A/HRC/37/33 exploitation. These factors can also have a knock-on effect, such as increases in child labour and the incidence of family violence and of harmful practices against children. 6. Moreover, lack of humanitarian access – including by obstructing the free passage or timely delivery of assistance to children in need, or deliberate attacks against humanitarian workers – is one of the main challenges posed in protecting children’s rights in humanitarian situations. The denial of humanitarian access is prohibited under the fourth Geneva Convention and the additional protocols thereto, and has been identified by the Security Council as one of the six grave violations affecting children in times of war. 7. Protecting children’s rights in humanitarian situations goes beyond the immediate response to a crisis and meeting short-term needs. It involves strengthening risk reduction, capacity-building and preparedness in order to reduce the impact of situations when they are committed, as well as assisting with recovery, and re-building resilient communities to deliver long-term solutions. 8. According to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, global health threats, more frequent and intense natural disasters, spiralling conflict, violent extremism, terrorism and related humanitarian crises and the forced displacement of people threaten to reverse much of the development progress made in recent decades. Member States resolved to take further effective measures and actions, in conformity with international law, to remove obstacles and constraints, to strengthen support and to meet the special needs of people living in areas affected by complex humanitarian emergencies. In order to achieve these goals, it is vital that the most vulnerable in society, including those in crisis, are given special priority. 9. Furthermore, in the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants,5 Heads of States and Government acknowledged that global migration was often linked to humanitarian situations that called for global approaches and solutions, and pledged to ensure that migration was integrated into humanitarian, peacebuilding and human rights policies and programmes. They also recognized the particular vulnerability of children in the context of migration, and undertook to protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all refugee and migrant children, regardless of their migration status, giving primary consideration at all times to the best interests of the child and paying particular attention to the protection of unaccompanied children and those separated from their families. III. The rights of the child in humanitarian situations: international legal standards 10. International human rights law, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the optional protocols thereto, applies at all times: in peacetime, in times of conflict, and in emergencies. In this regard, it is important to note that humanitarian situations not only generate new threats to children’s rights, but also exacerbate existing ones. Humanitarian situations compromise the effective enjoyment of the rights enshrined in the Convention, including the rights to life, survival and development, family relations and not to be separated from one’s parents against one’s will, the highest attainable standard of health, an adequate standard of living, education, freedom from any form of violence or exploitation, and recreation and play. 11. Where a humanitarian situation involves armed conflict, the Convention on the Rights of the Child contains specific provisions for the protection of children’s rights. Article 38 of the Convention requires that States ensure the protection and care of children affected by armed conflict, and that rules of international humanitarian law are respected, while the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict requires States to take measures to ensure that children under 18 do not face 5 General Assembly resolution 71/1. 3