A/HRC/39/25 health. She also noted the importance of child-friendly medical services, and that the rights of the child were being integrated into paediatric standards of care. She welcomed the important contribution made by the High-level Working Group on the Health and Human Rights of Women, Children and Adolescents, and recognized the challenges posed by child marriage to upholding sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the impact of violence and exploitation on the right to health. Too much attention had been focused on the supply side of human rights; there should be greater focus on the voices of people on the demand side of rights, through freedom of expression, assembly and association. She expressed her deep concern at the increasing number of attacks on health workers in conflict situations. A human rights-based approach was fundamental to overcoming powerlessness. 6. The Director of the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health at WHO pointed out the limited implementation of children’s rights among health practitioners in spite of the evidence indicating that it improved health outcomes. He emphasized the importance of a human rights-based approach through equality and participation, highlighting the positive role of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health. He noted the imperative need to interpret certain health practices from a human rights perspective, for example, inadequate access to or overuse of caesarean sections, commercial malnutrition, the marketing of breast-milk substitutes and trade policies that affected health outcomes. He highlighted the broad trends and factors that had an impact on child mortality, such as climate change, lack of political voice, the implications of the global economic model and the failure to implement the Millennium Development Goal on sanitation. Scientific rigour, country leadership and local ownership, social accountability and health education were vital to progress. 7. During the ensuing discussion, participants pointed out that the Sustainable Development Goals presented an opportunity to advance rights, and that good leadership could play a key role where resources were limited. With regard to developing the capacity of rights holders to claim their rights, the High-level Working Group for the Health and Human Rights of Women, Children and Adolescents should be supported, for instance by means of people’s councils at the subnational level, given that change on the ground should be local and catalyzed by young people. Some participants asked whether the parameters for child mortality could be expanded beyond 5 years of age, and stressed the challenge posed by inequality, as evidenced by the relatively small drop in mortality for the most marginalized children, including newborns. The issue was closely associated with the fight against gender inequality through the empowerment of girls and women at all levels. Real change should come from citizens’ voices and action to hold leaders accountable, and consideration should be given to broader factors, such as the role of fathers, adolescent mothers, the promotion of breastfeeding, commercial malnutrition, and health professionals who did not have a human rights focus. Legal approaches, including to combat marketing of breast-milk substitutes, could be supported by behavioural change programmes, as had been demonstrated in the implementation of anti-tobacco laws. 8. The Chief of the Right to Development Section at OHCHR stated that the central objective of the meeting was to learn from specific examples of how a human rights-based approach had an impact on the prevention of mortality and morbidity of newborns and children under the age of 5, with a view to strengthening the integration of this approach among practitioners and policymakers. The meeting provided a platform for the discussion of challenges, best practices and lessons learned among expert participants, and would explore how and to what effect the implementation of the technical guidance could have an impact on reducing child mortality. B. A human rights-based approach to the prevention of child mortality 9. The Child Rights Adviser at OHCHR referred to the international framework for the protection of children’s rights and the core elements of a human rights-based approach, namely, participation, accountability, non-discrimination and equality. The right to health was a universal right, enshrined in article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. She 4