Pursuant to the United Nations Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/13 of July 23, 1996, these Guidelines for Action were developed at an expert group meeting held in Vienna on February 23-25, 1997. A total of 29 experts from 11 states in various regions, representatives of the Center for Human Rights of the Secretariat, the United Nations Children's Fund, and the Committee on the Rights of the Child participated in the meeting, along with observers from nongovernmental organizations concerned with juvenile justice. The Guidelines for Action are addressed to the Secretary General and relevant United Nations agencies and programs. One aim of these Guidelines for Action is to provide a framework to implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child and to pursue the goals set forth in the Convention regarding children in the context of the administration juvenile justice, as well as to use and apply the UN standards and norms in juvenile justice and other related instruments. Another aim of the Guidelines is to facilitate the provision of assistance to state parties for the effective implementation of the Convention and related instruments. Plans for the implementation of the Convention address measures of general application, specific targets, measures to be taken at the international level, mechanisms for the implementation of technical advice and assistance projects, and further considerations for the implementation of country projects. The concluding section provides guidelines for plans concerned with child victims and witnesses.