A/HRC/21/31 took the floor: International Juvenile Justice Observatory1, Amnesty International, Human Rights Advocates and the Consortium for Street Children. 19. Issues raised during the interactive dialogue included the need to abolish the death penalty and life imprisonment without parole for those who committed crimes while under the age of 18 and apply the best interests of the child in all circumstances affecting them. Reference was made to ensuring the proportionality of a sentence to the offence committed and the importance of raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 12 years, where it is lower, in accordance with international guidelines. Many speakers referred to the positive impact of the promotion of alternative measures to detention, such as community service, and the fact that the juvenile justice system should be oriented to the reintegration of the offender with his family and in society. It was also noted that the lack of birth certificates and age determination processes put children at risk of being treated as adults and that that could lead to human rights violations. 20. Public awareness-raising, national capacity-building, creating a culture of respect for children, and supporting the family could contribute to the promotion and protection of the rights of the child. Prevention of juvenile delinquency was a priority, as was the training of judges and judicial personnel. Some speakers referred to poverty, family breakdown and economic difficulties as causes leading children to become involved in criminal activities and in conflict with the law. It was important to invest in education and rehabilitation programmes. Repressive systems were not appropriate for juvenile offenders, and imprisonment should be used only as a last resort. 21. The International Juvenile Justice Observatory requested the United Nations to work on a global report on mental health of juveniles in contact with the criminal justice system. Amnesty International called on the Human Rights Council to ensure universal compliance with the universal prohibition of imposing death sentences on juvenile offenders. Human Rights Advocates requested that juveniles serving life in prison be given a chance to be heard by a parole board, and called upon States to commute life sentences to other sentences. The Consortium for Street Children indicated that street children were often victims of violence, police brutality and round-ups and called upon States to repeal legislation prohibiting begging, loitering, vagrancy and running away. They emphasized that children in street situations should not be criminalized, a recommendation that was also presented in the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on children working and/or living on the street (A/HRC/19/35) recently presented to the Council. 22. A number of questions were posed by States: What preventive measures would be crucial for lowering the number of children in conflict with the law? What measures could the Human Rights Council take to ensure that the imposition of the death penalty and life imprisonment on children was ended once and for all? How to ensure that such inhuman sentences become a thing of the past? What measures could States take to ensure that there was no violence in closed institutions and that rehabilitation really served its intended purpose? What were the costs of diversion compared to the costs of sending children to prison? How would a juvenile offender deal with the stigma of having been in prison? What could help in overcoming social prejudices? How to ensure the rendering of the necessary legal and psychological assistance for young victims, young witnesses and their families after crime? What were good practices in disseminating juvenile justice principles? What could be the role of the international community in supporting the reform of national juvenile justice systems to ensure respect for the rights of the child? 1 Joint statement with the Open Society Justice Initiative and Penal Reform International. 7