A/HRC/22/31
with other children. The effective registration of deaths is also essential for tracking
population size and causes of mortality and for planning health interventions.
E.
Parents and caregivers
83.
Parents and caregivers have an essential role in the upbringing of children, and
States should support them in their responsibilities. Parents and other caregivers are the
most important parties in the early diagnosis and primary care of small children, and the
most important protective factor against high-risk behaviours in adolescents, such as
substance use and unsafe sexual relations. Parents and caregivers also play a central role in
promoting healthy child development, protecting children from harm due to accidents,
dangerous games, injuries and violence, and mitigating the negative effects of risk
behaviours. Children’s socialization processes, which are crucial for understanding and
adjusting to the world in which they grow up, are deeply influenced by parents and
caregivers.
84.
Taking the child’s evolving capacity into account, parents should nurture, protect
and help the child to grow and develop in a healthy manner. The responsibilities of parents
and caregivers include the adoption of non-violent child-rearing practices, the promotion of
healthy forms of behaviour and appropriate health-care-seeking, and support for children in
making decisions, including those relating to their health. Information about child health
should be provided to all parents and caregivers in accordance with article 24 of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
F.
Education
85.
There are strong links between the right to education and the right to health. Good
health promotes better educational attainment; conversely, higher levels of education have a
positive impact on the child’s health. Improvements in girls’ and women’s education
improve child survival, especially when implemented with poverty reduction programmes.
86.
Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child highlights children’s need
for information on all aspects of health education to realize their right to health and to
enable them to make informed choices in relation to lifestyle and access to health services.
Information and life skills education should address, inter alia, comprehensive sexuality
education, healthy eating and the promotion of physical activity, accident and injury
prevention, sanitation, and the dangers of tobacco and psychoactive substance use. It should
encompass appropriate information about the right of the child to health, the obligations of
Governments, and how and where to obtain access to health information and services.
87.
Schools have an essential role to play in health promotion. Information should be
provided as a core part of school curricula, through health services and in other settings
targeting children who are not in school. Health information materials should be designed
in collaboration with children and disseminated in a wide range of public settings and social
media.
G.
International cooperation
88.
States have obligations not only to implement the right of the child to health within
their own territory but also to contribute through international cooperation to global
implementation. Article 24.4 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child requires States
and inter-State agencies to pay particular attention to child health priorities in the poorest
parts of the population and in developing States. States have a responsibility to cooperate in
16
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents