13 June 2007 - Child Rights at the 5th Session of the Human Rights Council 30
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- UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: Agenda and Issues for the 5th Session [news]
- SPECIAL PROCEDURES: Mentions of Child Rights [report]
- NGO PARTICIPATION: Web-Based Forum for Information Exchange [portal]
- CHILD RIGHTS: Children's Rights at the Human Rights Council [update]
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Children Have Rights Too!
If you do not receive this email in html format, you will not be able to see some hyperlinks in the text. At the end of each item we have therefore provided a full URL linking to a web page where further information is available.
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UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL: Agenda and Issues for the 5th Session [news]
[GENEVA, 13 June 2007] - The Human Rights Council opened its 5th session on Monday in Geneva, Switzerland. The session will be held from 11 to 18 June at the Palais des Nations to debate the promotion and protection of human rights around the world. See the agenda here.
The Council will hear from a number of its thematic and country-specific Special Rapporteurs and Independent Experts. It will then conclude its year-long discussion on institution building in the Council, including on the issues of the Universal Periodic Review and on the review of mandates, which includes segments on the Complaints Procedure, the Expert Advice Body and the Special Procedures.
The Council will consider reports from its Special Procedures on the issues of the independence of judges and lawyers, trafficking in persons, racism, the right to food, toxic and dangerous products and wastes, adequate housing, extreme poverty and human rights and international solidarity. Read about child rights in the reports of the Special Procedures here.
Special Procedures dealing with the situation of human rights in Belarus, Cuba, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and Haiti will also present their reports to the Council.
The Council’s Expert Group on Darfur is also expected to present its report to the Council under the section on the follow-up of the decisions of the Human Rights Council.
The General Assembly decided in Resolution 60/251, which created the Council, that the Council should undertake a Universal Periodic Review, based on objective and reliable information, of the fulfilment by each State of its human rights obligations and commitments to ensure a more equal approach by reviewing the human rights records of all States. The resolution said the review should be a cooperative mechanism, based on an interactive dialogue, with the full involvement of the country concerned and taking into account its capacity-building needs. The Council was asked to establish how this would work and the necessary time allocation for this mechanism within one year after the holding of its first session in June 2006.
The General Assembly also decided, in the same Resolution, that the Council should assume, review and, where necessary, improve and rationalise all mandates, mechanisms, functions and responsibilities of the Commission on Human Rights in order to maintain a system of Special Procedures, Expert Advice and a Complaints Procedure. It said the Council should complete this review within one year. The Special Procedures include the Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts, Working Groups and other bodies. The Expert Advice Body will replace the Sub-Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, which held its last session last year. The Complaints Procedure will replace the so-called 1503 procedure under which situations of violations of human rights are reviewed behind closed doors.
[Source: UN OHCHR]
For more details of events and meetings, check the 'Orders of the day' on the HRC website or see the programme of work.
For a list of parallel events, see the Human Rights Council website.
For daily updates about the HRC's work during the 5th session, see ISHR's website.
NGO written statements and reports relating to child rights submitted for the 5th session:
1948, 1967, 2007... the population transfer continues (Defence for Children International and Badil Resource Centre for Palestinian Residency)
Response to the 24 January 2007 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights aspects of the victims of trafficking in persons, especially women and children by Ms Sigma Huda (Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW)
Further information
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SPECIAL PROCEDURES: Mentions of Child Rights [report]
This report is a compilation of mentions to children's rights contained in the reports of the Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council that are presented at the 5th session of the HRC. These reports include:
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Report of the Independent Expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty (Mr. Arjun Sengupta)
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Report of the Special Rapporteur on the adverse effects of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes on the enjoyment of human rights (Mr. Okechukwu Ibeanu)
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Report on the situation of human rights in Darfur (group of seven mandate-holders)
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Updated study by the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance on the issue of political platforms which promote or incite racial discrimination (Mr. Doudou Diène)
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Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967
Some Special Procedure reports scheduled for the 4th session will be considered at the 5th session. Those that include updates on child rights are:
Somalia: The Independent Expert on Somalia, Mr. Ghanim Alnajjar, was unable to visit Somalia because of ongoing security problems so could not submit a report. He did, however, provide an oral update. In this, he emphasised his concern about the unacceptable fate of children, who are recruited to fight, saying girls are particularly vulnerable. He announced that he would chair a panel discussion on human rights in Somalia on Wednesday 12 June 2007.
During the interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert, Italy asked him to elaborate on the protection of children’s rights in Somalia, as there had been consistent reports of killings, rapes, and forced recruitment of child soldiers in and around Mogadishu.
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=13669&flag=report
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NGO PARTICIPATION: Web-based forum for information exchange [portal]
The NGOIC (NGO Information and Coordination) is a web-based forum for facilitating exchanges among NGOs in the context of the HRC. This initiative, supported by several NGOs, will be tested during the 5th session of the HRC with a view to fully operationalising it at the HRC September session.
NGOIC (NGO Information and Cooperation, http://www.ngoic.org) is an initiative of the Geneva NGO Special Committee of Human Rights. NGOIC is hosted by the Conference of NGOs in consultative relations with the United Nations (CONGO), and supported by Korea Center for United Nations Human Rights Policy (KOCUN), which provides webmaster services.
2. Audience
This website is aimed at the following:
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Human Rights NGOs accredited to and participating in the proceedings of the Human Rights Council.
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Human Rights NGOs willing to network in the preparations of their inputs to the Council.
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Local and regional Human Rights NGOs with limited access to up-to-date information and dynamic trends developing at UN Human Rights Council.
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Human Rights NGOs with an interest in participating in the Council’s sessions but with limited financial and human resources for direct participation.
3. Online Tools
NGOIC provides a comprehensive and real-time interactive web-based platform which includes:
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Thematic Discussion Forum that facilitates NGO involvement and coordinate during the Human Rights Council session. For the next sessions of the Council, work spaces will be created through Virtual Interest Groups (VIG) containing online drafting tools and other collaborative devices for collective strategising among NGOs sharing the same interests. The various VIG will be moderated by NGO representatives with acknowledged expertise in specific areas.
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The possibility of sending written questions to Special Procedures Mandate Holders. This will allow NGOs who are not able to come to Geneva or to participate orally in the Interactive Dialogue to send questions to Special Procedures about their reports. These will be compiled and forwarded to the relevant Mandate Holder prior to their interaction with the Council.
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News and Events related to the Council as well as detailed information concerning each virtual interest group.
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Document Section providing key documents related to the Human Rights Council
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=13653&flag=report
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CHILD RIGHTS: Children's Rights at the Human Rights Council [update]
Under the umbrella of the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the subgroup for the Human Rights Council brings together NGOs willing to promote the rights of the child in the work of the Human Rights Council. The subgroup advocates for the Council to address the specific rights and situations of children worldwide in its regular work and sessions on human rights.
To this end, the subgroup has issued a number of statements to the Council, both oral and written, including:
Further information
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This update has been produced by CRIN, in collaboration with the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Subgroup for the Human Rights Council. To subscribe, unsubscribe or view archives, visit http://www.crin.org/email.
Further information about the 5th Session of the Human Rights Council is available on the CRIN website at: http://www.crin.org/chr. To submit information, contact [email protected]. CRIN, c/o Save the Children, 1, St John's Lane, London EC1M 4AR, UK.
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