A/HRC/17/46 UNICEF in improving the international community’s understanding of the complex and changing factors causing children to lead a life on the street. 37. With regard to prevention, speakers emphasized the need to develop comprehensive national strategies and Government coordinating mechanisms to promote children’s rights; to promote family policies aimed at supporting them in their child-rearing responsibilities; to prevent as far as possible the separation of children from their families; to provide community-based alternatives to avoid the placement of children in institutions; to punish perpetrators of violence against children; and to ensure that victims had access to justice. 38. Protecting children from harm and promoting their rights required a holistic approach with a multiplicity of stakeholders working together in synergy with the international community. A holistic approach was a challenge for Governments, as many different stakeholders needed to get together and wide gaps remained between policy and practice. Also, many countries suffered from a lack of capacity and resources to address this issue. The need to create sustainable social welfare support for children living and working on the street was stressed. One common denominator was the lack of social protection and care and the importance of having institutions in place that were childsensitive and enjoyed the trust of children, especially those most vulnerable and stigmatized. Speakers referred to different initiatives at the national, regional and international levels to help children living on the street and invited countries to share the results of their initiatives, as well as examples of best practices. It was essential that strategies and responses be developed in a holistic manner in cooperation with relevant United Nations bodies, regional organizations and expert non-governmental organizations. 39. Non-governmental organizations reiterated that children living on the street were fully entitled to assistance and protection from the State without discrimination. Placing these children in large care institutions or criminalizing and incarcerating them were inappropriate responses. A call was made to States to amend laws criminalizing children for status offenses, such as begging and running away. Reference was also made to the importance of birth registration, since unregistered children were most vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, and were at risk of further abuse if they came into conflict with the law. States were urged to ensure that birth registration was available and accessible to all children. 40. Since the previous time that this issue was given full attention by the United Nations (in particular by the General Assembly) in the 1990s, the three main big questions still asked were “how many are there?”, “who are they?” and “what can we do to help them?” A number of recommendations were made: to develop and consolidate a strategic knowledge base capable of informing policies by compiling and disseminating data-collection guidelines and examples of best practice, research and child rights-based programming for street children; to invest in ongoing analysis of Government and international agency budgets; to involve the private sector and utilize social corporate responsibility strategies to enhance programme design and policy interventions; to encourage the active participation of street children in data collection and programme design; and to highlight street children’s issues in State party reports submitted to the Human Rights Council at the universal periodic review and to the treaty bodies. 41. The interactive dialogue brought to light the relationship between juvenile justice matters and children living and/or working on the street, given that, in certain countries, children were detained for the mere fact of being on the street. Reference was also made to the impact that detention has on children. Panellists were asked to provide examples of strategies to better integrate children into society, of successful awareness-raising campaigns on the issue of street children and on research and studies on the subject, as well as statistics and follow-up to the children’s situation when they grew up. 12