A/HRC/19/64 Child participation 1. Children have the right to express themselves freely on all matters affecting their lives, and their views should be given due weight depending on the child‘s age and maturity.e Child participation entails in particular: a. supporting children‘s expression of their views and respecting and taking into consideration the views of the child in all situations affecting her or him; b. providing the child with the opportunity to be heard in any judicial, administrative or extrajudicial proceedings. 2. Children should be actively engaged in and empowered, according to their evolving capacity and with their informed consent, to participate meaningfully in the planning, implementation and evaluation of policies and programmes to prevent violence. The state and other appropriate actors should listen carefully to children‘s views in the light of the contribution that the child‘s perspective can bring to the quality of solutions under examination. A state’s obligations 1. The state has the paramount responsibility to uphold the rights of the child and to protect all children within its jurisdiction from all forms of violence, however mild, at all times and in all settings.f States should invest in evidence-based policies and programmes, guided by the child‘s best interests, to address factors that give rise to violence and to respond effectively when violence occurs. 2. Recognising the central role that families play in children‘s development and wellbeing and in the safeguarding of their rights, including the right to protection from all forms of violence, the state should support families in their child-rearing role by: a. providing for a network of accessible, flexible and quality childcare services; g b. facilitating positive reconciliation of family and working life; c. drawing up programmes to improve parental skills and to foster a healthy and positive family environment;h d. incorporating a child rights perspective at all levels of the budgetary process. Other actors’ obligations and participation The responsibility to prevent violence against children also extends to all services, institutions and professionals working for and with children, parents and the extended family, the media, private sector, religious communities and civil society. Best interests of the child In all actions affecting children, including those to protect them from all forms of violence, the best interests of the child should be the primary consideration. e f g h 74 Op. cit, Article 12 Ibid., Article 19. Refer to Recommendation Rec(2002)8 of the Committee of Ministers on child day-care. Refer to Recommendation Rec(2006)19 of the Committee of Ministers on policy to support positive parenting.