A/HRC/17/46 I. Background 1. In its resolution 7/29, the Human Rights Council decided to dedicate, at a minimum, an annual full-day meeting to discuss different specific themes on the rights of the child, including the identification of challenges in the realization of the rights of the child. In its resolution 13/20, the Council decided to focus its next resolution and annual full-day meeting on a holistic approach for the protection and promotion of the rights of children working and/or living on the street. 2. The annual full-day meeting on the protection and promotion of the rights of children working and/or living on the street was held on 9 March 2011, and was aimed at raising awareness about the situation faced by children living and/or working on the street, reaffirming existing standards and commitments undertaken by Member States to protect children, including those in particularly difficult situations, highlighting good practices and lessons learned from work conducted by different actors, as well as identifying key challenges and recommending a way forward. The meeting comprised two panels: the morning panel focused on the root causes and factors leading children to live and/or work on the street, while the afternoon panel was devoted to discussing prevention strategies and responses. 3. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the African Movement of Working Children and Youth as well as of programmes supported by Plan International in Bangladesh. 4. The meeting was jointly organized by the Permanent Mission of Hungary and the Delegation of the European Union (on behalf of the European Union), Uruguay (on behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean Group) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, with other United Nations agencies, particularly the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), and non-governmental organizations, including the Street Children Consortium and the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Plan International. A task force for the preparation of the annual full-day meeting initiated its discussions in November 2010 and met regularly to ensure a successful outcome of the event. II. Morning panel: “Root causes and factors leading children to live and work on the street” A. Introductory remarks and statements by panellists 5. The morning panel was moderated by the President of the Human Rights Council. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights opened the panel, followed by presentations by youth representatives of programmes supported by Plan International in Bangladesh; a representative of the African Movement of Working Children and Youth from Benin; the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; the President of Street Invest; and the Commissioner and Rapporteur on Children of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. 6. In her opening statement, the High Commissioner stated that the Human Rights Council had rightly chosen the theme of children living and/or working on the streets and welcomed the chosen focus on the root causes and factors that led children to the insecurity and violence that they routinely encountered in the streets. Children did not belong in the streets; they belonged in safe environments at school and at home. Prevention could not be 3