United Nations
International Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of
All Migrant Workers and
Members of Their Families
Convention on the
Rights of the Child
CMW/C/GC/4-CRC/C/GC/23
Distr.: General
16 November 2017
Original: English
Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All
Committee on the Rights of the Child
Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
Joint general comment No. 4 (2017) of the Committee on the
Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and
Members of Their Families and No. 23 (2017) of the
Committee on the Rights of the Child on State obligations
regarding the human rights of children in the context of
international migration in countries of origin, transit,
destination and return*
I. Introduction
1.
The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families and the Convention on the Rights of the Child
contain legally binding obligations that relate both in general and specifically to the
protection of the human rights of children and migrants. Both Conventions contain several
provisions that establish specific obligations related to the rights of children in the context
of international migration in the countries of origin, transit, destination and return. 1
2.
The present joint general comment was adopted at the same time as joint general
comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights
of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights of children in the context
of international migration. While that general comment and the present one are stand-alone
documents in their own right, the two complement each other and should be read and
implemented together. The drafting process included a series of global and regional
consultations held between May and July 2017 with representatives of key stakeholders and
experts, including children and migrant organizations, in Bangkok, Beirut, Berlin, Dakar,
Geneva, Madrid and Mexico City. In addition, the Committees received more than 80
written contributions from States, United Nations agencies and entities, civil society
* The present joint general comment should be read in conjunction with joint general comment No. 3
1
(2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of
Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general
principles regarding the human rights of children in the context of international migration.
States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child are obliged, in terms of article 4 on
implementation of rights, read with article 2 on non-discrimination, to undertake measures regarding
economic, social and cultural rights to all children within their jurisdictions, to the maximum extent
of their available resources and with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of these
rights without prejudice to obligations that are immediately applicable according to international law.
See Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 19 (2016) on public budgeting for
the realization of children’s rights, paras. 28-34.
GE.17-20405(E)