against children, and the Swedish Presidency (Stockholm, July 2009) and its appeals to continue the legal work to prohibit all forms of corporal punishment in all settings including the home, to identify best practices and lessons learned in combating violence against children in conflict and post-conflict situations, and to increase coherence between EU external action and EU/MS internal policies on children’s rights; 90. Expresses grave concern at the fact that millions of children are still victims of rape, domestic violence, and physical, emotional and sexual abuse, including sexual and economic exploitation; stresses that all rights recognised by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its optional protocols have equal importance, and calls for the full ratification and implementation of obligations, as well as for particular attention to the new forms of commercial sexual exploitation of children; 91. Is deeply concerned that Eastern Europe and Central Asia continue to face rapid increases in HIV infections among men, women and children; notes with concern that access to antiretroviral treatment is still among the lowest in the world; notes with concern that stigmatisation and discrimination that violate the basic rights and dignity of children affected by HIV are hampering further progress in prevention, care and support; calls on the Commission to consider policy reforms, programmatic shifts and a reallocation of resources in order to protect the rights and dignity of children and young people who are vulnerable, at risk and living with or affected by HIV; 92. Calls urgently for additional EU measures against child labour, and calls for the EU to apply more efficiently the instruments at its disposal by incorporating them in human rights dialogues and consultations; calls for the EU to implement effectively the EU Guidelines on the Rights of the Child and to study the possibility of adopting guidelines on combating child labour; recalls that even EU trade policy can play a useful role in the fight against child labour, notably through the use of GSP+ incentives; hopes that in future this tool will be assessed better and will be the subject of an annual evaluation submitted to the European Parliament on the occasion of the annual debate on human rights; 93. Notes that 2009 marked the 20th anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child; notes with satisfaction that accession to the Convention is now almost universal, and urges countries which have not joined the Convention to so without delay; remains deeply concerned that full realisation of the rights entailed is still widely violated; calls for an increase in the attention devoted to the child's needs for special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after the birth, as foreseen by both the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Declaration of the Rights of the Child; welcomes the appointment of the Special Representative to the SecretaryGeneral on Violence Against Children and underlines the importance of the mandate; 94. Expresses deep concern about children involved in, or otherwise affected by, armed conflicts or even forced to take an active part in them; urges the Commission and the Council to strengthen the implementation of the EU Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflicts; welcomes the new UNSC Resolution 1882 (2009), which further strengthens the protection of children involved in, and affected by, armed conflict; 95. Expresses deep concerns about the use of children as soldiers; calls for immediate steps to be taken by the EU and the UN for their disarmament, rehabilitation and reintegration; Human rights defenders 96. Welcomes actions undertaken to implement the review and upgrade of the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders as reviewed in 2008; notes the development of more than 60 local implementation