The General Assembly,
 
      Recalling its resolutions 45/217 of 21 December 1990 and 50/120 of 20
December 1995 and its decisions 47/447 of 22 December 1992, 48/446 of 21
December 1993 and 49/439 of 19 December 1994,
 
      Noting with appreciation the near universal ratification of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and the significant progress made in
national capacities to plan, implement and monitor progress for children
within the framework of the needs and rights of the child,
 
      Recognizing the linkage between the eradication of poverty and the
achievement of the goals of the World Summit for Children,
 
      1.    Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General, and welcomes
the conclusions contained therein;
 
      2.    Welcomes the significant progress reported by most countries on
achieving the majority of the mid-decade goals and objectives of the World
Summit for Children, particularly in immunization, the control of diarrhoeal
diseases, poliomyelitis, Guinea worm and iodine deficiency disorders, and
access to safe water;
 
      3.    Also welcomes the overwhelming response of all countries,
especially the developing countries, to the commitments agreed upon at the
World Summit for Children;
 
      4.    Notes with appreciation the contributions of international and
bilateral donors and civil society to the achievement of the goals of the
World Summit for Children;
 
      5.    Takes note with concern of the considerable variation in the
progress made across countries and regions owing to different baseline
conditions in 1990 and the varying rates of progress in relation to the goals;
 
      6.    Expresses particular concern that progress on malnutrition,
maternal mortality, sanitation, and girls' education has been inadequate, and
in some cases negligible;
 
      7.    Reaffirms the need for effective follow-up to the World
Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children and the
Plan of Action for Implementing the World Declaration on the Survival,
Protection and Development of Children in the 1990s;
 
      8.    Recognizes the need for more intensive efforts to reach the goals
for child mortality, the education of children, in particular girl children,
maternal mortality, child malnutrition and sanitation;
 
      9.    Also recognizes the important role of the United Nations system in
providing coordinated support for the implementation, monitoring and
evaluation of the World Declaration and the Plan of Action and the leadership
role of the United Nations Children's Fund;
 
      10.   Invites Governments to increase, as appropriate, their budget
allocations to basic social services for covering the special needs of
children in order to facilitate the achievement of the goals set out in the
World Declaration and the Plan of Action;
 
      11.   Urges developed countries to make increased efforts to mobilize
additional resources for the fulfilment of the goals and objectives of the
World Summit for Children and to ensure, in the context of their development
assistance, that programmes to that end will have a priority when resources
are allocated;
 
      12.   Encourages civil society and the private sector to continue to
support generously the implementation of the goals of the World Summit for
Children;
 
      13.   Stresses the need for according priority to the special needs of
children in regions of slow progress, particularly the least developed
countries and sub- Saharan Africa, and in other developing countries that have
not yet reached the mid-decade goals;
 
      14.   Recognizes the need for continued cooperation and partnership and
appropriate international support to those developing countries that have
already reached the mid-decade goals or the end-of-decade goals, so as to
ensure the sustainability of such achievements;
 
      15.   Also recognizes the contribution to the achievement of the goals
of the World Summit for Children of the mutual commitment of interested
developed and developing country partners to allocate, on average, 20 per cent
of official development assistance and 20 per cent of national budgets to
basic social programmes;
 
      16.   Stresses the need to continue strengthening and expanding
effective partnerships between Governments, the United Nations system and
other international organizations, international donor agencies, civil
society, including non-governmental organizations, the private sector and the
media, so as to ensure full achievement of the goals by the year 2000;
 
      17.   Also stresses the need for greater efforts to involve children
themselves, in accordance with article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child, in all matters affecting them;
 
      18.   Further stresses the need for sustainable progress in the
attainment of goals through, inter alia, support for national
capacity-building, including that of local communities, civil society and
non-governmental organizations;
 
      19.   Recognizes the importance of fostering exchanges of experience
between countries, including South-South cooperation, in order to help
disseminate successful programmes;
 
      20.   Calls upon all relevant organs, organizations and bodies of the
United Nations system to take into account the lessons learned at mid-decade,
and invites relevant governing bodies to consider specific measures, within
their respective competencies, to address the special needs of children for
the achievement of the goals for the year 2000, giving priority to issues and
areas where progress has been slow;
 
      21.   Also calls upon all relevant bodies and organizations of the
United Nations system to strengthen inter-agency collaboration regarding
improved protection and assistance for children in especially difficult
circumstances, including displaced and refugee children, as well as those
suffering from exploitation, and to take the necessary steps to ensure that
such collaboration is considered in related policies and programmes;
 
      22.   Stresses the necessity and importance of setting measurable
indicators and targets and of improving data collection and assessment
concerning the implementation of all the goals of the World Summit for
Children with regard to the development, protection and survival of children,
including the goal of improved protection of children in especially difficult
circumstances;
 
      23.   Calls upon Governments and their partners, taking into account
lessons learned during the mid-decade reviews, to adjust, refine and
prioritize, where necessary, their goals and strategies, within the framework
of the World Declaration and the Plan of Action and in conformity with the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, to respond to local situations;
 
      24.   Also calls upon Governments and the United Nations system to
promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective in
the implementation of the goals of the World Summit for Children;
 
      25.   Urges full integration of the follow-up to the goals of the World
Summit for Children into the work of the inter-agency task forces and other
mechanisms established to ensure a coordinated and effective follow-up to
major United Nations conferences;
 
      26.   Urges once again all States that have not yet done so to sign and
ratify or accede to the Convention on the Rights of the Child as a matter of
priority, with a view to reaching the goal of universal adherence established
by the World Summit for Children;
 
      27.   Decides to convene a special session of the General Assembly in
2001 to review the achievement of the goals of the World Summit for Children,
and to consider the arrangements for the special session at its fifty-third
session; 
 
      28.   Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly
at its special session a review of the implementation and results of the World
Declaration and the Plan of Action, including appropriate recommendations for
further action;
 
      29.   Also requests the Secretary-General to report to the General
Assembly at its fifty-third session on the preparations for the special
session and on progress on the implementation of the present resolution.