A/HRC/27/25 I. Background 1. In its resolution 7/29, the Human Rights Council affirmed its commitment to effectively integrate the rights of the child in its work and that of its mechanisms in a regular, systematic and transparent manner, taking into account specific needs of boys and girls. It 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 those rights. In its resolution 22/32, the Council decided to focus its 2014 fullday discussion to the theme “Access to justice for children”. Also in resolution 22/32, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to prepare a report on that issue and to present it to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-fifth session, to inform the annual day of discussion on children’s rights.1 It also requested the High Commissioner to circulate a summary report of the full-day meeting on access to justice for children. The present report is submitted to the Council pursuant to that request. 2. Since the adoption of resolution 7/29, the Human Rights Council has held a number of thematic discussions on children’s rights: “20 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: achievements and challenges for its full realization” (at its tenth session); “The fight against sexual violence against children” (thirteenth session); “Protection and promotion of the rights of children working and or living on the street” (sixteenth session); “Children and the administration of justice” (nineteenth session); and “The right of the child to the highest attainable standard of health” (twenty-second session). 3. The annual full-day meeting was held on 13 March 2014, and was aimed at raising awareness of the challenges faced by children in gaining access to justice, reaffirming existing standards and commitments made by Member States to empower children, including those in particularly difficult situations, and highlighting good practices and lessons learned from the work conducted by different actors. The full-day meeting consisted of two panels: one focusing on international norms and standards on access to justice for children, and child-sensitive justice; another devoted to empowering children to claim their rights. The annual day of discussion was chaired by the President of the Human Rights Council. II. International norms and standards on access to justice for children, and child-sensitive justice 4. The morning panel was moderated by the Head of the Permanent Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Mariangela Zappia. The Deputy High Commissioner opened the panel discussion. A presentation was then made by Child Rights Connect, followed by presentations by the Regional Director for Central and Eastern European and the Commonwealth of Independent States of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Marie Pierre Poirier; a member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Renate Winter; the Head of Programmes for Defence for Children International in Sierra Leone, Tom Julius Beah; Vice-President and Rapporteur on the Rights of the Child of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Rosa Maria Ortiz; and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, Marta Santos Pais. 1 See A/HRC/25/35. 3