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The nature of States parties’ obligations 1990, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- The means which should be used in order to satisfy the obligation to take steps are stated in article 2 (1) to be "all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures". The Committee recognizes that in many instances legislation is highly desirable and in some cases may even be indispensable. For example, it may be difficult to combat discrimination effectively in the absence of a sound legislative foundation for the necessary measures. In fields such as health, the protection of children and mothers, and education, as well as in respect of the matters dealt with in articles 6 to 9, legislation may also be an indispensable element for many purposes.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 1990
Paragraph
The right to adequate food (Art. 11) 1999, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Appropriate United Nations programmes and agencies should assist, upon request, in drafting the framework legislation and in reviewing the sectoral legislation. FAO, for example, has considerable expertise and accumulated knowledge concerning legislation in the field of food and agriculture. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has equivalent expertise concerning legislation with regard to the right to adequate food for infants and young children through maternal and child protection including legislation to enable breastfeeding, and with regard to the regulation of marketing of breast milk substitutes.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Youth
- Year
- 1999
Paragraph
Reporting by States Parties 1989, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- A fifth objective is to provide a basis on which the State party itself, as well as the Committee, can effectively evaluate the extent to which progress has been made towards the realization of the obligations contained in the Covenant. For this purpose, it may be useful for States to identify specific benchmarks or goals against which their performance in a given area can be assessed. Thus, for example, it is generally agreed that it is important to set specific goals with respect to the reduction of infant mortality, the extent of vaccination of children, the intake of calories per person, the number of persons per health care provider, etc. In many of these areas, global benchmarks are of limited use, whereas national or other more specific benchmarks can provide an extremely valuable indication of progress.
- Body
- Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 1989
Paragraph
Implementing child rights in early childhood 2006, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Looking forward. The Committee urges all States parties, inter governmental organizations, non governmental organizations, academics, professional groups and grass roots communities to continue advocating for the establishment of independent institutions on children's rights and foster continuous, high level policy dialogues and research on the crucial importance of quality in early childhood, including dialogues at international, national, regional and local levels.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2006
Paragraph
Implementing child rights in early childhood 2006, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- International assistance. Acknowledging the resource constraints affecting many States parties seeking to implement the comprehensive provisions outlined in this general comment, the Committee recommends that donor institutions, including the World Bank, other United Nations bodies and bilateral donors support early childhood development programmes financially and technically, and that it be one of their main targets in assisting sustainable development in countries receiving international assistance. Effective international cooperation can also strengthen capacity building for early childhood, in terms of policy development, programme development, research and professional training.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2006
Paragraph
The right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health 2013, para. 95
- Paragraph text
- Legislation should fulfil a number of additional functions in the realization of children's right to health by defining the scope of the right and recognizing children as rights-holders; clarifying the roles and responsibilities of all duty bearers; clarifying what services children, pregnant women and mothers are entitled to claim; and regulating services and medications to ensure that they are of good quality and cause no harm. States must ensure that adequate legislative and other safeguards exist to protect and promote the work of human rights defenders working on children's right to health.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
The right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health 2013, para. 87
- Paragraph text
- The Convention should guide all international activities and programmes of donor and recipient States related directly or indirectly to children's health. It requires partner States to identify the major health problems affecting children, pregnant women and mothers in recipient countries and to address them in accordance with the priorities and principles established by article 24. International cooperation should support State-led health systems and national health plans.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 55h
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees recommend that the States parties to the Conventions adopt or amend legislation with a view to effectively addressing and eliminating harmful practices. In doing so, they should ensure:] That a national system of compulsory, accessible and free birth registration is established in order to effectively prevent harmful practices, including child marriage;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health 2013, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Exclusive breastfeeding for infants up to 6 months of age should be protected and promoted and breastfeeding should continue alongside appropriate complementary foods preferably until two years of age, where feasible. States' obligations in this area are defined in the "protect, promote and support" framework, adopted unanimously by the World Health Assembly. States are required to introduce into domestic law, implement and enforce internationally agreed standards concerning children's right to health, including the International Code on Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and the relevant subsequent World Health Assembly resolutions, as well as the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Special measures should be taken to promote community and workplace support for mothers in relation to pregnancy and breastfeeding and feasible and affordable childcare services; and compliance with the International Labour Organization Convention No. 183 (2000) concerning the revision of the Maternity Protection Convention (Revised), 1952.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Implementing child rights in early childhood 2006, para. 2b
- Paragraph text
- [The objectives of the general comment are:] To comment on the specific features of early childhood that impact on the realization of rights;
- 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
- Infants
- Year
- 2006
Paragraph
The rights of children with disabilities 2007, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- In the light of article 7 of the Convention, the Committee recommends that States parties adopt all appropriate measures to ensure the registration of children with disabilities at birth. Such measures should include developing and implementing an effective system of birth registration, waiving registration fees, introducing mobile registration offices and, for children who are not yet registered, providing registration units in schools. In this context, States parties should ensure that the provisions of article 7 are fully enforced in conformity with the principles of non-discrimination (art. 2) and of the best interests of the child (art. 3).
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2007
Paragraph
Implementing child rights in early childhood 2006, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- The Committee has identified articles 2, 3, 6 and 12 of the Convention as general principles (see general comment No. 5 (2003) on the general measures of implementation of the Convention). Each principle has implications for rights in early childhood.
- 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
- Infants
- Year
- 2006
Paragraph
Article 3: The equality of rights between men and women - replaces GC No. 4 2000, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- As regards articles 7 and 10, States parties must provide all information relevant to ensuring that the rights of persons deprived of their liberty are protected on equal terms for men and women. In particular, States parties should report on whether men and women are separated in prisons and whether women are guarded only by female guards. States parties should also report about compliance with the rule that accused juvenile females shall be separated from adults and on any difference in treatment between male and female persons deprived of liberty, such as access to rehabilitation and education programmes and to conjugal and family visits.Pregnant women who are deprived of their liberty should receive humane treatment and respect for their inherent dignity at all times, and in particular during the birth and while caring for their newborn children; States parties should report on facilities to ensure this and on medical and health care for such mothers and their babies.
- Body
- Human Rights Committee
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2000
Paragraph
Article 6: The right to life 1982, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, the Committee has noted that the right to life has been too often narrowly interpreted. The expression “inherent right to life” cannot properly be understood in a restrictive manner, and the protection of this right requires that States adopt positive measures. In this connection, the Committee considers that it would be desirable for States parties to take all possible measures to reduce infant mortality and to increase life expectancy, especially in adopting measures to eliminate malnutrition and epidemics.
- Body
- Human Rights Committee
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 1982
Paragraph
Article 24: Rights of the child 1989, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- Under article 24, paragraph 2, every child has the right to be registered immediately after birth and to have a name. In the Committee's opinion, this provision should be interpreted as being closely linked to the provision concerning the right to special measures of protection and it is designed to promote recognition of the child's legal personality. Providing for the right to have a name is of special importance in the case of children born out of wedlock. The main purpose of the obligation to register children after birth is to reduce the danger of abduction, sale of or traffic in children, or of other types of treatment that are incompatible with the enjoyment of the rights provided for in the Covenant. Reports by States parties should indicate in detail the measures that ensure the immediate registration of children born in their territory.
- Body
- Human Rights Committee
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 1989
Paragraph
Impact of the criminalization of migration on the protection and enjoyment of human rights 2010, para. 104
- Paragraph text
- States should uphold the principle of avoiding statelessness and enforce legal norms at the national and international levels to reduce statelessness resulting from the failure to register the birth of a child, including because of the fears associated with the criminalization of irregular migration. States should take effective measures to guarantee the birth registration of children born outside their parents' country of origin, regardless of the parents' immigration status.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Infants
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Report of the SR on the right to health and Agenda 2030 2016, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Review at the national and subnational levels should take place within existing national structures and processes, including national human rights institutions, policy review processes, comprehensive maternal death audits, patient's rights tribunals, and litigation. For example, national human rights institutions provide accountability for the right-to-health-related Sustainable Development Goals, including by undertaking national assessments and enquiries and by participating in other domestic and international review processes, offering advice to Governments on promoting and protecting rights in national implementation plans and on rights-based implementation, including through support for the development and use of human rights impact assessments.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Right to health and criminalization of same-sex conduct and sexual orientation, sex-work and HIV transmission 2010, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- In Sierra Leone, a person infected with HIV (and aware of the fact) must "take all reasonable measures and precautions to prevent the transmission of HIV to others and in the case of pregnant women, the foetus", with criminal sanctions imposed for failure to do so. It is unclear what "all reasonable measures and precautions" in the case of prevention of mother-to-child transmission would include, and whether such standards are clearly articulated and understood by health-care providers and pregnant women themselves to ensure that an informed decision can be made. Given the complexity of guidance on the suitability of breastfeeding, decisions on infant feeding options involve a complex balancing of risks and benefits, and require that the mother be provided with accurate, comprehensible information. In this instance, the criminal law has the potential to punish women for the inadequacy of the government in providing appropriate services and education.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Criminalisation of sexual and reproductive health 2011, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- In some instances, civil legislation related to child welfare has been expanded to include punitive sanctions for prenatal drug exposure, where such exposure may provide a ground for the termination of parental rights and the removal of the child upon birth. A pregnant woman's positive toxicology report or clinical signs of drug exposure in newborns, may be regarded as proof of child abuse or neglect under these legislative schemes. In some jurisdictions, health professionals are required to test pregnant women or newborns for drug exposure or may do so provided the woman is given notice. Others have enacted legislation authorizing the institutionalization of women who have used drugs during pregnancy. Health professionals may also be obliged to report positive drug-screening results to the Government.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- Human rights are also one of six guiding principles of Every Newborn: An Action Plan to End Preventable Deaths. The Action Plan highlights that all planning and programming for reproductive, maternal and newborn health should be guided by principles and standards derived from international human rights treaties. A range of operational tools have also been developed to help States to systematically apply human rights standards in law, policy and service delivery for young children and their caregivers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Youth
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- The reduction of under-5 mortality has been at the heart of the global development and public health agendas. The Millennium Development Goals called for a reduction of under-5 mortality by two thirds between 1990 and 2015 (goal 4). Global commitments such as the Millennium Development Goads have provided impetus for global strategies as well as national plans to accelerate progress, most notably the Secretary-General's 2010 Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health and Every Newborn: An Action Plan to End Preventable Deaths, issued by WHO in 2014. These documents have helped galvanize international and national action as well provided technical guidance for reducing under-5 mortality and morbidity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 113a
- Paragraph text
- [In addition, the Special Rapporteur recommends that other stakeholders:] Step up efforts to significantly reduce mortality and morbidity rates among newborns;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 112a
- Paragraph text
- [In this connection, the Special Rapporteur urges Governments:] To address the youngest children, especially newborns and infants, as rights holders and to join forces with all relevant stakeholders to achieve a breakthrough by significantly reducing mortality and morbidity rates among newborns;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- Infants and young children are holders of all rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as other international human rights treaties. The Convention affords special protection for early childhood in recognition of the important and particular challenges facing this age group and the progressive exercise of their rights, in accordance with their evolving capacities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- In this connection, the importance of States' commitments under the global targets for improving maternal, infant and young child nutrition must be underlined. The targets are crucial to establishing priority areas for action and catalysing global change.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Youth
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Right to health in early childhood - Right to survival and development 2015, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- In this regard, the rights of the newborn, as a rights holder, need to be addressed. Newborn children are too often not considered as deserving the status of autonomous individuals and rights holders and therefore not deserving respect and dignity. Young children, from the first days of their lives, are not only exposed to the environment in which they live but are actively shaping their surroundings by means of their presence and different forms of communication. In paragraph 10 of the recommendations adopted on its day of general discussion on implementing child rights in early childhood, held in September 2004, the Committee on the Rights of the Child underlined that the concept of the child as rights holder is "anchored in the child's daily life from the earliest stage" (para. 10).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- Maintaining breast-feeding programmes, especially in countries experiencing the HIV epidemic poses a major challenge. The Special Rapporteur intends to coordinate with the United Nations Children's Fund the World Health Organization and other relevant stakeholders to help develop policies for strengthening specific programmes for young children. She also encourages States to fully implement the Global Strategy on Infant and Young Child Feeding, to position breastfeeding as the norm and to respect and promote community-based food sovereignty approaches to complementary feeding. The International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, adopted by the World Health Assembly at its thirty-fourth session in 1981 as a minimum requirement to protect and promote appropriate infant and young child feeding, should also be supplemented by further monitoring and regulation to ensure that companies responsible for the production of baby food follow similar quality control regulations for domestic use to those for export products.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- In the technical guidance on the application of a human rights-based approach to the implementation of policies and programmes to reduce and eliminate preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age (A/HRC/27/31) Member States are urged to regulate private actors over which they exercise control, including producers and marketers of breast milk substitutes and other relevant companies (para. 70 (g)). The Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its general comment No. 15, also calls upon private companies to comply with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and relevant World Health Assembly resolutions. In its most recent resolution on ending inappropriate promotion of foods for infants and young children, adopted in May 2016, the World Health Assembly called upon manufacturers and distributors of foods for infants and young children to end all forms of inappropriate promotion.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The right to an adequate diet: the agriculture-food-health nexus 2012, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Premature deaths resulting from non-communicable diseases linked to bad diets are deaths that can be avoided, and States have a duty to protect in this regard. By implementing the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding and the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, as well as the Political Declaration of the High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases, States are not only making political commitments but also discharging their duty under international human rights law to guarantee the right to adequate food.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition is one of the leading private networks focusing on malnutrition reduction, mainly through fortification, supported largely by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Several allegations of conflict of interest have been made against the Alliance. In particular, organizations working to address infant malnutrition questioned whether its work was motivated primarily by efforts to open new markets for its members. An effective, independent evaluation mechanism is needed for balancing private sector involvement in nutrition policies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph