Plan International - Girls' Rights Platform - Girls' rights are human rights: Positioning girls at the heart of the international agenda

1. This Convention shall come into force on the ninetieth day following the day of deposit of the sixth instrument of ratification or accession.

2. Within one month of receipt of that notification, a State may inform the Court that it is investigating or has investigated its nationals or others within its jurisdiction with respect to criminal acts which may constitute crimes referred to in article 5 and which relate to the information provided in the notification to States. At the request of that State, the Prosecutor shall defer to the State's investigation of those persons unless the Pre-Trial Chamber, on the application of the Prosecutor, decides to authorize the investigation.

3. In accordance with this Statute, a person shall be criminally responsible and liable for punishment for a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court if that person: (f) Attempts to commit such a crime by taking action that commences its execution by means of a substantial step, but the crime does not occur because of circumstances independent of the person's intentions. However, a person who abandons the effort to commit the crime or otherwise prevents the completion of the crime shall not be liable for punishment under this Statute for the attempt to commit that crime if that person completely and voluntarily gave up the criminal purpose.

7. The Pre-Trial Chamber shall, on the basis of the hearing, determine whether there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that the person committed each of the crimes charged. Based on its determination, the Pre-Trial Chamber shall: (c) Adjourn the hearing and request the Prosecutor to consider: (ii) Amending a charge because the evidence submitted appears to establish a different crime within the jurisdiction of the Court.

1. In the determination of any charge, the accused shall be entitled to a public hearing, having regard to the provisions of this Statute, to a fair hearing conducted impartially, and to the following minimum guarantees, in full equality: (d) Subject to article 63, paragraph 2, to be present at the trial, to conduct the defence in person or through legal assistance of the accused's choosing, to be informed, if the accused does not have legal assistance, of this right and to have legal assistance assigned by the Court in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment if the accused lacks sufficient means to pay for it;

4. The deliberations of the Trial Chamber shall remain secret.

1. This article applies in any case where the disclosure of the information or documents of a State would, in the opinion of that State, prejudice its national security interests. Such cases include those falling within the scope of article 56, paragraphs 2 and 3, article 61, paragraph 3, article 64, paragraph 3, article 67, para-graph 2, article 68, paragraph 6, article 87, paragraph 6 and article 93, as well as cases arising at any other stage of the proceedings where such disclosure may be at issue.

4. Without prejudice to other articles in this Part, where it is necessary for the successful execution of a request which can be executed without any compulsory measures, including specifically the interview of or taking evidence from a person on a voluntary basis, including doing so without the presence of the authorities of the requested State Party if it is essential for the request to be executed, and the examination without modification of a public site or other public place, the Prosecutor may execute such request directly on the territory of a State as follows: (a) When the State Party requested is a State on the territory of which the crime is alleged to have been committed, and there has been a determination of admissibility pursuant to article 18 or 19, the Prosecutor may directly execute such request following all possible consultations with the requested State Party;

2. Any other dispute between two or more States Parties relating to the interpretation or application of this Statute which is not settled through negotiations within three months of their commencement shall be referred to the Assembly of States Parties. The Assembly may itself seek to settle the dispute or may make recommendations on further means of settlement of the dispute, including referral to the International Court of Justice in conformity with the Statute of that Court.

Underlining the need to prevent and eradicate the illicit trade in conventional arms and to prevent their diversion to the illicit market, or for unauthorized end use and end users, including in the commission of terrorist acts,

Six years after the entry into force of this Treaty, any State Party may propose an amendment to this Treaty. Thereafter, proposed amendments may only be considered by the Conference of States Parties every three years.

The Conference of States Parties shall: (e) Consider and decide the tasks and budget of the Secretariat;

States Parties may pursue, by mutual consent, arbitration to settle any dispute between them, regarding issues concerning the interpretation or application of this Treaty.

At the time of signature, ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, each State may formulate reservations, unless the reservations are incompatible with the object and purpose of this Treaty.

Stressing the importance of creating an economic, political, social, cultural and legal environment that will enable people to achieve social development at the national and international levels,

Having considered the report of the Secretary-General prepared pursuant to General Assembly resolution 53/155,

[Invites the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue to follow and review progress made in the promotion and implementation of the right to development and to submit annual reports to the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights and to provide interim reports to the open-ended working group and the independent expert on the right to development containing details on:] The implementation of resolutions of the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights with regard to the right to development;

Stressing the need for coordination and cooperation throughout the United Nations system for a more effective promotion and realization of the right to development,

Urges Member States, the Secretary-General and the United Nations system, in particular the Office of the High Commissioner, fully to support the follow-up mechanism established for the implementation of the right to development;

Recalling also the Declaration on the Right to Development, and reaffirming the importance of its full implementation,

Affirming that developed countries have a major responsibility in the context of growing interdependence to create and sustain a global economic environment that is favourable to accelerated and sustainable development,

Stresses the need for the Secretary-General to continue to give high priority to the right to development, and urges all States to promote further the right to development, as a vital element in a balanced human rights programme;

Recalling also the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which provides that everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for her/his health and well-being, including food,

Reaffirming that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated,

Recalling further the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in which the fundamental right of every person to be free from hunger is recognized,

Expressing its concern about the adverse impact on the realization of the right to food caused by many humanitarian emergencies, including plagues and natural disasters,

Supports the realization of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur as extended by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 2003/25 of 22 April 2003;

Also welcomes the continued cooperation of the High Commissioner, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Special Rapporteur, and encourages them to continue their cooperation in this regard;

Recalling its resolution 58/186 of 22 December 2003, as well as all Commission on Human Rights resolutions in this regard, in particular resolution 2004/19 of 16 April 2004,

Convinced that each State must adopt a strategy consistent with its resources and capacities to achieve its individual goals in implementing the recommendations contained in the Rome Declaration on World Food Security and the World Food Summit Plan of Action and, at the same time, cooperate regionally and internationally in order to organize collective solutions to global issues of food security in a world of increasingly interlinked institutions, societies and economies where coordinated efforts and shared responsibilities are essential,

Reaffirming also that a peaceful, stable and enabling political, social and economic environment, at both the national and the international levels, is the essential foundation that will enable States to give adequate priority to food security and poverty eradication,

Emphasizes the urgent need for taking concrete measures to fight against all forms of corruption at the national and international levels, to prevent, detect and deter in a more effective manner international transfers of illicitly acquired assets and to strengthen international cooperation in asset recovery, stresses the importance of a genuine political commitment on the part of all Governments through a firm legal framework, and in this context urges States to sign and ratify as soon as possible, and States parties to implement effectively, the United Nations Convention against Corruption;

Also reaffirms the need for an international environment that is conducive to the realization of the right to development;

Also recognizes that good governance and the rule of law at the national level assist all States in the promotion and protection of human rights, including the right to development, and agrees on the value of the ongoing efforts being made by States to identify and strengthen good governance practices, including transparent, responsible, accountable and participatory government, that are responsive and appropriate to their needs and aspirations, including in the context of agreed partnership approaches to development, capacity-building and technical assistance;

Reaffirming also that a peaceful, stable and enabling political, social and economic environment, at both the national and the international levels, is the essential foundation that will enable States to give adequate priority to food security and poverty eradication,

Reaffirms that hunger constitutes an outrage and a violation of human dignity and therefore requires the adoption of urgent measures at the national, regional and international levels for its elimination;

Supports the realization of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur as extended by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 2003/25 of 22 April 2003;

Requests the Special Rapporteur to submit a comprehensive report to the Commission on Human Rights at its sixty-second session and an interim report to the General Assembly at its sixty-first session on the implementation of the present resolution;

Reaffirming also the universality, indivisibility, interrelatedness, interdependence and mutually reinforcing nature of all civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, including the right to development,

Also reaffirms the need for an international environment that is conducive to the realization of the right to development;

Calls for the implementation of a desirable pace of meaningful trade liberalization, including in areas under negotiation; implementation of commitments on implementation-related issues and concerns; review of special and differential-treatment provisions, with a view to strengthening them and making them more precise, effective and operational; avoidance of new forms of protectionism; and capacity-building and technical assistance for developing countries as important issues in making progress towards the effective implementation of the right to development;

Also requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the General Assembly at its sixty-first session and an interim report to the Commission on Human Rights at its sixty-second session on the implementation of the present resolution, including efforts undertaken at the national, regional and international levels in the promotion and realization of the right to development, and invites the chairperson of the Working Group on the Right to Development to present a verbal update to the General Assembly at its sixty-first session.

Calls upon all States to translate into concrete action their commitment to the progressive and effective elimination of child labour that is likely to be hazardous to or interfere with the child's education or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development, to eliminate immediately the worst forms of child labour, to promote education as a key strategy in this regard, including the creation of vocational training and apprenticeship programmes and the integration of working children into the formal education system, and to examine and devise economic policies, where necessary, in cooperation with the international community, that address factors contributing to these forms of child labour;

Calls upon all States to ensure that children are entitled to their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights without discrimination of any kind;

Calls upon the United Nations system and the international community to cooperate with States in the development of projects to build capacity and to educate and train demobilized children in order to reintegrate them into society;

[Calls upon all States:] To increase cooperation at all levels to prevent and dismantle networks trafficking in children;

Recalling further the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in which the fundamental right of every person to be free from hunger is recognized,

Recognizes the need to address market access for developing countries, including in agriculture, services and non-agricultural products, in particular those of interest to developing countries;

Noting that the global environment continues to suffer degradation, causing a negative impact on the realization of the right to food, in particular in developing countries,

Stressing the importance of reversing the continuing decline of official development assistance devoted to agriculture, both in real terms and as a share of total official development assistance,

Recognizes that the promises made at the World Food Summit in 1996 to halve the number of persons who are undernourished are not being fulfilled, and invites once again all international financial and development institutions, as well as the relevant United Nations agencies and funds, to give priority to and provide the necessary funding to realize the aim of halving by 2015 the proportion of people who suffer from hunger, as well as the right to food as set out in the Rome Declaration on World Food Security5 and the United Nations Millennium Declaration;3

Taking note with appreciation of the attention paid to children in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and in the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance,

Calls upon States to establish or strengthen national bodies, such as independent ombudspersons for children, where appropriate, or other institutions for the promotion and protection of the rights of the child;

Recognizing the importance of the integration of child rights issues into the follow-up of the outcome documents of all major United Nations conferences, special sessions and summits,

Decides to continue the consideration of the question at its sixty-third session under the item entitled “Promotion and protection of human rights”.

Welcoming the outcome of the eighth session of the Working Group on the Right to Development of the Human Rights Council, held in Geneva from 26 February to 2 March 2007, as contained in the report of the Working Group,

[Also stresses that it is important that the high-level task force and the Working Group, in the discharge of their mandates, take into account the need:] To strive for greater acceptance, operationalization and realization of the right to development at the international level, while urging all States to undertake at the national level the necessary policy formulation and to institute the measures required for the implementation of the right to development as a fundamental human right, and also urging all States to expand and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in ensuring development and eliminating obstacles to development in the context of promoting effective international cooperation for the realization of the right to development, bearing in mind that lasting progress towards the implementation of the right to development requires effective development policies at the national level as well as equitable economic relations and a favourable economic environment at the international level;

Recognizes the need to address market access for developing countries, including in agriculture, services and non-agricultural products, in particular those of interest to developing countries;

Stressing the importance of reversing the continuing decline of official development assistance devoted to agriculture, both in real terms and as a share of total official development assistance,

Reaffirms the need to ensure that programmes delivering safe and nutritious food are inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities;

[Recommends that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children, taking care to avoid duplication with relevant United Nations mechanisms and treaty bodies:] Act as a high-profile and independent global advocate to promote the prevention and elimination of all forms of violence against children in all regions, acting as a catalyst to stimulate the engagement of Member States and civil society to prevent and respond to violence against children, keeping the issue high on the international agenda and maintaining the attention to the issue of violence against children achieved through the process of the United Nations study on violence against children;

Requests the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children, upon his/her appointment, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict to cooperate and coordinate their activities, bearing in mind their complementarity, and in this regard to ensure between them, within their respective mandates, that the situations of all children subject to or at risk of violence are addressed, including those of armed conflict, foreign occupation, genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, terrorism or hostage-taking, or where peacekeeping operations are deployed, in order to ensure that no child is left uncovered;

Noting that environmental degradation, desertification and global climate change are exacerbating destitution and desperation, causing a negative impact on the realization of the right to food, in particular in developing countries,

Considers it intolerable that more than 6 million children still die every year from hunger-related illness before their fifth birthday, that there are about 854 million undernourished people in the world and that, while the prevalence of hunger has diminished, the absolute number of undernourished people has been increasing in recent years when, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the planet could produce enough food to feed 12 billion people, twice the world's present population;

Reaffirming the universality, indivisibility, interrelatedness, interdependence and mutually reinforcing nature of all civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, including the right to development,

Also stresses that the above criteria, as endorsed by the Working Group, should be used, as appropriate, in the elaboration of a comprehensive and coherent set of standards for the implementation of the right to development;

Reaffirms the primary responsibility of States to create national and international conditions favourable to the realization of the right to development, as well as their commitment to cooperate with each other to that end;

Emphasizes the urgent need for taking concrete and effective measures to prevent, combat and criminalize all forms of corruption at all levels, to prevent, detect and deter in a more effective manner international transfers of illicitly acquired assets and to strengthen international cooperation in asset recovery consistent with the principles of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, particularly chapter V thereof, stresses the importance of a genuine political commitment on the part of all Governments through a firm legal framework, and in this context urges States to sign and ratify as soon as possible, and States parties to implement effectively, the Convention;

Also recognizes that good governance and the rule of law at the national level assist all States in the promotion and protection of human rights, including the right to development, and agrees on the value of the ongoing efforts being made by States to identify and strengthen good governance practices, including transparent, responsible, accountable and participatory government, that are responsive and appropriate to their needs and aspirations, including in the context of agreed partnership approaches to development, capacity-building and technical assistance;

Urges States to give adequate priority in their development strategies and expenditures to the realization of the right to food;

Reaffirming that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, and that they must be treated globally, in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing and with the same emphasis,

Welcoming the theme “The right to food”, chosen by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to mark World Food Day on 16 October 2007,

Encourages all States to take steps with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the right to food, including steps to promote the conditions for everyone to be free from hunger and, as soon as possible, to enjoy fully the right to food, and to create and adopt national plans to combat hunger, and recognizes in this regard the great efforts and positive developments with respect to the right to food in some developing countries and regions, including those highlighted in the interim report of the Special Rapporteur;

Recognizes that the promises made at the World Food Summit in 1996 to halve the number of persons who are undernourished are not being fulfilled, and invites once again all international financial and development institutions, as well as the relevant United Nations agencies and funds, to give priority to and provide the necessary funding to realize the aim of halving by 2015 the proportion of people who suffer from hunger, as well as the right to food as set out in the Rome Declaration on World Food Security6 and the United Nations Millennium Declaration;4

Encourages all States and requests United Nations entities, regional organizations and civil society, including non-governmental organizations, to continue to widely disseminate and follow up on the study on violence against children by the independent expert appointed by the Secretary-General and to cooperate with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children, once appointed, in promoting the implementation of the recommendations of the study, while promoting and ensuring country ownership and national plans and programmes in this regard;

Also calls upon all States to address, as a matter of priority, the vulnerabilities faced by children affected by and living with HIV, by providing support and rehabilitation to those children and their families, women and the elderly, particularly in their role as caregivers, promoting child-oriented HIV/AIDS policies and programmes and increased protection for children orphaned and affected by HIV/AIDS, pursuing all necessary efforts towards the goal of universal access to comprehensive prevention programmes, treatment, care and support by 2010 and intensifying efforts to develop new treatments for children, and building, where needed, and supporting the social security systems that protect them;

Calls upon States and the international community to create an environment in which the well-being of the child is ensured, including by strengthening international cooperation in this field;

[Expresses deep concern about the persistence of the practices of the sale of children, child slavery, commercial sexual exploitation of children, child prostitution and child pornography in many parts of the world, and calls upon all States:] In cases of trafficking in children, the sale of children, child prostitution, child pornography and child sex tourism, to address effectively the needs of victims, including their safety, legal assistance and protection, physical and psychological recovery and full reintegration into society, paying particular attention to their gender-specific needs, including through bilateral and multilateral technical cooperation and financial assistance;

Welcoming the entry into force of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the attention paid to children in this international instrument,

[Calls upon States:] To ensure timely and adequate funding for national disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes for children and for settlement, rehabilitation and reintegration efforts for all children associated with armed forces and groups, including detained children, particularly in support of national initiatives, to secure the long-term sustainability of such efforts, including through the use of a multisectoral and community-based approach that is inclusive of all children, family-based care arrangements, as also highlighted in the Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups (the Paris Principles), and the mobilization of financial resources and technical assistance from international cooperation for rehabilitation and reintegration programmes for children, including by making use of all international forums and conferences related to this matter, including the meetings in follow-up to the “Free Children from War” conference, held in Paris on 5 and 6 February 2007;

Recognizes that a comprehensive and coherent approach to preventing and eradicating child labour must aim at poverty eradication, sustainable development and the provision of quality education and social protection measures, including protection against economic exploitation; special attention should be given to preventing any work that is likely to be hazardous, to interfere with the child's education or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development so as to respond to the multidimensional reality of child labour;

Reaffirming all previous resolutions and decisions on the right to food adopted within the framework of the United Nations,

[Also calls upon all States:] To ensure that the applicable requirements of the International Labour Organization for the employment of girls and boys are respected and effectively enforced, to ensure also that girls who are employed have equal access to decent work and equal pay and remuneration, and are protected from economic exploitation, discrimination, sexual harassment, violence and abuse in the workplace, are aware of their rights and have access to formal and non-formal education, skills development and vocational training, and to raise government and public awareness as to the nature and scope of the special needs of girls, including migrant girls, employed as domestic workers and of those performing excessive domestic chores in their own households;

Noting with appreciation also the attention paid to children in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,

Calls upon all States to prevent violations of the rights of children working and/or living on the street, including discrimination, arbitrary detention and extrajudicial, arbitrary or summary executions, torture and all kinds of violence and exploitation, and to bring the perpetrators to justice, to adopt and implement policies for the protection, social and psychosocial rehabilitation and reintegration of those children and to adopt economic, social and educational strategies to address the problems of children working and/or living on the street;

Recognizes the important link between the international economic, commercial and financial spheres and the realization of the right to development, stresses, in this regard, the need for good governance and broadening the base of decision-making at the international level on issues of development concern and the need to fill organizational gaps, as well as to strengthen the United Nations system and other multilateral institutions, and also stresses the need to broaden and strengthen the participation of developing countries and countries with economies in transition in international economic decision-making and norm-setting;

Reiterating its continuing support for the New Partnership for Africa's Development as a development framework for Africa,

Acknowledging the importance of equitable access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as an integral component of the realization of all human rights,

Recalling also the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949,

Reaffirming the objective of making the right to development a reality for everyone, as set out in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, adopted by the General Assembly on 8 September 2000,

Stressing that poverty eradication is one of the critical elements in the promotion and realization of the right to development and that poverty is a multifaceted problem that requires a multifaceted and integrated approach in addressing economic, political, social, environmental and institutional dimensions at all levels, especially in the context of the millennium development goal of halving, by 2015, the proportion of the world's people whose income is less than one dollar a day and the proportion of people who suffer from hunger,

Stresses its commitment to indigenous peoples in the process of the realization of the right to development, and reaffirms the commitment to promote their rights in the areas of education, employment, vocational training and retraining, housing, sanitation, health and social security, in accordance with recognized international human rights obligations and taking into account, as appropriate, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 61/295 of 13 September 2007;

Recalling its resolutions 54/175 of 17 December 1999 on the right to development, 55/196 of 20 December 2000, by which it proclaimed 2003 the International Year of Freshwater, 58/217 of 23 December 2003, by which it proclaimed the International Decade for Action, “Water for Life”, 2005–2015, 59/228 of 22 December 2004, 61/192 of 20 December 2006, by which it proclaimed 2008 the International Year of Sanitation, and 64/198 of 21 December 2009 regarding the midterm comprehensive review of the implementation of the International Decade for Action, “Water for Life”; Agenda 21 of June 1992; the Habitat Agenda of 1996; the Mar del Plata Action Plan of 1977 adopted by the United Nations Water Conference; and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development of June 1992,

Recalling also the outcomes of all the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic and social fields,

Recognizing that poverty is an affront to human dignity,

[Also stresses that it is important that the high-level task force and the Working Group, in the discharge of their mandates, take into account the need:] To strive for greater acceptance, operationalization and realization of the right to development at the international level, while urging all States to undertake at the national level the necessary policy formulation and to institute the measures required for the implementation of the right to development as an integral part of fundamental human rights, and also urging all States to expand and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in ensuring development and eliminating obstacles to development in the context of promoting effective international cooperation for the realization of the right to development, bearing in mind that lasting progress towards the implementation of the right to development requires effective development policies at the national level and a favourable economic environment at the international level;

Recognizes the need to address market access for developing countries, including in agriculture, services and non-agricultural products, in particular those of interest to developing countries;

Recognizes the need for strong partnerships with civil society organizations and the private sector in pursuit of poverty eradication and development, as well as for corporate social responsibility;

Also requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the General Assembly at its sixty-eighth session and an interim report to the Human Rights Council on the implementation of the present resolution, including efforts undertaken at the national, regional and international levels in the promotion and realization of the right to development, and invites the Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group to present an oral report and to engage in an interactive dialogue with the Assembly at its sixty-eighth session.

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights;

Recognizes the important link between the international economic, commercial and financial spheres and the realization of the right to development, stresses in this regard the need for good governance and for broadening the base of decision-making at the international level on issues of development concern and the need to fill organizational gaps, as well as to strengthen the United Nations system and other multilateral institutions, and also stresses the need to broaden and strengthen the participation of developing countries and countries with economies in transition in international economic decision-making and norm-setting;

Recalling also the outcomes of all the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic and social fields,

Recalling the outcomes adopted at the Tenth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, held in Nairobi from 15 to 19 December 2015,

Recalls the commitment in the United Nations Millennium Declaration of halving the number of people living in poverty by 2015, notes with concern that some developing countries have failed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and in this regard invites Member States and the international community to take proactive measures aimed at creating a conducive environment to contribute to the effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda, in particular increasing international cooperation, including partnership and commitment, between developed and developing countries towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals;

Further recalls the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, entitled "The future we want";

Encourages relevant bodies of the United Nations system, within their respective mandates, including the specialized agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system, relevant international organizations, including the World Trade Organization and relevant stakeholders, including civil society organizations, to give due consideration to the right to development in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, to contribute further to the work of the Working Group and to cooperate with the High Commissioner in the fulfilment of his mandate with regard to the implementation of the right to development;

Reaffirms the right of everyone, individually and in association with others, to unhindered access to and communication with international bodies, in particular the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights, including the Human Rights Council, its special procedures, the universal periodic review mechanism and the treaty bodies, as well as regional human rights mechanisms;

[Calls upon all States to create and maintain a safe and enabling environment for the realization of human rights and specifically to ensure that:] Where legislation and procedures governing the registration and funding of civil society organizations exist, they are transparent, non-discriminatory, expeditious, inexpensive, allow for the possibility to appeal and avoid requiring re-registration, with national legislation being in compliance with international human rights law;

Calls once again for the implementation of a desirable pace of meaningful trade liberalization, including in areas under negotiation in the World Trade Organization, the implementation of commitments on implementation-related issues and concerns, a review of special and differential treatment provisions, with a view to strengthening them and making them more precise, effective and operational, the avoidance of new forms of protectionism, and capacity-building and technical assistance for developing countries as important issues in making progress towards the effective implementation of the right to development;

Emphasizes the urgent need to take concrete and effective measures to prevent, combat and criminalize all forms of corruption at all levels, to prevent, detect and deter in a more effective manner international transfers of illicitly acquired assets and to strengthen international cooperation in asset recovery, consistent with the principles of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, particularly chapter V thereof, stresses the importance of a genuine political commitment on the part of all Governments through a firm legal framework, and in this context urges States to sign and ratify the Convention as soon as possible and States parties to implement it effectively;

Encourages the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the special procedures, within their respective mandates, to continue the efforts related to the protection of human rights defenders, as laid out in relevant resolutions, including by offering technical assistance for the consideration of States in bringing their legislation and its application into line with the obligations and commitments of States under international human rights law;

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Expresses its deep concern about attacks, as well as threats of attacks, in contravention of applicable international law against schools and/or hospitals, and protected persons in relation to them, welcomes the publication of the guidance note on Security Council resolution 1998 (2011) of 12 July 2011 on attacks on schools and hospitals by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and takes note of the adoption of Security Council resolution 2143 (2014) of 7 March 2014;

Expresses its deep concern about the growing number of attacks and threats of attacks against schools, and recognizes the grave impact of such attacks on children's and teachers' safety, as well as on the full realization of the right to education, also expresses its concern that the military use of schools in contravention of applicable international law may also affect the safety of children and teachers and the right of the child to education, and encourages all States to strengthen efforts to prevent the military use of schools in contravention of international law;

[Calls upon all States to give full effect to the right to education for all children and in particular:] To establish child-friendly and confidential counselling, complaints and reporting mechanisms to address incidents of violence, including sexual violence, against children in schools or on the way to or from school, and support the rehabilitation of child victims, as well as for the promotion of training and guidance for teachers and school staff to detect and report cases of violence against children to the relevant authorities;

Mindful of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which reaffirms, in article 19, the right of everyone to hold opinions without interference, as well as the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art or through any other media of their choice and noting that these rights and freedoms are among those which give meaning to the right to participate effectively in a free society,

Recognizes the need to address market access for developing countries, including in the sectors of agriculture, services and non-agricultural products, in particular those of interest to developing countries;

Recognizes that forensic investigation can play an important role in combating impunity by providing the evidentiary basis on which prosecutions can successfully be brought against persons responsible for violations of human rights and, where applicable, international humanitarian law and encourages further coordination concerning, inter alia, the planning and realization of such investigations, as well as the protection of forensic and related experts, between Governments, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations;

Stressing the primary responsibility of States for the creation of national and international conditions favourable to the realization of the right to development,

[Decides:] To take note of the work of the high-level task force, including its consolidation of findings and the list of right to development criteria and corresponding operational sub-criteria;

Emphasizing the urgent need to make the right to development a reality for everyone,

Reaffirming also Human Rights Council resolutions 4/4 of 30 March 2007 and 9/3 of 17 September 2008, and recalling all Commission on Human Rights, Council and General Assembly resolutions on the right to development,

Decides to review the progress of the implementation of the present resolution, as a matter of priority, at its future sessions.

Gravely concerned that hunger, like poverty, is still predominantly a rural problem, and that in the rural population it is those who produce food who suffer disproportionately, and alarmed that 75 per cent of people suffering from hunger live in rural areas, particularly in developing countries, and 50 per cent are small-scale and traditional farm holders, as well as subsistence farmers, and that they are especially vulnerable to food insecurity, malnutrition, discrimination and exploitation,

Recognizing that Member States should cooperate with each other in ensuring development and eliminating lasting obstacles to development, that the international community should promote effective international cooperation, in particular a global partnership for development, for the realization of the right to development and the elimination of obstacles to development, and that lasting progress towards the implementation of the right to development requires effective development policies at the national level, as well as equitable economic relations and a favourable economic environment at the international level,

Recognizes that, in the exercise of the rights and freedoms referred to in the Declaration, human rights defenders, acting individually and in association with others, shall be subject only to such limitations as are in accordance with applicable international obligations and are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the Commission on the Status of Women at its fifty-eighth session on the situation of women, the girl child and HIV and AIDS, with an emphasis on accelerated actions taken in regard to women, the girl child and HIV and AIDS, in accordance with the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, the 2006 and 2011 Political Declarations on HIV/AIDS and the 2011 Commitments on HIV/AIDS, using information provided by Member States and the United Nations system.

Welcoming the leadership and commitment shown in every aspect of the HIV and AIDS response by Governments, people living with HIV, political and community leaders, parliaments, regional and subregional organizations, communities, families, faith-based organizations, scientists, health professionals, donors, the philanthropic community, workforces, the business sector, civil society and the media, including the African Union Roadmap on Shared Responsibility and Global Solidarity for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Response in Africa,

Welcoming the ongoing partnerships between a variety of stakeholders at the local, national, regional and global levels aimed at addressing the multifaceted determinants of global health and the commitments and initiatives to accelerate progress on the health-related Millennium Development Goals, including those announced at the high-level event on the Millennium Development Goals held at United Nations Headquarters on 25 September 2008, and at the corresponding follow-up high-level event held on 23 September 2009,

Recalling the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms,

Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,

Welcoming the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the commitments therein to, inter alia, promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels, and strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, and also welcoming its recognition of the importance of multi-stakeholder partnerships for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals,

Urges States to create and maintain, in law and in practice, a safe and enabling environment in which civil society can operate free from hindrance and insecurity;

Emphasizing also that all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development, can only be enjoyed in an inclusive and collaborative framework at the international, regional and national levels, and in this regard underlining the importance of engaging the United Nations system, including United Nations specialized agencies, funds and programmes, within their respective mandates, relevant international organizations, including financial and trade organizations, and relevant stakeholders, including civil society organizations, development practitioners, human rights experts and the public at all levels, in discussions on the right to development,

Recognizing the need for greater coordination and commitment to improving access to health services for women and children through a primary health-care approach and the provision of proven and well-known evidence-based interventions and to reducing maternal, newborn and child mortality and morbidity, including through a continuum of services, including family planning, prenatal care, skilled birth attendance, emergency obstetric care and post-partum care, including for those living in poverty and in underserved rural areas,

Calls upon Member States to ensure the right of women and girls to education of good quality and on an equal basis with men and boys, to ensure that they complete a full course of primary education, and to renew their efforts to improve and expand girls' and women's education at all levels, including at the secondary and higher levels, as well as vocational education and technical training, in order to, inter alia, achieve gender equality, the empowerment of women and poverty eradication;

Urges Member States, with the help of the United Nations system and the international community where needed, to strengthen health systems for women and girls in order to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity, through health financing, training and retention of the health workforce, increasing knowledge and awareness regarding securing appropriate prenatal and post-natal care, procuring and distributing medicines, vaccines, commodities and equipment, and improving infrastructure, information systems, service delivery and political will in leadership and governance, bearing in mind a need for gender mainstreaming;

Reaffirming also that gender equality, the empowerment of women and the elimination of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity cannot be achieved without promoting and protecting the right of women to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, and reaffirming that expanding access to sexual and reproductive health information and health services is essential for achieving the Beijing Platform for Action, the Cairo Programme of Action and the Millennium Development Goals and is crucial for achieving gender equality, the empowerment of women and the full enjoyment by women of all human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Urges Member States to build on effective, multisectoral and integrated approaches and to take action at all levels to address the interlinked root causes of maternal mortality and morbidity, such as, inter alia, poverty, poor nutrition, early marriage, barriers to education, the lack of accessible and appropriate health-care services, information and education, and gender inequality, and to pay particular attention to eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls and to promoting women's and girls' full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms;

Urges Member States and the United Nations system to take steps to implement the recommendations of the World Health Organization for intermittent preventive treatment for all pregnant women at risk of severe malarial infection in high-prevalence malaria areas in sub-Saharan African countries, and strongly encourages Member States to support efforts to increase the use of insecticidal bednets by all family members, including those most vulnerable to malaria, such as pregnant women;

Urges Governments, employers' and workers' organizations and other relevant stakeholders, as appropriate, to take measures in and through workplaces to prevent and reduce the transmission of HIV and alleviate its impact by ensuring gender equality and the empowerment of women, including ensuring actions to prevent and prohibit violence, discrimination and harassment in the workplace, in line with the Recommendation concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work, 2010 (No. 200), of the International Labour Organization, and facilitate provision of current information on HIV and AIDS through employment programmes and services and in vocational training, especially for youth;

Recommends that a bold vision for addressing the HIV epidemic, including the situation of women and girls living with and affected by HIV and AIDS, be given due consideration in the elaboration of the post-2015 development agenda;

[Urges States parties to take all appropriate measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the Convention, bearing in mind article 4 of the Convention, by:] Ensuring adequate and systematic training in the rights of the child for professional groups working with and for children, including specialized judges, law enforcement officials, lawyers, social and community workers, medical doctors, health professionals and teachers, and coordination among various government bodies involved in children's rights, and encourages States and relevant bodies and organizations of the United Nations system to continue to promote education and training in this regard;

[Calls upon all States:] To ensure as far as possible the right of the child to know and be cared for by his or her parents; to ensure that the child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will, except when the competent authorities, subject to judicial review, determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures and giving all interested parties an opportunity to participate in the proceedings and make their views known, that such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child, consistent with article 9 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child;

[Calls upon all States:] To promote an educational setting that eliminates all barriers that impede the schooling of pregnant adolescents and adolescent mothers;

Welcoming the work of the Committee on the Rights of the Child in examining the progress made by States parties in implementing the obligations undertaken in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and in providing recommendations to States parties on its implementation and, in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in enhancing awareness of the principles and provisions of the Convention, and taking note of the conclusions of the general discussion on the rights of indigenous children held in September 2003 (see CRC/C/133, annex II),

Underlining the need for mainstreaming a gender perspective in all policies and programmes relating to children,

Recognizing that the family is the basic unit of society and as such should be strengthened; that it is entitled to receive comprehensive protection and support; that the primary responsibility for the protection, upbringing and development of children rests with the family; that all institutions of society should respect children's rights and secure their well being and render appropriate assistance to parents, families, legal guardians and other caregivers so that children can grow and develop in a safe and stable environment and in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding, bearing in mind that in different cultural, social and political systems, various forms of family exist,