RES/27/14 Preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age as a human rights concern

GE.See “Levels and Trends in Child Mortality”, available from www.unicef.org/media/files/Levels_and_Trends_in_Child_Mortality_2014.pdf. 4-17712 (E)

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Human Rights Council Twenty-seventh session

Agenda item 3

Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,

political, economic, social and cultural rights,

including the right to development

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council

27/14

Preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age as

a human rights concern

The Human Rights Council,

Emphasizing that the Convention on the Rights of the Child constitutes the standard

in the promotion and protection of the rights of the child, and bearing in mind the

importance of the Optional Protocols thereto, as well as other human rights instruments,

Recalling Human Rights Council resolution 24/11 of 26 September 2013 on

preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age as a human rights

concern, as well as all other relevant resolutions on the rights of the child of the

Commission on Human Rights, the Council and the General Assembly,

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

interrelated, and recognizing the need to ensure the full and effective enjoyment by all of

their human rights, including the right to development,

Reaffirming also the right of everyone to a standard of living adequate for their

health and well-being, which is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

and the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and

mental health, as enshrined in the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural

Rights as well as in the Convention on the Rights of the Child,

Deeply concerned that more than 6,300,000 children under 5 years of age die each

year,1 mostly from preventable and treatable causes, owing to inadequate or lack of access

to integrated and quality maternal, newborn and child health care and services, early

childbearing, as well as to health determinants, such as safe drinking water and sanitation,

safe and adequate food and nutrition, and that mortality remains highest among children

belonging to the poorest and most marginalized communities,

Recognizing that a human rights-based approach to reduce and eliminate preventable

child mortality and morbidity is an approach underpinned by the principles of, inter alia,

equality and non-discrimination, participation, sustainability, transparency, the best

interests of the child, international cooperation and accountability,

Reaffirming that States should take all appropriate measures to ensure the right of

the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health

without discrimination of any kind and, in doing so, be guided by the best interests of the

child, ensuring the meaningful participation of children, consistent with their evolving

capacities, in all matters and decisions affecting their lives, bearing in mind the rights,

duties and responsibilities of parents or caregivers in relation to preventing mortality and

morbidity of children under 5 years of age, and take steps to ensure the allocation of

available resources to the maximum extent possible to achieve the full realization of the

right of the child to the highest attainable standard of health, including by strengthening

international cooperation in this field,

Reaffirming also the commitments made by States to make every effort to accelerate

the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including Millennium

Development Goal 4, to reduce by two thirds the under-5 mortality rate by 2015, Goal 5, to

improve maternal health, and Goal 6, to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, and

the need to take into account preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years

of age in the post-2015 development agenda,

Acknowledging the work done by the United Nations and its specialized agencies,

programmes and funds in relation to the reduction and elimination of preventable mortality

and morbidity of children under 5 years of age, and in that regard welcoming the Global

Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health launched by the Secretary-General, and the

related establishment of the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s

and Children’s Health and the Independent Expert Review Group on Information and

Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health, the action plan “Every Newborn: an

action plan to end preventable deaths” endorsed by the World Health Assembly, and the

analytical study by the World Health Organization entitled “Women’s and Children’s

Health: Evidence of Impact of Human Rights”,

1. Welcomes the technical guidance on the application of a human rights-based

approach to the implementation of policies and programmes to reduce and eliminate

preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age;A/HRC/27/31.

2. Urges States to disseminate the technical guidance and to apply it, as

appropriate, in the design, implementation, evaluation and monitoring of laws, policies,

programmes, budgets and mechanisms for remedy and redress, aimed at eliminating

preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age;

3. Calls upon States to adopt a human rights-based approach to reduce and

eliminate preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age, including in

scaling up efforts to achieve the integrated management of quality maternal, newborn and

child health care and services, particularly at the community and family levels, and to take

action to address the main causes of preventable mortality and morbidity of children under

5 years of age;

4. Calls upon States and other relevant stakeholders, including national human

rights institutions and non-governmental organizations, to take action at all levels to address

the interlinked root causes of preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years

of age, such as poverty, malnutrition, harmful practices, violence, stigma and

discrimination, unsafe households and environments, lack of safe drinking water and

sanitation, lack of accessible, affordable, quality and appropriate health care, services,

medicines and vaccinations, late detection of childhood illnesses and low levels and quality

of education;

5. Calls upon States to strengthen their international commitment, cooperation

and mutual assistance with the objective of reducing and eliminating preventable mortality

and morbidity of children under 5 years of age, including through the sharing of good

practices, research, policies, monitoring and capacity-building;

6. Calls upon all relevant United Nations agencies to provide technical

cooperation and assistance to States, as requested, to support the application of the technical

guidance, including through the development and dissemination of tools for its

operationalization at all relevant stages of national planning and action cycles for child

health and survival;

7. Reaffirms that the Human Rights Council should promote the effective

coordination and mainstreaming of human rights within the United Nations system;

8. Encourages the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in

close collaboration with the World Health Organization, to bring the technical guidance to

the attention of the Secretary-General and all United Nations entities with mandates

relevant to preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age, and to

continue dialogue on the issue of preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5

years of age with all relevant actors and in that regard;

9. Encourages further consideration of preventable mortality and morbidity of

children under 5 years of age in the post-2015 development agenda;

10. Requests the High Commissioner, in close collaboration with the World

Health Organization and in consultation with States, relevant United Nations agencies,

including the United Nations Children’s Fund and the Joint United Nations Programme on

HIV/AIDS, as well as the special procedures mandate holders, human rights mechanisms,

regional organizations and civil society, to prepare a report on the practical application of

the technical guidance and its impact on the development and implementation of policies

and programmes in States to reduce preventable mortality and morbidity of children under

5 years of age, and to present it to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-third session;

11. Decides to remain seized of the matter.

39th meeting

25 September 2014

[Adopted without a vote.]