A/HRC/7/78
page 83
(f) To end impunity for perpetrators of crimes against children, and to investigate and
prosecute such acts of violence and impose appropriate penalties, recognizing that persons
convicted of violent offences against children, including sexual abuse of children, should be able
to work with children only after adequate national safeguards have been used to determine that
they do not pose a risk of harm to children;
15. Requests the Secretary-General to take urgent action on General Assembly
resolution 62/141 and to appoint, in accordance with Assembly resolution 62/141, at the highest
possible level and without delay, a Special Representative on violence against children and to
report on progress made to the Council at its eighth session;
Identity, family relations and birth registration
16. Urges all States parties to intensify their efforts to comply with their obligations
under the Convention on the Rights of the Child to preserve the child’s identity, including
nationality, name and family relations, as recognized by law, to allow for the registration of the
child immediately after birth, irrespective of his/her status, to ensure that registration procedures
are simple, expeditious and effective and provided free of charge, and to raise awareness of the
importance of birth registration at the national, regional and local levels;
17. Calls upon States to take necessary measures to prevent and combat illegal adoptions
and all adoptions that are not in the best interest of the child, by establishing policy, legislation
and effective supervision for the protection of children involved in national and intercountry
adoptions, bearing in mind the best interest of the child;
18. Also calls upon States to address cases of international abduction of children, bearing
in mind that the best interest of the child shall be a primary consideration, and encourages States
to engage in multilateral and bilateral cooperation to ensure, inter alia, the return of the child to
the country where he or she resided immediately before removal or retention and, in this respect,
to pay particular attention to cases of international abduction of children by one of their parents
or other relatives;
19. Further calls upon States to guarantee, to the extent consistent with the obligations
of each State, the right of a child whose parents reside in different States to maintain, on a
regular basis, save in exceptional circumstances, personal relations and direct contact with both
parents by providing enforceable means of access and visitation in both States and by respecting
the principle that both parents have common responsibilities for the upbringing and development
of their children;
20. Reaffirms the findings of the General Assembly in paragraph 16 of its
resolution 62/141 and the importance of promoting appropriate parental care and family
preservation where possible, and encourages States to adopt and enforce laws and improve the
implementation of policies and programmes to protect children growing up without parents or
caregivers; where alternative care is necessary, decision-making should be in the best interests of
the child, in full consultation with the child and his/her legal guardians, and in this context,
encourages the advancement of the draft United Nations guidelines for the appropriate use and
conditions of alternative care for children; further attention should be given to these guidelines
by the Council at its eighth session;
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