20 March 2007 - Child Rights at the Human Rights Council 23
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- Girls Right to Live: Female foeticide and girl infanticide [panel discussion]
- Human Rights and Access to Water [call for information]
- Education: UN World Programme on Human Rights Education [discussion]
**News in Brief**
**Coming up - 21 March**
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Children Have Rights Too!
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Girls' Right to Live: Female foeticide and girl infanticide
[GENEVA, 20 March 2007] - [GENEVA, 20 March 2007] - Speaking at a panel discussion at the Human Rights Council on female foeticide and girl infanticide, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its causes and consequences, Yakin Erturk, said that we must not “compartmentalise the problem as traditional, or treat it purely within a cultural framework because it makes solutions very difficult. What we have learned is that violence against women is a universal problem and the root causes are the same: they are all related to gender inequality."
The panel discussion was held to launch the report Girls' Right to Live: Female foeticide and girl infanticide, by members of the Working Group on the Girl Child. The theme of the report coincides with that of the 51st Session of the Commission on the Status of Women "Elimination of discrimination and violence against the girl child," which was held in New York in from 26 February - 9 March 2007.
Opening the meeting, Erturk stressed the importance of bringing attention to the problem to build up the political will to eliminate violence against women and girls. In India alone, she said, there have been 10,000 cases of ‘lost girls’ in the last two decades. The government outlawed sex-related abortion 12 years ago, yet only one doctor has so far been convicted. The law exists, but is not being diligently implemented.
There is still an absence of good qualitative research; most of what does exist concerns India and China. In India, the termination of pregnancies and girl infanticide is linked to the dowry which must be paid to a bride’s family; in China it is linked to the single child policy. In both, it is the result of gender inequality because of the secondary value attached to the girl child. Girls are not only killed, but are left to suffer malnutrition, and denied access to health. All the problems we talk about which affect women start from when the girl child is born.
These practices of course deny girls the right to life, but they also lead to other problems. Sex ratios are reaching alarming levels: in India there are just 882 girls to every 1,000 boys. This kind of discrepancy has generated other types of violence, such as a sharp rise in girls being trafficked and forcibly married. Aside from this, there are very different actors involved. Governments are not diligently fighting the issue: they may have policies but they are not doing enough to implement them. Multinational corporations should play a key role in observing human rights violations, in terms of investment, but they also often knowingly sell their products to illegal trafficking networks. Parents too are responsible for perpetuating these practices.
She emphasised the need to see the problem within a wider context of diverse actors contribute to the problem. We should not delink from violence against women and gender inequality, if we do, it can shift problems into other areas, for example one of the interventions of the Indian government was to urge an end to the killing of girls and appealing to parents to instead to hand their girls over to institutions.
Governments have an obligation not only to prevent violence, but to tackle societal attitudes which perpetuate violence. Referring to UN mandates, she said, the “idea of harmful traditional practices was useful in bringing attention to problematic issues, such as female genital mutilation, but that lessons learned show that it is not about this, but about harmful practices, indeed, in many places, FGM is a very modern practice.”
In closing she said we must not lose the universal approach to addressing violence against girls. Women are not homogeneous, of course, but there are underlying similarities and inequalities which must be tackled universally.
In a brief discussion, participants highlighted that the richest States in India have more foeticide than poorer States, a reality which is linked to technological developments and the possibility of sex selection. India offers money for keeping children, has worked in education system in many countries. The dowry system is illegal, so it is difficult for the government to help with this. It must not be forgotten that women themselves help to perpetuate this pattern of violence.
When asked if she had spoken to the “worst offending” governments such as the two she had spoken about, Erturk replied that both India and China governments acknowledge the problem and are willing to engage, the question is how can we work together with them. One way I can dialogue with States is if I receive individual communications. This means I can write to the government and initiate dialogue.
The Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its causes and consequences, Yakin Erturk, presented her report to the Human Rights Council this afternoon.
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?id=12840
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Education: UN World Programme on Human Rights Education [discussion]
A discussion on the UN World Programme for Human Rights Education highlighted the need to integrate human rights education into primary, secondary and university level education.
Speaking at the event, Special Rapporteur on Education, Vernor Muñoz said that "despite initiatives undertaken in many countries, most still see human rights education as an “outside issue” which is not a mandatory component of school curricula.
Building on the achievements of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004), the World Programme seeks to promote a common understanding of the basic principles and methodologies of human rights education, to provide a concrete framework for action and to strengthen partnerships and cooperation from the international level down to the grass roots.
Unlike the specific time frame of the Decade, the World Programme is structured around an ongoing series of phases, the first of which focuses on the primary and secondary school systems. Developed by a broad group of education and human rights practitioners from all continents, the Plan of Action for the first phase proposes a concrete strategy and practical ideas for implementing human rights education nationally.
The UN World Programme has a “Plan of Action” of four stages to help countries to integrate human rights into their education system:
- To assess the human rights situation in the current system
- To set priorities in countries and develop national implementation strategies
- To implement strategy
- To review/evaluate it
For more information, contact
World Programme for Human Rights Education
OHCHR, Palais des Nations, CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 917 90 10)
Email: wphre@ohchr.org
Website: http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/education/training/programme.htm
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=12843&flag=news
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Human Rights and Access to Water [call for information]
The UN Human Rights Council has today requested The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to conduct a detailed study on the scope and content of the relevant human rights obligations related to equitable access to safe drinking water and sanitation under international human rights instruments to be submitted at the Council’s sixth session (Human Rights Council Decision 2/104)
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is calling for information to carry out the study. For more information, go to: http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/water/index.htm
Website: www.ohchr.org; Email: water@ohchr.org
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**News in Brief**
Child Rights Caucus: See the updated list of morning briefings
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=12805&flag=event
A parallel event on the Responsibility to Protect - A tool to protect against massive human rights violations, was held by Human Rights Watch today. For more information, contact hrwgva@hrw.org
The Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Mr. Juan Miguel Petit, today presented his report to the Human Rights Council. To read the report, visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=12448&flag=report
To read about child rights in the reports of other Special Procedures, visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=12819
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**Coming up - 21 March**
10 - 1 PM, Room XVIII: Thematic Dialogue on the Role of National Human Rights Institutions in Torture Prevention - Challenges and opportunities
2 - 3 PM, Room E-3056: Access to Education for Children with Disabilities, one hour panel discussion with the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Vernor Muñoz, organised by World Vision International
3 PM Interactive dialogue with Mr. Santiago Corcuera, Rapporteur of the WG on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, initially scheduled for Monday 19 March
3.30 - 5 PM, Room E-3056/ E-3058: Antisemitism and Human Rights Mechanisms on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
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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 info@crin.org. CRIN, c/o Save the Children, 1, St John's Lane, London EC1M 4AR, UK.
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