The Committee encourages States to adopt and implement a comprehensive strategy to educate children, their caregivers, policymakers, politicians and professionals working with childrenabout children’s right to health, and the contributions they can make to its realization. B.Legislative measures The Convention requires States parties to adopt all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures for the implementation of children’s right to health without discrimination. National laws should place a statutory obligation on the State to provide the services, programmes, human resources and infrastructure needed to realize children’s right to health and provide a statutory entitlement to essential, child sensitive, quality health and related services for pregnant women and children irrespective of their ability to pay. Laws should be reviewed to assess any potential discriminatory effect or impediment to realizing children’s right to health and repealed where required. Where necessary, international agencies and donors should provide development aid and technical assistance for such legal reforms. Legislation should fulfil a number of additional functions in the realization of children’s right to health by defining the scope of the right and recognizing children as rights-holders; clarifying the roles and responsibilities of all dutybearers; clarifying what services children, pregnant women and mothers are entitled to claim; and regulating services and medications to ensure that they are of good quality and cause no harm. States must ensure that adequate legislative and other safeguards exist to protect and promote the work of human rights defenders working on children’s right to health. C.Governance and coordination States are encouraged to ratify and implement international and regional human rights instruments relevant to children’s health and to report on all aspects of children’s health accordingly. Sustainability in children’s health policy and practice requires a long-term national plan that is supported and entrenched as a national priority. The Committee recommends that States establish and make use of a comprehensive and cohesive national coordinating framework on children’s health, built upon the principles of the Convention, to facilitate cooperation between government ministries and different levels of government as well as interaction with civil society stakeholders, including children. Given the high number of government agencies, legislative branches and ministries working on children’s health-related policies and services at different levels, the Committee recommends that the roles and responsibilities of each be clarified in the legal and regulatory framework. Particular attention must be given to identifying and prioritizing marginalized and disadvantaged groups of children, as well as children who are at risk of any form of violence and discrimination. All activities should be fully costed, financed and made visible within the national budget. A “child health in all policies” strategy should be used, highlighting the links between children’s health and its underlying determinants. Every effort should be made to remove bottlenecks that obstruct transparency, coordination, partnership and accountability in the provision of services affecting children’s health. While decentralization is required to meet the particular needs of localities and sectors, this does not reduce the direct responsibility of the central or national Government to fulfil its obligations to all children within its jurisdiction. Decisions about allocations to the various levels of services and geographical areas should reflect the core elements of the approach to primary health care. States should engage all sectors of society, including children, in implementation of children’s right to health. The Committee recommends that such engagementinclude: the creation of conditions conducive to the continual growth, development and sustainability of civil society organizations, including grass-roots and community-level groups; active facilitation of their involvement in the development, implementation and evaluation of children’s health policy and services; and provision of appropriate financial support or assistance in obtaining financial support. 1.The role of parliaments in national accountability In children’s health-related issues, parliaments have the responsibility to legislate, ensuring transparency and inclusiveness, and encourage continued public debate and a culture of accountability. They should create a public platform for reporting and debating performance and promoting public participation in independent review mechanisms. They should also hold the executiveaccountable for implementing the recommendations emerging from independent reviews and ensure that the results of the reviews inform subsequent national plans, laws, policies, budgets and further accountability measures. 2.The role of national human rights institutions in national accountability National human rights institutions have an important role to play in reviewing and promoting accountability, providing children with relief for violations of their right to health and advocating systemic change forthe realization of thatright. The Committee recalls its general comment No. 2, and reminds States that the mandate of children’s commissioners or children’s ombudsmen should include ensuring the right to health, and the mandate holdersshould bewell-resourced and independent from the Government. D.Investing in children’s health In their decisions about budget allocation and spending, States should strive to ensure availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of essential children’s health services for all, without discrimination. States should continually assess the impact of macroeconomic policy decisions on children’s right to health, particularly children in