THE NEED TO ELIMINATE ALL COMMERCIAL AND OTHER FORMS OF SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN AND FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF UNIFORM LAWS TO PROHIBIT THIS INDEFENSIBLE VIOLATION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF CHILDREN

Resolution adopted without a vote by the 98th Inter-Parliamentary Conference
(Cairo, 15 September 1997)

The 98th Inter-Parliamentary Conference,

Deeply concerned that many children throughout the world continue to suffer abuses of their human rights as a result of exploitative child labour, child trafficking, sexual exploitation and poverty,

Recognising that the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that childhood is entitled to special care and assistance,

Noting that the 1990 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, with 191 ratifications, is the most widely ratified international human rights instrument,

Recalling the 1959 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child and the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children and Plan of Action for Implementing this Declaration in the 1990s, as well as other relevant UN decisions, including the resolution on the rights of the child adopted by the Commission on Human Rights in April 1997,

Welcoming the adoption by the 1996 Stockholm World Congress of a Declaration and Agenda for Action against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,

Also welcoming the contribution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to UN action and particularly its Recommendation no. 1336/1997 inviting European States to ensure compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and outlining a European policy for the implementation of this Convention,

Further welcoming the work under way within the UN to draft an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child with the aim of strengthening mechanisms to help combat child prostitution, child pornography and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation of children as a matter of urgency,

1. Urges those countries which have not yet ratified the 1990 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to do so as a matter of priority;
2. Also urges those countries which have ratified the Convention to implement fully their obligations under it and to withdraw any reservations pertaining thereto;
3. Encourages countries to co-operate with, and assist the operations of, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, other UN bodies or agencies, as well as non-governmental organisations, which have specific responsibilities for the protection of children's rights;
4. Calls on its members to ensure that the goals and targets of the World Declaration and Plan of Action on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children, adopted at the 1990 World Summit for Children, are met within the agreed ten-year time frame;
5. Urges all UN Member States to expedite work under way within the United Nations to draft an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
6. Urges all countries to develop national action plans and strengthen intersectoral co-ordination in order to fully implement the Declaration and Agenda for Action adopted by the World Congress on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children;
7. Recommends that all countries allocate sufficient funds for prevention and education campaigns aimed at combating child prostitution and sexual abuse;
8. Urges all countries to introduce or strengthen legislation to protect children and to prohibit the commercial sexual exploitation of children, which targets in particular the service providers, customers or intermediaries in child prostitution, child trafficking and child pornography, as well as the distribution of child pornography via electronic means such as the Internet;
9. Strongly recommends that all countries establish or strengthen networks for co-operation between national and international law enforcement authorities, in order to counter the increasingly transnational nature of commercial sexual exploitation of children.

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