United Nations Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Children in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice A/RES/69/194 Recognizing the complementary roles of crime prevention, the criminal justice system, child protection agencies and the health, education and social sectors, as well as civil society, in creating a protective environment and preventing and responding to incidents of violence against children, Being aware of the different economic, social and cultural contexts of crime prevention and criminal justice prevailing in each Member State, Recalling its resolution 68/189 of 18 December 2013, in which it requested the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to convene a meeting of an open-ended intergovernmental expert group, in collaboration with all relevant United Nations entities, in particular the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the High Commissioner and the Special Representative, to develop a draft set of model strategies and practical measures on the elimination of violence against children in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice, to be considered by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at its session following the meeting of the open-ended intergovernmental expert group, 1. Strongly condemns all acts of violence against children, reaffirms the duty of the State to protect children from all forms of violence in both public and private settings, and calls for the elimination of impunity, including by investigating and prosecuting, with due process, and punishing all perpetrators; 2. Expresses its extreme concern about the secondary victimization of children that may occur within the justice system, and reaffirms the responsibility of States to protect children from this form of violence; 3. Welcomes the work done at the meeting of the expert group on the development of draft model strategies and practical measures on the elimination of violence against children in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice, held in Bangkok from 18 to 21 February 2014, and takes note with appreciation of its report;21 4. Adopts the United Nations Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Children in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice annexed to the present resolution; 5. Urges Member States to take all necessary and effective measures, as appropriate, to prevent and respond to all forms of violence against children who come in contact with the justice system as victims, witnesses or alleged or recognized offenders, and to provide for consistency in their laws and policies and in the application thereof in order to promote the implementation of the Model Strategies and Practical Measures; 6. Also urges Member States to remove any barrier, including any kind of discrimination, that children may face in accessing justice and in effectively participating in criminal proceedings, to pay particular attention to the issue of the rights of the child and the child’s best interests in the administration of justice and to ensure that children in contact with the criminal justice system are treated in a child-sensitive manner, taking into account the specific needs of those children who are in particularly vulnerable situations; 7. Encourages Member States that have not yet integrated crime prevention and children’s issues into their overall rule of law efforts to do so, and to develop and implement a comprehensive crime prevention and justice system policy, with a _______________ 21 See E/CN.15/2014/14/Rev.1. 3/29