Section 76p. 76

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME I

material injurious to his or her well-being, bearing in

mind the provisions of articles 13 and 18.

ARTICLE 18

1. States Parties shall use their best efforts to ensure

recognition

of the principle that both parents have

common

responsibilities

for

the

upbringing

and

development of the child. Parents or, as the case may be,

legal guardians, have the primary responsibility for the

upbringing and development of the child. The best

interests of the child will be their basic concern.

2. For the purpose of guaranteeing and promoting the

rights set forth in the present Convention, States Parties

shall render appropriate assistance to parents and legal

guardians

in

the

performance

of

their child-rearing

responsibilities and shall ensure the development of

institutions, facilities and services for the care of children.

3. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to

ensure that children of working parents have the right to

benefit from child-care services and facilities for which

they are eligible.

ARTICLE 19

1. States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative,

administrative,

social

and

educational

measures

to

protect the child from all forms of physical or mental

violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment,

maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse,

while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any

other person who has the care of the child.

2.

Such

protective

measures

should, as appropriate,

include effective procedures for the establishment of

social programmes to provide necessary support for the

child and for those who have the care of the child, as well

as for other forms of prevention and for identification,

reporting, referral, investigation, treatment and follow-up

of instances of child maltreatment described heretofore,

and, as appropriate, for judicial involvement.

ARTICLE 20

1. A child temporarily or permanently deprived of his or

her family environment, or in whose own best interests

cannot be allowed to remain in that environment, shall

be entitled to special protection and assistance provided

by the State.

2. States Parties shall in accordance with their national

laws ensure alternative care for such a child.

3. Such care could include, inter alia, foster placement,

kafalah of Islamic law, adoption or if necessary placement

in suitable institutions for the care of children. When

considering solutions, due regard shall be paid to the

desirability of continuity in a child's upbringing and to the

child's

ethnic,

religious,

cultural

and

linguistic

background.

ARTICLE 21

States Parties that recognize and/or permit the system of

adoption shall ensure that the best interests of the child

shall be the paramount consideration and they shall:

(a) Ensure that the adoption of a child is authorized only

by competent authorities who determine, in accordance

with applicable law and procedures and on the basis of all

pertinent and reliable information, that the adoption is

permissible in view of the child's status concerning

parents,

relatives

and

legal

guardians

and

that,

if

required,

the

persons

concerned

have

given

their

informed consent to the adoption on the basis of such

counselling as may be necessary;

(b)

Recognize

that

inter-country

adoption

may

be

considered as an alternative means of child's care, if the

child cannot be placed in a foster or an adoptive family or

cannot in any suitable manner be cared for in the child's

country of origin;

(c) Ensure that the child concerned by inter-country

adoption enjoys safeguards and standards equivalent to

those existing in the case of national adoption;

(d) Take all appropriate measures to ensure that, in

inter-country adoption, the placement does not result in

improper financial gain for those involved in it;

(e) Promote, where appropriate, the objectives of the

present article by concluding bilateral or multilateral

arrangements or agreements, and endeavour, within this

framework, to ensure that the placement of the child in

another country is carried out by competent authorities

or organs.

ARTICLE 22

1. States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure

that a child who is seeking refugee status or who is

considered

a

refugee in accordance with applicable

international

or

domestic

law

and procedures shall,

whether unaccompanied or accompanied by his or her

parents or by any other person, receive appropriate

protection and humanitarian assistance in the enjoyment

of applicable rights set forth in the present Convention

and in other international human rights or humanitarian

instruments to which the said States are Parties.

2. For this purpose, States Parties shall provide, as they

consider appropriate, co-operation in any efforts by the

United Nations and other competent intergovernmental

organizations

or

nongovernmental

organizations

co-operating with the United Nations to protect and

assist such a child and to trace the parents or other

members of the family of any refugee child in order to

obtain information necessary for reunification with his or

her family. In cases where no parents or other members

of the family can be found, the child shall be accorded the

same

protection as any other child permanently or

temporarily deprived of his or her family environment for

any reason , as set forth in the present Convention.

ARTICLE 23

1. States Parties recognize that a mentally or physically

disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life, in

conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance

and

facilitate

the

child's

active

participation

in

the

community.

2. States Parties recognize the right of the disabled child

to special care and shall encourage and ensure the

extension, subject to available resources, to the eligible

child

and

those

responsible

for his or her care, of

assistance for which application is made and which is

appropriate

to

the

child's

condition

and

to

the

circumstances of the parents or others caring for the

child.

3. Recognizing the special needs of a disabled child,

assistance extended in accordance with paragraph 2 of

the present article shall be provided free of charge,

whenever possible, taking into account the financial

resources of the parents or others caring for the child, and

shall be designed to ensure that the disabled child has

effective

access

to

and

receives

education, training,

health care services, rehabilitation services, preparation

for

employment

and

recreation

opportunities

in

a

manner conducive to the child's achieving the fullest

possible social integration and individual development,

including his or her cultural and spiritual development

© Compiled by RGL

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