A/HRC/39/25 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 33/11, the Human Rights Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to organize, prior to its thirty-ninth session and in close collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), an expert workshop to discuss experiences in preventing mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age, with a particular focus on the implementation of the technical guidance, including challenges, best practices and lessons learned, and including consideration of the particular challenges in respect of the newborn child. 2. The expert meeting, held on 27 and 28 June 2017 at the United Nations Office at Geneva, was attended by 36 participants from all regions, representing United Nations agencies, Governments and civil society organizations, as well as health sector policymakers and practitioners. A background document prepared to guide discussions at the meeting included case studies on how a human rights approach to addressing mortality and morbidity among children under 5 had been approached to date.1 3. The expert meeting built upon a body of existing work to address child mortality and morbidity from a human rights perspective undertaken on the basis of mandates given by the Human Rights Council and the World Health Assembly. In its resolution 22/32, the Council invited, inter alia, the Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) and WHO to prepare a study on mortality of children under 5 years of age as a human rights concern; in its resolution 24/11, it requested OHCHR and WHO to prepare technical guidance on a human rights-based approach to reduce and eliminate preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age (A/HRC/27/31), as well as an initial report on the implementation of the technical guidance (A/HRC/33/23). 4. This substantive work complements the work done by the independent Expert Review Group on Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health and the establishment of the Independent Accountability Panel and the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016–2030). In addition, the adoption of the Every Newborn Action Plan in 2014 by the World Health Assembly has been crucial in drawing attention to the particular needs of the newborn child. Furthermore, the High-level Working Group on the Health and Human Rights of Women, Children and Adolescents, established in May 2016 by WHO and OHCHR, to secure political support for the implementation of the Global Strategy, presented a report of its findings and recommendations in May 2017. 2 II. A human rights-based approach to child mortality and health care A. Opening and expected outcomes 5. At the opening session on human rights in the future and the implications for child survival, the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights noted the substantial progress that has been made in recent decades in reducing child mortality; the global number of child deaths had declined from 12.7 million in 1990 to 5.9 million in 2016. Overall progress had been the result of many different factors, including improvements in medical services, technology, advances in immunization and the treatment of childhood infections, as well as the development of standards and respect for human rights. Human rights were intrinsically linked to the realization of the right to health, including the right to education, the right to information, water and sanitation, and the right to be free from violence and discrimination. She stressed that political leadership and commitment, and accountability, were essential to ensure the implementation of the right to 1 2 Available at www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Children/ReportExpertMeetingExperiences ApplyingAHumanNov2017.pdf. WHO and OHCHR, “Leading the Realization of Human Rights to Health and Through Health”, 2017. 3