19 March 2007 - Child Rights at the Human Rights Council 22
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- Child Rights Caucus: Morning briefing by the Independent Expert on Violence against Children
- Special Event: Violence against Children
**News in Brief**
**COMING UP**
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Children Have Rights Too!
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Child Rights Caucus - Morning briefing by the Independent Expert on Violence against Children
[GENEVA, 19 March 2007] - Professor Paulo Pinheiro, the Independent Expert appointed by the Secretary-General to lead the UN Study on Violence against Children, this morning briefed NGOs at the Human Rights Council on his plans for following up the Study’s recommendations.
Following the launch of the Study in October 2006, a resolution was adopted which extended his mandate as Independent Expert for another year until the end of 2007. He will present a follow-up report, which he is expected to finish in July, to the General Assembly in November. His follow-up activities include:
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dissemination of the Study findings
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identification and dissemination of proven and promising practices
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networking and information sharing
He intends to promote the dissemination of the Study in several languages and, in France and Germany, a child-friendly version of the report is already being distributed to schools. He has planned some follow-up visits: having already visited Panama and Colombia, he will head to Iran, Syria, and Mexico later this year.
Insisting it is “time to involve children in decision making processes,” he identified two areas of focus for the child rights community, and civil society as a whole:
1. Asking governments what they plan to do, since the responsibility for ending violence against children rests primarily with them, and the Human Rights Council is dominated by a number of countries who have shown resistance to implementing child rights.
2. Identifying practices which reflect the Study’s recommendations by strengthening current laws, lobbying to stop violence against children, and lobbying for the establishment of a coordinating group to deal with the five overarching recommendations.
He listed five aspects of the recommendations for special consideration given the short time frame for reporting on the follow-up:
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Integrating measures to prevent and respond to violence against children in national plans
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Strengthening legal frameworks in conformity with the Convention on the Rights of the Child
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Prevention of violence
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Promotion of the participation of children and structures to support it
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Strengthening data collection and research
Professor Pinheiro presented his report on "Progress Report Violence against Children" at the Human Rights Council on the afternoon of March 19, 2007 (see below).
Child Rights Caucus
The Child Rights Caucus is organising morning briefings from 9 am to 10 am, from March 19 until March 30 in room E-3023. All participants at the HRC are welcome to discuss issues with invited Special Rapporteurs and Experts, Government delegations, the Human Rights Committee members, members of expert panels, UNICEF, UNHCR, OHCHR Secretariat, regional human and children's rights organisations.
For more information on the Child Rights Caucus morning briefings, visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=12805&flag=event
Information sharing
The Subgroup for the Human Rights Council NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child ensures daily information in French, Spanish and English on children's issues at the HRC through e-mail, reports and its webpage: http://www.crin.org/hrc
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Special Event: Violence against Children
[GENEVA, 19 March 2007] - A special two-hour thematic event on Violence against Children was held this afternoon at the Human Rights Council. The event served as an opportunity for Paulo Pinheiro, the Independent Expert on Violence against Children, to present the findings of his Study on Violence against Children, which was launched at the 61st session of the UN General Assembly in October 2006, to the Council, but also to engage governments and civil society to discuss plans to follow up the Study's recommendations.
The meeting, which was chaired by the Council's President, Luis Alfonso de Alba, opened with a video by Save the Children, showing how children around the world were participating in initiatives to raise their voices against violence.
In an address by Moushira Khattab, of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, she said that "we will be conscious that children will be monitoring our actions to address the findings of the Study". She stressed the importance of challenging tradition, which is so often used to justify or even normalise violence against children. She highlighted the importance of ownership of the recommendations, saying that every stakeholder must see the recommendations as their own, and that it is time for everyone to work in partnership to ensure every State has a legal framework which criminalises violence against children. She added that the Committee on the Rights of the Child would continue its mandate and support the implementation of the findings, but a Special Representative was urgently needed coordinate the Study's recommmendations in a comprehensive way.
Professor Pinheiro took the floor, declaring that despite repeated commitments made by governments, violence against children persists in all settings. Since the beginning, the purpose of the Study has been to serve as a tool for action against violence, and should be disseminated to all stakeholders. Commenting on the follow-up, he said that his role was to disseminate the findings, and outline a long-term strategy for follow up, but that "success depends more than ever on States' commitment to the recommendations."
He said that the Study process had convinced him that Member States are ready to take action, noting that 30 statements from the high level segment of the HRC mentioned violence against children, but that political will was needed to follow these up. In closing, he said "Children have, for too long, been too far down the agenda in international debates, but this Special Event is an indication that the new Human Rights Council is ready to change this pattern."
Government delegates were then given the opportunity to take the floor. Comments and questions were received from the following Member States: Uruguay, Germany, Norway, Argentina, Egypt, Mexico, Australia, Uzbekistan, New Zealand, India, UK, Pakistan, Malaysia, Ecuador, Morocco, Brazil, Tunisia, Cuba, Japan, China, Canada, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh and Slovenia.
New Zealand expressed particular concern about violence against children with disabilities, saying that research shows that children with disabilities are more vulnerable to sexual abuse. They asked for further suggestions about what should be done to research and consider the situation of these children.
Other countries discussed some of the steps they were taking on a national level to put an end to violence against children. Uzbekistan said they were planning to set up a children's ombudsman, Malaysia is amending its Child Act 2001 to abolish the punishment of whipping of children in its care and justice system.
A number of NGOs delivered oral statements at the session. A joint statement on child participation by Save the Children Alliance and some other members of the Subgroup for the Human Rights Council, welcomed the focus on the meaningful and ethical participation of girls and boys as a key component of the strategy to address violence against children. However, to ensure continued accountability to the children involved in this process governments, UN agencies and other adults must act now on these recommendations from children and create genuine spaces to involve children in designing programmes and policies to address the problem. This includes: changing adult decision-making structures to make them more child-friendly; making more child and diversity friendly information on violence available; and increasing commitment to creating inclusive and child friendly child protection committees or mechanisms in the places where children live, work, play and learn.
In another joint statement, the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) and a number of members of the Subgroup for the Human Rights Council, said they found it "regrettable that the General Assembly could not agree upon stronger recommendations that clearly assert the role of the State in ensuring action against violence" They reiterated the need to appoint a Special Representative to the Secretary-General on Violence against Children to comprehensively address all aspects of violence against children in all settings. They urged Members of the Human Rights Council to pledge their support for this mechanism today and added that they should specify the decisions and actions they will support and take to end all forms of violence against children.
The agencies supporting the Study including UNICEF, the World Health Organisation, the International Labour Organisation and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights spoke of their plans for implementing the Study's recommendations. See the full report.
Roberta Cecchetti, representing the NGO Advisory Panel on Violence against Children, reiterated NGOs' commitment to the follow up process. She spoke of the role and structure of the NGO Advisory Council which is in the process of being created, and which would support the work of a Special Representative when appointed. Such a high level mechanism is important because violence against children relates to the mandates of multiple Special Procedures, this role therefore is essential to ensure effective cooperation because, without leadership, focus is lost. Furthermore, there are gaps in which the current system does not address certain aspects of violence against children, such as corporal punishment. She added that children's participation should be institutionalised in all matters concerning them.
Closing the meeting, Professor Pinheiro told Members of the Council what he expected of them. He urged them to prioritise the adoption of some of the recommendations; work with partner agencies to provide inforrmation on implementation; and ensure the resources and politcial will to bring about change. He pointed out that, after three years of involvement in the Study process, it was time for children themselves to play a key role in implementing pilot projects for the follow-up.
Professor Pinheiro will present a report on the follow-up to the Study's recommendations to the General Assembly in November this year.
Read a full report on the Special Event
Note: A second special thematic event will be held on Monday, 26 March on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. For more information, go to:
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=12716&flag=event
Visit: http://www.crin.org/violence/search/closeup.asp?infoID=12832
Further information
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NEWS IN BRIEF
The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances was due to present its report today, but this session was cancelled and will be rescheduled for later in the week. The full report is available on the OHCHR website at: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/4session/A-HRC-4-41.doc
The session with the Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict, Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, was also cancelled and will be rescheduled. To read her report, go to: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/4session/A.HRC.4.45.pdf
The Special Procedures Third Bulletin is now available at: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/special/docs/spb_bulletin3.pdf
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COMING UP – 20 March
2 – 4 PM, Room XXII: The UN World Programme for Human Rights Education and the Right to Education, with participation of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Mr Muñoz Villalobos.
2 – 3 PM, Room XXIV: Launch of the State of the World’s Minorities Report 2007, Minority Rights Group International
Note: 20 March, 9 – 10 AM: There will be no Child Rights Caucus morning briefing
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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 Commission on Human Rights. To subscribe, unsubscribe or view archives, visit http://www.crin.org/email.
Further information about the Human Rights Council is available on the CRIN website at: 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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