Missing persons A/RES/79/173 remains, consistent with applicable international and national law, and urges all concerned States to cooperate with each other and with other concerned actors working in this area by, inter alia, providing all relevant information related to missing persons, including on their fate and whereabouts; 9. Expresses concern at the impediments caused by landmines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices, in certain instances, to efforts on identifying the whereabouts of missing persons, and calls upon States concerned to cooperate to facilitate the safe search for human remains and retrieval operations; 10. Requests States to pay the utmost attention to cases of children reported missing in connection with armed conflict and to take appropriate measures to search for and identify those children and to reunite them with their families; 11. Expresses its support for the efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross in seeking access to information on persons reported missing, and calls upon all parties to armed conflict to comply with their commitments in respect of such access and to cooperate with the International Committee of the Red Cross and its Central Tracing Agency in addressing the issue of missing persons, consistent with applicable obligations under international humanitarian law, and to adopt a comprehensive approach to this issue, including all such legal and practical measures and coordination mechanisms as may be necessary, based on humanitarian considerations only; 12. Urges States that are parties to an armed conflict to cooperate, consistent with their international obligations, in order to effectively solve cases of missing persons, including by providing mutual assistance in terms of information -sharing, victim assistance, location and identification of missing persons and recovery, identification and return of human remains and, if possible, by identifying, mapping and preserving burial sites; 13. Invites States to encourage interaction between competent organizations and institutions, such as national commissions on missing persons, which play a crucial role in clarifying the fate of persons missing in connection with armed conflict and providing support to the families of the missing; 14. Urges States, and encourages intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, to take all necessary measures at the national, regional and international levels to address the problem of persons reported missing in connection with armed conflict without any adverse distinction and to provide appropriate assistance, as requested by the concerned States, and welcomes in this regard the establishment and efforts of commissions and working groups on missing persons; 15. Calls upon States, without prejudice to their efforts to determine the fate of persons reported missing in connection with armed conflict, to take appropriate steps with regard to the legal situation of missing persons and the individual needs and accompaniment of their family members, with particular attention to the needs of women, youth, children, older persons and persons with disabilities, in such fields as social welfare, psychological and psychosocial support, financial matters, family law and property rights; 16. Invites States, national institutions and, as appropriate, intergovernmental, international and non-governmental organizations to further their engagement in order to follow forensic best practices as they apply to preventing and resolving cases of missing persons in connection with armed conflict; 17. Also invites States, national institutions and, as appropriate, intergovernmental, international and non-governmental organizations to exchange best practices and technical recommendations and to promote cooperation, as 24-24213 5/6