Preparations for the Special Session on Children

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 42 Special session of the General Assembly in 2001 for follow-up to the World Summit for Children, published in 2001.

What subjects does this mandate have?

13 subjects

Budget Contributions Child Development Child Needs Children Least Developed Countries Non-Governmental Organizations Partnership Programme Implementation Recommendations Regional Commissions Rights of the Child Specialized Agencies Trust Funds

What’s in this document?

20 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms the commitments adopted by the heads of State and Government at the World Summit for Children on 30 September 1990, as contained in the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children and Plan of Action for Implementing the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children in the 1990s,1 and their appeal to give every child a better future;

Also reaffirms that the special session of the General Assembly in 2001, while reviewing the achievements in the implementation and results of the World Declaration and Plan of Action, will make a renewed commitment and consider future action for children in the forthcoming decade;

Stresses that the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child2 contributes to the achievement of the goals of the World Summit for Children, and recommends that a thorough assessment of the ten years of implementation of the Convention be an essential element in the preparations for the special session;

Welcomes the initiatives and actions taken by Governments and relevant organizations, in particular the United Nations Children’s Fund, as well as regional and subregional organizations, to review the progress achieved since the World Summit for Children, and in this regard encourages appropriate national, regional and international preparatory activities with a view to contributing to the preparations for the special session and building partnerships for and with children;

Requests the Secretary-General, taking into account the national reports to be submitted by Member States, to submit to the General Assembly at its special session, through the Preparatory Committee for the Special Session, a review of the implementation and results of the World Declaration and Plan of Action, including appropriate recommendations for further actions, which also elaborates on the best practices noted and obstacles encountered in the implementation process, as well as on measures to overcome those obstacles;

Reaffirms the need for the full and effective participation of Member States, and in this regard reiterates its invitation to heads of State and Government to participate in the special session;

Welcomes the assignment by heads of State and Government of personal representatives to the Preparatory Committee, and reiterates the invitation to heads of State and Government who have not assigned personal representatives to consider doing so;

Reiterates its invitation to States members of the specialized agencies that are not Members of the United Nations to participate in the work of the special session, in the capacity of observers;

Reaffirms the important role of all relevant actors, including non-governmental organizations, in implementing the Plan of Action, and stresses the need for their active involvement in the preparatory process, including in the work of the Preparatory Committee, and at the special session, the modalities for which are being addressed by the Preparatory Committee;

Reiterates the importance of a participatory process at the national, regional and international levels with a view, inter alia, to establishing partnerships among a broad range of actors, including children and young people, in order to raise momentum for the rights and needs of children;

Highlights the important role of children and young people in this process, and in this regard encourages States to facilitate and promote their active contribution to the preparatory process, including in the work of the Preparatory Committee, and the special session;

Urges all relevant organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, including the funds and programmes, specialized agencies and the international financial institutions, actively to participate in the preparations for the special session;

Reiterates its invitation to the Committee on the Rights of the Child to provide its input to the preparatory process and at the special session;

Reiterates its invitation also to all relevant experts, including the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, to participate in the preparatory process and the special session, in accordance with the established practice;

Decides to convene the special session of the General Assembly for follow-up to the World Summit for Children from 19 to 21 September 2001, and to refer to it as the “special session on children”;

Decides also to convene two substantive sessions of the Preparatory Committee in New York during 2001, one from 29 January to 2 February and the other from 11 to 15 June;

Decides further to invite the associate members of the regional commissions listed in the footnote⁷ to participate as observers in the special session and its preparatory process, subject to the rules of procedure of the General Assembly;

⁷American Samoa, Anguilla, Aruba, British Virgin Islands, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Guam, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, Niue, Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands.

Reaffirms the importance of the full participation of the least developed countries in the special session and the preparations for the session, and in this regard expresses its appreciation to the Governments which have made financial contributions to the trust fund established by the Secretary-General for that purpose, and invites the Governments which have not yet contributed to do so;

Expresses its appreciation to the Governments which have made financial contributions towards the preparatory activities undertaken by the United Nations Children’s Fund as the substantive secretariat of the special session, and encourages Governments which have not yet contributed to do so;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-sixth session an item entitled “Follow-up to the outcome of the special session on children”.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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