled in their territory and/or jurisdiction: this includes corporations incorporated under their laws, or which have their statutory seat, central administration or principal place of business on their national territory. States parties may also utilize incentives short of the direct imposition of obligations, such as provisions in public contracts favouring business entities that have put in place robust and effective human rights due diligence mechanisms, in order to contribute to the protection of economic, social and cultural rights at home and abroad.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Whereas States parties would not normally be held directly internationally responsible for a violation of economic, social and cultural rights caused by a private entity’s conduct (except in the three scenarios recalled in para. 11 of the present general comment), a State party would be in breach of its obligations under the Covenant where the violation reveals a failure by the State to take reasonable measures that could have prevented the occurrence of the event. The responsibility of the State can be engaged in such circumstances even if other causes have also contributed to the occurrence of the violation, and even if the State had not foreseen that a violation would occur, provided such a violation was reasonably foreseeable. For instance, considering the well-documented risks associated with the extractive industry, particular due diligence is required with respect to mining-related projects and oil development projects.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- In transnational cases, effective accountability and access to remedy requires international cooperation. The Committee refers in this regard to the recommendation included in the report on accountability and access to remedy for victims of business-related human rights abuse, prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at the request of the Human Rights Council, that States should “take steps, using the guidance” (annexed to that report) “to improve the effectiveness of cross-border cooperation between State agencies and judicial bodies, with respect to both public and private law enforcement of domestic legal regimes”. The use of direct communication between law enforcement agencies for mutual assistance should be encouraged in order to provide for swifter action, particularly in the prosecution of criminal offences.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Corruption constitutes one of the major obstacles to the effective promotion and protection of human rights, particularly as regards the activities of businesses. It also undermines a State’s ability to mobilize resources for the delivery of services essential for the realization of economic, social and cultural rights. It leads to discriminatory access to public services in favour of those able to influence authorities, including by offering bribes or resorting to political pressure. Therefore, whistle-blowers should be protected, and specialized mechanisms against corruption should be established, their independence should be guaranteed and they should be sufficiently well resourced.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The Committee is particularly concerned that goods and services that are necessary for the enjoyment of basic economic, social and cultural rights may become less affordable as a result of such goods and services being provided by the private sector, or that quality may be sacrificed for the sake of increasing profits. The provision by private actors of goods and services essential for the enjoyment of Covenant rights should not lead the enjoyment of Covenant rights to be made conditional on the ability to pay, which would create new forms of socioeconomic segregation. The privatization of education illustrates such a risk, where private educational institutions lead to high-quality education being made a privilege affordable only to the wealthiest segments of society, or where such institutions are insufficiently regulated, providing a form of education that does not meet minimum educational standards while giving a convenient excuse for States parties not to discharge their own duties towards the fulfilment of the right to education. Nor should privatization result in excluding certain groups that historically have been marginalized, such as persons with disabilities. States thus retain at all times the obligation to regulate private actors to ensure that the services they provide are accessible to all, are adequate, are regularly assessed in order to meet the changing needs of the public and are adapted to those needs. Since privatization of the delivery of goods or services essential to the enjoyment of Covenant rights may result in a lack of accountability, measures should be adopted to ensure the right of individuals to participate in assessing the adequacy of the provision of such goods and services.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- The guidelines on remedies for victims of gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law provide useful indications as to the obligations that follow for States from the general obligation to provide access to effective remedies. In particular, States should: take all measures necessary to prevent rights violations; where such preventative measures fail, thoroughly investigate violations and take appropriate actions against alleged offenders; provide victims with effective access to justice, irrespective of who may ultimately be the bearer of responsibility for the violation; and provide effective remedies to victims, including reparation.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
State obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the context of business activities 2017, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- It is imperative for the full realization of the Covenant rights that remedies be available, effective and expeditious. This requires that victims seeking redress must have prompt access to an independent public authority, which must have the power to determine whether a violation has taken place and to order cessation of the violation and reparation to redress the harm done. Reparation can be in the form of restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, and guarantee of non-repetition, and must take the views of those affected into account. To ensure non-repetition, an effective remedy may require improvements to legislation and policies that have proven ineffective in preventing the abuses.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- The present joint general comment should be translated into relevant languages, and child-friendly/appropriate versions and formats accessible to persons with disabilities should be made available. Conferences, seminars, workshops and other events should be held to share good practices on how best to implement it. It should also be incorporated into the formal pre- and in-service training of all concerned professionals and to technical staff in particular, as well as to child protection and migration authorities and personnel, and should be made available to all national and local human rights institutions, and other human rights civil society organizations.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 32f
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees stress that States parties should:] Assess and determine the best interests of the child at the different stages of migration and asylum procedures that could result in the detention or deportation of the parents due to their migration status. Best-interests determination procedures should be put in place in any decision that would separate children from their family, and the same standards applied in child custody, when the best interests of the child should be a primary consideration. In adoption cases, the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- The Committees acknowledge that the phenomenon of international migration affects all regions of the world and all societies and, increasingly, millions of children. While migration can bring positive outcomes to individuals, families and broader communities in countries of origin, transit, destination and return, the drivers of migration, in particular unsafe and/or irregular migration, are often directly related to violations of human rights, including the rights of the child as recognized in several human rights treaties, in particular the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- The obligations of States parties under the Conventions apply to each child within their jurisdictions, including the jurisdiction arising from a State exercising effective control outside its borders. Those obligations cannot be arbitrarily and unilaterally curtailed either by excluding zones or areas from the territory of a State or by defining particular zones or areas as not or only partly under the jurisdiction of the State, including in international waters or other transit zones where States put in place migration control mechanisms. The obligations apply within the borders of the State, including with respect to those children who come under its jurisdiction while attempting to enter its territory.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Children’s personal data, in particular biometric data, should only be used for child protection purposes, with strict enforcement of appropriate rules on collection, use and retention of, and access to, data. The Committees urge due diligence regarding safeguards in the development and implementation of data systems, and in the sharing of data between authorities and/or countries. States parties should implement a “firewall” and prohibit the sharing and use for immigration enforcement of the personal data collected for other purposes, such as protection, remedy, civil registration and access to services. This is necessary to uphold data protection principles and protect the rights of the child, as stipulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- The Committees are of the opinion that, in order to fulfil the rights of all children in the context of international migration, the following elements should be part of the policies and practices to be developed and implemented: (a) comprehensive, inter-institutional policies between child protection and welfare authorities and other key bodies, including on social protection, health, education, justice, migration and gender, and between regional, national and local governments; (b) adequate resources, including budgetary, aimed at ensuring effective implementation of policies and programmes; and (c) continuous and periodic training of child protection, migration and related officials on the rights of children, migrants and refugees and on statelessness, including intersectional discrimination.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 20
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- The Committees reaffirm the application of articles 41 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and 81 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, and reiterate that the provisions in domestic and international legislation that are the most conducive to the realization of the rights of all children in the context of international migration shall apply in cases where standards differ. Furthermore, a dynamic interpretation of the Conventions based on a child-centred approach is necessary to ensure their effective implementation and the respect, protection and fulfilment of the rights of all children in the context of the increasing number of challenges that migration poses for children.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 22
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- The principle of non-discrimination shall be at the centre of all migration policies and procedures, including border control measures, and regardless of the migration status of children or their parents. Any differential treatment of migrants shall be lawful and proportionate, in pursuit of a legitimate aim and in line with the child’s best interests and international human rights norms and standards. Similarly, States parties should ensure that migrant children and their families are integrated into receiving societies through the effective realization of their human rights and access to services in an equal manner with nationals.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 25
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- The Committees recommend that the States parties put special emphasis on the policies and related regulations about the prevention of discriminatory practices towards migrant and refugee children with disabilities and the implementation of necessary policies and programmes for ensuring the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of migrant and refugee children with disabilities on an equal basis with children who are nationals of the States, and taking into consideration the provisions enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 55
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- Every migrant child should have access to health care equal to that of nationals, regardless of their migration status. This includes all health services, whether preventive or curative, and mental, physical or psychosocial care, provided in the community or in health-care institutions. States have an obligation to ensure that children’s health is not undermined as a result of discrimination, which is a significant factor contributing to vulnerability; the implications of multiple forms of discrimination should also be addressed. Attention should be paid to addressing the gender-specific impacts of reduced access to services. In addition, migrant children should be provided full access to age-appropriate sexual and reproductive health information and services.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights ... 2017, para. 53
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- The present joint general comment should be translated into relevant languages, and child-friendly/appropriate versions and formats accessible to persons with disabilities should be made available. Conferences, seminars, workshops and other events should be held to share good practices on how best to implement it. It should also be incorporated into the formal pre- and in-service training of all concerned professionals and to technical staff in particular, as well as to child protection and migration authorities and personnel, and should be made available to all national and local human rights institutions, and other human rights civil society organizations.
- Body
- Committee on Migrant Workers
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 67
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- The present joint general comment should be translated into relevant languages, and child-friendly/appropriate versions and formats accessible to persons with disabilities should be made available. Conferences, seminars, workshops and other events should be held to share good practices on how best to implement it. It should also be incorporated into the formal pre- and in-service training of all concerned professionals and to technical staff in particular, as well as to child protection, migration and law enforcement authorities and personnel, and should be made available to all national and local human rights institutions and other human rights civil society organizations.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 20
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- The lack of birth registration may have many negative impacts on the enjoyment of children’s rights, such as child marriage, trafficking, forced recruitment and child labour. Birth registrations may also help to achieve convictions against those who have abused a child. Unregistered children are at particular risk of becoming stateless when born to parents who are in an irregular migration situation, due to barriers to acquiring nationality in the country of origin of the parents as well as to accessing birth registration and nationality at the place of their birth.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Infants
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations regarding the human rights of c ... 2017, para. 25
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- Nationality laws that discriminate with regard to the transmission or acquisition of nationality on the basis of prohibited grounds, including in relation to the child and/or his or her parents’ race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability and migration status, should be repealed. Furthermore, all nationality laws should be implemented in a non-discriminatory manner, including with regard to residence status in relation to the length of residency requirements, to ensure that every child’s right to a nationality is respected, protected and fulfilled.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph