into account in all EU policies and actions; calls, therefore, on those countries that have not yet ratified the Convention to do so and to enforce it and its optional protocols as soon as possible; 141. Draws attention to the serious problem that exists in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa of children being accused of witchcraft, with grave consequences ranging from social exclusion to infanticide, and to the ritual murder of children as forms of sacrifice; notes that the state has a responsibility to protect children from all forms of violence and abuse and, consequently, urges the HR/VP, the EU Special Representative on Human Rights, the Commission and the EEAS to pay particular attention to the protection of children from all forms of violence and to the fate of these children in the human rights dialogues with the governments of the countries concerned and in the programming of the external financial instruments; 142. Calls on the EEAS and the Commission to safeguard, in the context of the Union’s external policies, the rights of children during criminal proceedings by establishing their need for specific protection, in recognition of their vulnerability to secondary and repeat victimisation, and to give primary consideration to the child’s best interest, as stipulated in Directive 2012/29/EU on Minimum Standards on Victims’ Rights; 143. Welcomes the Commission Communication ‘An EU Agenda for the Rights of the Child,’ integrating both internal and external policy objectives in a single policy document; recalls the commitment of VP/HR in the Commission Communication ‘Human Rights and Democracy at the Heart of EU External Action’ to focus on the rights of the child as one of three campaign priorities; stresses, however, the importance of translating these commitments into budgeted actions and monitoring their efficient implementation; 144. Calls on a consistent inclusion of the rights of the child in EU Human Rights Country Strategies in line with the Lisbon Treaty commitment; supports the plans to make further advances in developing rights-based approaches to development cooperation as stated in the EU human rights strategy action plan; emphasises the urgency to do so in the case of children’s rights in order to ensure longer-term sustainable progress; reiterates that girls are particularly vulnerable in certain countries; 145. Stresses the need to combat all forms of forced child labour, child exploitation and trafficking; calls for the better implementation of existing national and international rules that foster awareness of child abuse in the labour market; emphasises the fact that children and adolescents should participate only in work that does not affect their health and personal development or interfere with their schooling; Freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief 146. Stresses that the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief is a fundamental human right1, encompassing the right to believe or not to believe and the freedom to practice theistic, non-theistic or atheistic beliefs alike, either in private or public, alone or in a community with others; stresses that the enjoyment of this right is fundamental to the development of pluralistic and democratic societies; calls on the EU systematically to defend the right to freedom of religion or belief for all, in accordance with UN human 1 European Parliament resolution of 20 January 2011 resolution on the situation of Christians in the context of freedom of religion, OJ C 136E, 11.5.2012, p. 53.