executed, in particular, need to be addressed, as was the anguish of relatives who did not know when their relative would be executed or who could not visit them or say their farewells.24 The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has recommended that authorities take into consideration the children of those sentenced and their best interests when considering individual death penalty cases and provide psychological and other support necessary to children whose parents have been sentenced to death. The duty to take into account the best interest of the child at the time of sentencing could, if implemented, contribute to a reduction in the use of the death penalty. Supplemental to the right of the child to visit his or her incarcerated parent, the Committee made specific recommendations to facilitate, as far as technically possible, further regular contact between the child and the incarcerated parent(s) through telephone, video-conference and other means of communication, and to ensure that any associated costs are non-prohibitive.25 The impacts of the death penalty on children Parent-child relationship Unlike any other criminal punishment, the execution of a parent cuts the parent-child relationship irreversibly.26 This can reduce children’s standards of living due to loss of family income, and affect access to healthcare and education. Considering that parents usually play a major role in defining and shaping the personality of their children, sentencing a parent to death might jeopardize a child’s future. Childhood is a period of continuous growth. As the Committee on the Rights of the Child has emphasized, each phase in a child’s growth is significant, given that important developmental changes occur in terms of physical, psychological, emotional and social development, expectations and norms. Moreover, the stages of the child’s development are cumulative and each stage has an impact on subsequent phases, influencing the child’s health, potential risks and opportunities.27 24  United Nations Human Rights Council, High-level panel discussion on the question of the death penalty, Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/36/27 (2017), paras. 37 and 45, < https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G17/180/42/PDF/G1718042.pdf?OpenElement>. 25  Committee on the rights of the Child, Report and recommendations of the Day of General Discussion on “Children of incarcerated Parents” 30 September 2011, para. 46, <http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/ docs/discussion/2011CRCDGDReport.pdf>. 26  “Children of parents sentenced to death or executed – How are they affected? How can they be supported?”, Child Rights Connect, September 2013, p. 2, <http://www.quno.org/sites/default/files/resources/English_Children%20of%20parents%20sentenced%20to%20death%20or%20executed.pdf>. 27  Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment 15, ‘On the rights of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health’, U.N. Doc. CRC/C/GC/15 (2013), para. 20, < http://docstore.ohchr. org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=6QkG1d%2FPPRiCAqhKb7yhsqIkirKQZLK2M58RF%2F5F0vHCIs1B9k1r3x0aA7FYrehlNUfw4dHmlOxmFtmhaiMOkH80ywS3uq6Q3bqZ3A3yQ0%2B4u6214CSatnrBlZT8nZmj>.