A/70/213 15. In recent years, the human rights dimensions of under -5 mortality and morbidity have been clarified and the global health and human rights communities have begun to examine the problem through a human rights lens. 16. In 2013, the Committee on the Rights of the Child adopted general comment No. 15, in which the Committee reiterated the importance of the obligation of States to reduce child mortality and the need to pay particular attention to neonatal mortality, which constitutes an increasing proportion of under -5 mortality. 17. In its resolution 22/32, the Human Rights Council expressed deep concern about the scale of under-5 mortality and invited WHO to prepare a study on mortality of children under 5 years of age as a human rights concern. The study (A/HRC/24/60) identified the human rights dimensions of under-5 mortality and paved the way for the adoption by the Council of resolution 27/14 on preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age as a human rights concern. 18. In that resolution, the Human Rights Council requested the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OH CHR), in close collaboration with WHO and in consultation with other partners, to prepare a report on the practical application of the technical guidance on the application of a human rights-based approach to the implementation of policies and programmes t o reduce and eliminate preventable mortality and morbidity of children under 5 years of age. 19. The technical guidance (A/HRC/27/31) is a major contribution. It sets out the human rights dimensions of under-5 morbidity and mortality and explains how to apply human rights-based approaches to address the problem. It provides detailed operational guidance for legislative measures, governance and coordination, planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, remedies and redress and international cooperation. The Special Rapporteur endorses the systematic approach of the technical guidance as a significant step towards the reduction and elimination of preventable deaths of children under 5 years of age. 20. The global health community has also given attention to the human rights dimensions of under-5 mortality and morbidity and has committed to ground its efforts in human rights. The Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health is grounded in global human rights commitments and emphasizes that legislation and policies should be in line with human rights. The new global strategy, which is to replace the existing strategy in the coming months, will call for the integration of human rights in all efforts to improve women ’s, children’s and adolescents’ health. 21. Human rights are also one of six guiding principles of Every Newborn: An Action Plan to End Preventable Deaths. The Action Plan highlights that all planning and programming for reproductive, maternal and newborn health should be guided by principles and standards derived from international human rights treaties. A range of operational tools have also been developed to help States to systematically apply human rights standards in law, policy and service delivery for young children and their caregivers. 22. The question is often asked in the public health community whether human rights will make a positive contribution in practice. Recent research undertaken by WHO has produced evidence of the beneficial impact that human rights can have on women’s and children’s health in early childhood in the context of initiatives by the 6/25 15-12535